Sweet Sweet Cycling (and an exciting new direction)

 

Surprise!!  I bet you didn't think you'd be hearing from us again so quickly - well we've been having fun cycling days, with the last two involving sun and no rain jackets - WOOHOO!!  As you can see from the pic above, we're celebrating arriving at the end of the La Canal des 2 Mers a Velo (the Canal of 2 Seas Bike Route) this afternoon!  WOOHOOO AGAIN!!  Yes, this afternoon we arrived at the Atlantic Ocean - and we celebrated with that giant banana sundae on the beach front at Royan, where we've stopped for the night.

It's been a great four days since we left Bordeaux.  We actually felt we needed another rest day because we spent so much time in Bordeaux doing boring chores but decided to press on anyway hoping to grab another one quickly down the track.  And what a good idea. 

Before we left, though, we went for a wander on Saturday afternoon (after I'd written the last blogpost), and tried to explore the submarine base our hotel was facing.  This was the base built by the Germans in WW2 for their UBoats - it's a huge ugly construction, that apparently can't be demolished because it's so structurally fortified they can't get rid of it.  It's ugly and haunting.  We weren't able to go inside, it's now used as an exhibition centre and it didn't seem right to go in and check out the Pharaoh exhibition in such a challenging place.  So we wandered around and took some pics - and here's one below...

Bordeaux to Blaye - 40km

So, we headed off Saturday morning, with our rain jackets at the ready.  It was cold, the ground was wet, but we were lucky to avoid all rain until we got to our destination - it rained around us, but never on us!  It was a great ride - it took us about 10km to get out of the Bordeaux outskirts, then we launched into more vines as we hit the famous Medoc wine region, and all the glorious chateaux that that involves!  Sadly, there aren't a huge amount of those photos because after heading down a bike track only 5km from the ferry we had to get (another one didn't go for 2 hours), we were in mud and had to abort - so we had to backtrack then fang it to the ferry to try and make it - and make it we did!  Go us.

More vines - The Medoc region.  Gorgeous riding.

Mike taking a well-earn swig (water) after hitting the turbo button to get to the ferry, and you can see the ferry approaching - WE MADE IT!

The first ferry I've seen where the cars enter and leave by the side of the ferry.  So weird.

We found our little granny flat we'd booked - in the quaint town of Blaye - that's us with the red shutters.  It was interesting for us as we thought we were wandering around a deserted, unloved village, only to discover that behind the dull facade was a glorious home, a wonderful open garden/courtyard, and a chic spacious granny flat out the back.  We were so happy here we woke up the next morning to rain and decided to have our rest day here!  Great decision.

You see, Blaye has an amazing citadel.  So we spent Sunday morning exploring it in the rain - it was fantastic, and built upon by Vauban who'd done two other citadels we've seen on this trip.  We didn't even know it existed until we arrived.  FANTASTIC STUFF.

And we finished our explorations with mind-blowingly good wine juice sorbet.  Soooooo good.

A New Direction

While we were enjoying our rest day in Blaye, we spent a lot of time talking about what's next.  Somehow we stumbled on the idea of heading north and instead of south.  I believe Mike mentioned Jersey and Guernsey Islands, and my mind went BING BING BING BING!  Now that sounds like fun.  And that means we can see Brittany and Normandy, two places we'd talked about cycling through next year, so why not do it earlier!  We knew it would be colder and probably wetter than heading south, but we're tough, and we're up for it.  It also allows us to head towards Paris to meet family who are arriving for Christmas.  All the threads just came together.  Decision made.

Blaye to Saint Thomas de Conac - 42km

Glorious sky.  Glorious lack of rain.  Glorious riding.  Glorious lunch.  A few hills.  A few big hills.  And a cute village with a glorious old house to stay in.

Leaving Blaye in blue skies was hugely exciting - no rain on the radar.  Here we are leaving via the citadel.

After a great ride, we stopped in a little village for lunch at the only place open and it was FANTASTIC.  Roast chicken with roasted potatoes and peppercorn sauce.  YUM YUM.

Our beautiful accommodation for the night - a traditional B&B

An unexpected sign on the loo...

Saint Thomas de Conac to Royan - 48km

And here we are, our journey to today.  With the exception of one INSANE hill climb (off road, and so steep I had to take off my panniers and walk them up separately, then the bike, because I couldn't get the bike up fully loaded - first time I've ever had to do that), it was magical riding, most of it along the coast as we road along the Gironde estuary until we met the Atlantic.  We wound our way through smaller coastal towns, stopping at a quaint historical village for lunch, and again stumbling onto a church built in the 500s.  INCREDIBLE.  Then we got to a bigger beach town, until we finally arrived here in Royan.  And it's beautiful here, there are grand old houses and chateaux along the foreshore (which sadly I was too in awe of to stop and photograph while I was riding past), really good cycling paths, and an overall sense of space, order, and beauty.  We've got ourselves another little granny flat for the night and are very comfy in this pretty place.  

The first 15km was completely flat - then we hit rolling hills for the coastal route which was magical.  We won't talk anymore about the insanely steep hill climb experience mentioned above)

The cute town for lunch...Talmont sur Gironde

Eglise Sainte-Radegonde de Talmont-sur-Gironde

Big smiles for arriving at the Atlantic

And Mike with our celebratory sundae leftovers...

We noticed lots of beach activities even in November - we saw a school group doing sand sailing, and a couple of big groups of people in life jackets and wet suits doing water aerobics and water running in the sea!

The only photo I could take of the houses that are around here - I took it on our walk this evening before it got too dark. 

So, there you have it Sportsfans, we're finding our rhythm in going a bit slower and enjoying the pace and the beauty of France.  And we've now got a plan for the next two months - BRING IT ON!