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Breizh to Basque

September - October 2023
Vélodyssée Read more
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  • TravelerBreizh to Basque

    What is the Vélodyssée?

    September 11, 2021 in France ⋅ ☁️ 21 °C

    « Laundry Day! »

    Laundry days are when you are going on vacation. And when you come back from vacation, yes, it’s true…

    Tomorrow, if all goes well with the SNCF, we should be reaching the medieval harbor of Morlaix by train in the evening.
    St Cyprien -Libourne
    Libourne-Paris Montparnasse
    Paris Montparnasse-Morlaix

    We are cycling the Vélodyssée with our carbon bikes, without electric assistance. It is called « vélo musculaire » these days!

    Vélodyssée is the french portion of the Eurovelo #1.
    The whole Eurovelo #1 links Cap North (Norway) to Sagres (South Portugal)… but that will be for another time!

    For us it will be Morlaix -St Jean de Luz (Pyrénées Atlantiques) which is 1200km.
    We are giving ourselves 4 weeks, which gives us room in case of bad weather.
    Attached are old pictures from different previous vacation, and a little map. I like maps.    Read more

  • TravelerBreizh to Basque
    Day 1

    Morlaix

    September 12, 2023 in France ⋅ ☁️ 20 °C

    We did reach our B&B in good time and under the sun! The house is massive, in granite, and beautifully renovated.

    After a day in the care of the SNCF we were glad to refresh ourselves with a “kir morlaisien” .. Fine de Bretagne is a alcohol made from distilled apples (like Calavados), and they’ve had the good idea to mix it with cider..
    From our room we hear seagulls.    Read more

  • TravelerBreizh to Basque
    Day 2

    Huelgoat ➡️43km↗️+308m

    September 13, 2023 in France ⋅ ⛅ 21 °C

    Cumul EV1: 30 km, Total 43 km.

    The Enchanted Forest…
    After breakfast our hostess gives us an “offering” of Crêpes for the trip. We cycle to the Office du Tourisme to retrieve a “Passeport Vélodyssée”, to get stamped along the way.
    It’s probably very useful for them to collect statistics, and why not? For us it is an added fun.
    We get sandwiches and reach the Voie Verte - a reclaimed train tracks. The disused train stations in the wilderness are punctuating our efforts. The climb in the Monts d’Arrée is a gentle one, they are indeed very old and worn mountains.
    Huelgoat under the sun! Unheard of! Here falls 1,40m of rain per year..
    The Rivière d’Argent is full of magic and we make our way to the nearest pub…    Read more

  • TravelerBreizh to Basque
    Day 3

    Gouarec ➡️67km ↗️+275m

    September 14, 2023 in France ⋅ ☀️ 22 °C

    Cumul EV1: 97 km, Total 110 km

    Sunny weather comes with cold nights.. and cold it was! Locals mentioned 6C…
    We leave An Uhelgoad (the breton for Huelgoat), through a pleasant landscape, rolling between fields, watermills, and orchards. The main difficulty is to avoid fallen apples on the ground.
    We reach the Canal de Nantes à Brest, and enjoyed our sandwich in the company of a saxophone player practicing under one of the numerous bridges of the Canal.
    Unlike the canals in burgundy, this one is really beautiful, big oak trees looming, lock gates are flowered, shutters of the houses brightly painted in blue. Some are in disuse but maintained.
    The banks are green and mowed, huge bouquets of iris must be a striking view in spring time.

    This canal was build by convicts to connect two major harbors Nantes and Brest, but was quickly supplanted by the railroad in the early 1900… As we cycle along the canal, we can only wonder at the titanic work : over 200 gates each paired with a tiny granite house.
    We reach our camping in Gouarec, on an island in the heart of the village. We sit with the locals under the stone halle for a bretons IPA. And unexpectedly enjoyed a Rougail Saucisse for dinner !    Read more

  • TravelerBreizh to Basque
    Day 4

    Rohan ➡️ 69km ↗️ +240m

    September 15, 2023 in France ⋅ ☀️ 27 °C

    Cumul EV1: 166 km, Total 179 km

    We left Gouarec under a perfectly blue sky and a few kilometers later we tumbled upon the ruines of Abbaye de Bon Repos. Its looming empty windows and elegant shapes are impressive.

