Monday August 11, 2014

We have noticed that major cities are the only place in France that have graffiti.

Left Rennes heading down the D163, it was supposed to be a D road which means it is supposed to be a quieter road – it was a dual carriageway and fairly busy.  We were tooted at a few times even though we were on the shoulder and not causing any hazard.  We weren’t sure if we were being tooted at because we were touring cyclists or because we were on a motorway!!

As we came of this road to take another D road we noticed the road sign that usually indicates you are leaving a motorway and should slow down to normal speeds!

Once we had left the D163 we followed the rural routes through small towns and villages. We had noticed a couple of these hay bale \”sculptures\’ yesterday.  They are advertising an agricultural fair in the area at the end of the month.

The French have great pride in their villages with lots of flowers. We noticed every village or town we went through had their own Boulangerie (bakery).  One of the habits most French men have is when they come out of the bakery with their French stick, they break of the end and start eating it straight away.

Also the small towns in France have very large churches.

As we were coming into one town we noticed a small grocery store, they sold sandwiches so we stopped and picked up a couple of sandwiches and some fruit for lunch.  As we came out of the store the heavens opened and it poured with rain for about 15 minutes, then it stopped, the sun came out and we were able to get on our way again, without getting wet.  The bikes got soaked.

We cycled past a very large LaFarge processing plant.  It was huge – can\’t get away from you Brian!

We cycled in to Chateaubriant at about 1:30, we now know why it is called Chateaubriant – it has a very large Chateau in the centre of Town.  We found the tourist office, unfortunately it was closed on Mondays.

We have noticed that in France a lot of the stores are closed on Mondays as well as Sundays.  They only have to work 5 days a week, so the stores close on Sundays and Mondays.

Never mind we had the address for the municipal campsite and headed out to it.  It was in the same area as the Big Box stores.  Maybe we would be able to find some gas.  After we had set up the tent we cycled to Intermarche, Intersport and a couple of other stores, but no one has the gas.  Maybe we will be lucky in Nantes tomorrow.

We went to the supermarket to get a quiche, but wasn’t sure if we needed to cook it.  We asked the lady at the deli, she said it could be eaten cold, better hot though.  We had to eat it cold, as we have very little gas left.  We ate dinner in the tent, as there is nowhere to sit in this municipal campsite.

I have planned a very rural route for tomorrows route.