Summer Camping

From St Jean we did 64km to Les Sables, then 50km to La Tranche Sur Mer and yesterday 100km to Chatelailon-Page. We found some goats supporting cycle tourists so we had to do a couple of extra k's ;) Seriously thouh, the reason we are keeping track of our distances and towns is for our own memmories - we hardly can remember where we were last night :)

We didn't mean to do 100km yesterday, only around 70-ish. However at one point close to La Rochelle we got a little lost, and when we came into La Rochelle, which is where we planned to stay, we ran out of data so had to go and look for Orange... La Rochelle seemed like a real tourist trap and was so packed with people that we decided to cycle to the next town - which turned out to be really beautiful. 

The last couple of nights we have been experiencing French summer camping, lots of French 'Arrows' hanging out by the seaside over the summer. Die spul kan ook maar lekker kommen wees! We discovered Chi-chis: deep fried cake sticks (see photo) all the French had some so we had to try :)

We saw some nice beaches and due to lots of campsites being sold out we have needed to stay in some 'better campsites' as well - better here means they have a pool, waterslide and 'animations' which in French means entertainment - we think. Some campsites will always find a spot for tired cyclists - even if its in a sandpit or next to a ping-pong table :) Last night we slept in a 0 star campsite, thank GOD! Peace and Quiet is better than good showers!

Some of the beaches here are realy nice, and we have started seeing small waves appearing, there are lots of islands and yachts - we see lots of kids being taught how to sail.

Today we are heading to Rochefort, where we hope to find a nice campsite and perhaps have a rest day.

Getting into rhythm

After a blissful night in the hotel, we left Nantes on way to the Atlantic. Leaving the big city on bike took some navigation skills but we managed fine and late afternoon after 78km reached Saint Brévin less pins. An impressive bridge was the first sight when reaching our destination. We basically just slept over there and cycled another 75km the next day to St Gervais.On route we had a fabulous lunch break at Pornic, but after that the landscape became a bit boring... flats and oyster farms... We had to sleep over in St Gervais since we wanted to cross the La Gois which you can only do on low tide. Here we slept at the cleanest Camping Municipal in France. The proud lady caretaker is constantly cleaning and she does the management all by herself as well, she was really impressed with us as we were here first Saffers :)

Today we crossed the man made La Gois and cycled through an awesome National Park, pine trees next to the ocean - it made us think of mtb'ing in the cape so it became a bit of a race - the extra weight on the bikes actually seems to help with speed - momentum!!!! We did 42km today and now we are in St Jean de Monts which is a very touristy beach resort.

The magical 100!

As it was still raining the night we spend in Pontivy ,Jo-lene cooked us the most delicious dish consisting of aubergine, chorizo, tamato, pasta and goats cheese and cheap red wine off course! The next morning it was still overcast and decided we will take the train to Nantes only to discover the closest train station is 120km away....So cycle pants on and voila! 102km later we spent the night in Peilac. On route we passed through the most beautiful towns like Malestroit and Josselin, we had goats cheese and a baguette for lunch and had loads of fun. We also realised we must use each other's slipstream to combat the headwind... This increased our average spead with +- 5km/h... why didnt we think of this before, lol.

Today we did 20km to Redon and took the train to Nantes which we are currently exploring. We booked into the local Mercure hotel to avoid camping on the outskirts of town and....because we can!

Morlaix to Pontivy

We took trains from Ponterson, near Beauvoir  to Morlaix - due to having to stick to trains allowing bikes we only arrived in Morlaix at 7:30pm. A taxi driver gave us directions out of town - wanting to give us a shortcut he actualky directed us down a path with a thousand stairs! This doesnt work for heavy bikes so we abbondended plans for leaving town at night since it was now 8pm. We booked into a cheap hotel and had supper at a nice Restaurant: La Marmite.

The next day we attended the town market and also spent 2.5 hours sorting out our Orange mobile phone issues. At about 12:30 we statted the days cycling and then it started raining - and its still raining 3 days later... we did 54km and then wild camped in the middle of nowhere. Next day we just did 10kms to the nearest campsite in Carhaix and enjoyed the awesome surroundings in the rain :) the following day we did 77km to Mur Le Bretagne. This was easy going - except for the rain and a mad white horse that didnt want to stop following us - I realised I cant out cycle a horse, but now I am certain of it. Today we did an easy 26km to Pontivy, and now we are just in the tent hiding from the rain - we did have delicious lunch at a local place Beef Stew the french way - I wont try and spell it.

Leaving the uk as the royal baby arrives

After much struggling with internet in France we lost a couple of blog posts so this is just a quick update.

We arrived in St Malo, on the Emerald coast - the water is truely Emerald green and the coast line is packed with sail boats - and there exists a peacefullness. On out first day we cycled to Cancale, and the following day to Beauvoir, which is 5km from Mont st Michele. The first day (25km) was tough as we hardly could sleep on the ferry, the second day was easy (64km)...

We spent time being tourists at Mont st Michele, and watched the tide coming in in the very dramatic fashion it does there. The tide rises 10cm in 4 minutes!

In the meantime we also fell in live with ENGLISH Mustard - we have always liked mustard but now we are absolutely addicted!

We spent 2 nights in Beauvoir at a delux campsite where we could swim and charge our phones etc! We camped in the back garden with the other cyclists, and met some cheerful Americans with cruiser style bicycles, retirees showing the youngsters how its done.

At Mont st Michele Colette took some beautiful photos, and we shared a chocolate crepe in the night and smuggled in our own drinks ;) mont st Michele is something special. Its got a mystical feel to it. Reminds me of Harry Potter fame.

London scenic route cycle

I just rode 23,6 kilometers! Check it out on #strava: http://app.strava.com/activities/68695519

Family time in London

We were spoiled rotten by the Jackie, Andre and Cobus. We saw a Burlesque show, saw deer in Richmond Park and had quality time on the bank of the Thames. Jackie showed us how walking is done! I am very sad to leave my sister behind even though they twisted my arm to stay a day longer - it didn't take much twisting. It was great to see how Cobus has grown as a student of art and life - daai mannetjie is slim! Got an A+ for his book - which is very much above my brain cells - eks baie impressed! First year done in style, and passed so easy :) Aard seker maar na sy Ma. Hy het ons ook entertain met sy plate speler, old school is cool, hy se die kwaliteit is baie beter - is maar moeilik vir sy geeky tannie om te verstaan, maar ek moet se dit klink baie lekkerder op die plate speler.