    Then we climbed above the lac de Guerlédan, a huge water retenue with a dam and electric plant.
    The path is shared with horse-packers, the landscape is more agricultural, with indeed horse farms. And absolutely no view on the lake!
    We leave the Vélodyssée to find a bakery at Mur-de-Bretagne, a stiff climb, the Tourism’s Office is open and they stamp our passeport. We greedily eat our sandwiches under a lovely halle, watching roofers on the very steep church roof replacing the slates.
    Alongside the canal to Pontivy the surface is asphalted but rough. The first part is a bit forlorn and flat but it gets happier.
    In Pontivy we are very tired. The food we buy at bakeries is not sustaining us, and weather is hot. A look at the town campsite motivates us to climb the lasts water locks to Rohan!!
    And after Pontivy the ride is actually a delight. It goes up but not abruptly, lock after lock, with many reserve ponds full of water lilies. We reach a first level with a sort of stone harbor. The sun is low now, we are pretty much alone and ancient glory seems to seep through. We finally reach the top of the climb marked by a lovely water gate, were the owner of the house has over indulged in geraniums. In the orange light of the evening sun it is very striking. A neighbor takes a picture of us.
    We arrive in Rohan through its very tiny harbor. The village doesn’t reflect the powerful family of the Rohan, but the camping is welcoming and showers are very hot!
    We put up the tent and head to the only place where to have dinner : a crêperie-grill…    Read more

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  • TravelerBreizh to Basque
    Day 5

    Malestroit ➡️ 53km ↗️ +30m

    September 16, 2023 in France ⋅ ☁️ 23 °C

    Cumul EV1: 219 km, Total 232 km

    We leave the lovely camping of Rohan and find a bar where to drink a not too fine coffee, with croissant from a very bad bakery. We stop by the supermarket to get some dried fruits and high cocoa content chocolate bar.
    On the Canal the light rain is enveloping the landscape with mystery, the spirit of Bretagne.
    After a straight and boring stretch of rough asphalt, the Canal becomes attractive again halfway towards Josselin, with curves hiding flowered locks superbly maintained.
    Josselin is quite a sight with its defensive Château right on the Canal but we decline the climb to the colorful medieval center and head Eastward, across the path of many clouds heavy with rain. The trees aligned along the path offer some shelter for us to put our K-way on.
    Val d’Oust has nothing to offer and we munch on our blessed figs and chocolate. Our mind find ressources in the hope of a decent meal at Malestroit.
    It is Saturday and we see more and more boats cruising the canal and going through the lock gates. There seems to be a phone liaison between the boats and the “lockies” , the gate keepers. These are cheerful and smiling to us all the way.
    Malestroit is a good surprise, Place de l’Eglise is full of busy terrasses, the narrow streets are paved and the medieval houses are all very different, with painted wood structure or decoratively carved granite. In winter it must be bleak but on this sunny day it is boasting with locals, boaters, cyclists…
    One Café serves marinated beef in Indian spices, with home made fries, and a glass of Cheverny..
    We barely hear the two distant thunder claps before falling happily asleep.    Read more

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  • TravelerBreizh to Basque
    Day 6

    Guenrouet ➡️ 64 km ↗️ +94 m

    September 17, 2023 in France ⋅ ⛅ 26 °C

    Cumul EV1: 280 km, Total 296 km

    In the morning the only place open is the newspaper shop! But the very jovial owner serves us coffee and croissants. The night rain gives other colors to the old streets, the wet granite pavement is reflecting the blue sky and the church glows with its cream and dark burgundy stones.
    We grab two sandwiches and get going.
    We start to feel the accumulation of efforts when we reach the Ile aux Pies, a natural landmark which reminds one of a North American lake, with steep dark cliffs and pine trees scattered on every horizontal surface, like thousands of spikes fallen from the sky. We spot a lock house that acts as a tapas bar, and we take a peak at the local campground… which convinces us that something better must await us somewhere further!!
    Just before the junction with La Gallicy the trees are covered with mistletoe balls hanging from the branches like gigantic Christmas decorations.
    We cycle through Redon, the most inland harbor connected to the Atlantic. After that, the view gets really monotonous, stuck between railroad tracks and a sad abandoned canal. These kilometers are quite hard and dispiriting but soon the canal opens again on wider spaces, with more varied plants and trees. We see families of swans enjoying a Sunday outing.
    We reach Guenrouët totally exhausted, where the only restaurant there is closed on Sunday. The local bar serves us cheap cheese and bad saucisson, with a view overlooking the river and the nautical base. It is heaven to us!    Read more

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  • TravelerBreizh to Basque
    Day 7

    Nort-sur-Erdre ➡️ 55 km ↗️ +77 m

    September 18, 2023 in France ⋅ ⛅ 23 °C

    Cumul EV1: 331 km, Total 351 km

    We had set our tent in the back of the campground, on the edge of a meadow bordered by the forest. Around 3 am, we hear the distinctive cracking sound of a tree about to fall and clung to our duvets!! It fell 20 yards away from us, a tall oak tree that fortunately wasn’t too wide!
    We reach Blain for lunch time. The sandwiches at the bakery are very uninspiring but the tartelettes are compensating.. The rain starts again, brief but violent, and we indulge in a sablé with raspberry jam covered with chocolate ganache in the cover from the church entrance.
    Traveling at this time of the year means avoiding many different types of fruits on the road. Plums, chestnuts, horse chestnuts, pine cones, apples…
    We decide to stop in Nort-sur-Erdre and see if we can connect with Catherine the next morning.
    All the restaurants are closed and we end up shopping at Super U for our dinner… Fortunately the campground offers a covered shelter for such situations and a friendly irish neighbor lends his bottle opener.    Read more

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  • TravelerBreizh to Basque
    Day 8

    Paimboeuf ➡️ 88 km ↗️ +380 m

    September 19, 2023 in France ⋅ ☁️ 21 °C

    Cumul EV1: 420 km, Total 440 km

    From Nort-sur-Erdre we reconnect easily with the EV1. The path takes us toward Sucé-sur-Erdre, the chic banlieue of Nantes, with its marina. The landscape is romantic along different canals that look almost private, the hamlets are charming, but a few unexpected hills bring us sweating to the harbor of Sucé where Catherine has already arrived. We enjoy a happy coffee on a terrasse, time flies when seeing old friends..
    Nantes awaits us, which we must get across today to reach the next campground 55km away, for a total of 75km from our starting point.
    The EV1 runs alongside a busy road to Nantes but the scenery stays green. We enter the City of the Dukes of Brittany through the university district and make our way down to the Capitainerie (harbor office) on the Erdre river, which is set in the japanese botanical garden. In these very exotic surroundings we decide to eat our sandwiches and watch the urban life unfold..
    In Nantes the main cycling axes are integrated in the middle of the avenues, between the two lanes, which is quite challenging, especially when reaching a roundabout where the cyclists are driven to two concentric circles marked on the ground in the epicenter of the roundabout !
    But it does function as we can’t but follow the flow of the energetic locals…
    L’Ile de Nantes has an ambiance of its own, with hangars converted in alternative bars and restaurants. A mesmerizing installation from Buren consisting of circles of light punctuate the Quay des Antilles.
    We don’t meet the animated elephant this time and connect directly with the South bank of the Loire where the end of the Loire à Vélo is commun to the Vélodyssée.
    This is not the most scenic part of the trip but there are some highlights like the trendy fishing harbor of Trentemoult or the isolated village of “La Montagne”, reminiscent of l’Ile de Ré, but on a steep hill!
    We smell the first flowers of Chalef (eleagnus ebbingei), a very boring perennial plant used widely on the Atlantic Coast for hedges. Its numerous tiny gray flowers bloom in September when the powerful fragrance, sweet and spicy, takes over every street.
    The Canal de la Martinière starts in a bucolic setting but slowly brings us to a repetitive deserted worlds where the road ahead of us seems endless.
    Amidst this emptiness the Camping du Migron has of course closed its restaurants (and didn’t answer the phone). We decide to cover the 11km to Paimboeuf, where the promise of frozen fish and chips and pizza gives us wings!
    The beautiful -and expensive- camping is set in a majestic forest of pine trees facing the harbor of St Nazaire which lits up at night across the Loire like a mirage in the desert.    Read more

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  • TravelerBreizh to Basque
    Day 9

    Pornic ➡️ 56 km ↗️ 313 m

    September 20, 2023 in France ⋅ 🌬 21 °C

    Cumul EV1: 470 km, Total 496 km

    (Batshit crazy head-winds before the storm.)

    Bakery is closed on Wednesday and we head grumpily towards Corsept where the baker serves us coffee to go. We have chat with a fellow cyclist, all of us seating on the planters in front of the bakery.
    As we get closer to St Nazaire, the ship building sites respond to the family owned “carrelets”, the fishing cabins perched upon the banks and that will from now on accompany us till the Garonne Estuary.
    As we reach the Estuary of the Loire, the monumental installation from artist Huang Yong Ping greets us. We turn our back to the industrial city and reach St Brévin where the mood is definitely one of a bathing place. Houses wear silly names referring to the ocean or to retirement.. The back streets are more pleasant, with mature tiny garden, graphical pines, cedars, cypresses. And the thick smell of chalef..
    The wind is in our face and as we cycle round the Pointe St Gildas, it veers with us… Pornic and its turquoise water is close by now, and we see the Ile of Noirmoutier on our right.
    The campground is closing in a couple of days and we enjoy the pool by ourselves, its exciting tunnel slides -some in total darkness, some connecting to hidden pools- and get to place the tente right above the seafront.
    But the water is not turquoise, more of a lead colour, and wind is not softening.
    Dinner in Pornic where we hear the weather is unexpectedly worsening rapidly and will hit hard between 11pm and 2am..
    We cover the 4km back on the Corniche, with heavy rainfalls, cautious traffic and wind blasts that brutally catch our bikes sideways. The night is tense, the tent just holds, with the deafening sound of wind, rain and waves…    Read more

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