The Bikepacker: Bikepacking 2024 - Nantes to Saint Michel Chef Chef

Day #

State of Legs

:-)

	Distance (miles)	Distance (km)	Ascent (feet)	Ascent (metres)	Punctures
Today	53.8 miles	km	896 feet	metres	1
Trip Totals	399.4 miles	km	12894 feet	metres	1

Today's Route

Route So Far

Travelogue

There's no more rest for the wicked bikepackers apparently because today we checked out of the nice apartment we'd rented in Nantes and set off on the road again. But first we had to reverse the process of getting us, our stuff and our bikes into the apartment on the second floor and get everything down to the ground floor and out! Once again, M1 managed to squeeze one bike at a time along with himself into the elevator. At least that eliminated the need to carry them each down two flights of stairs.

We set our controls for the heart of our planned route (vague Pink Floyd reference which I'm sure you got) and cycled towards the nearest bridge that would take us over the southern branch of the River Loire and off the island of Nantes (Île de Nantes). Once over the bridge, we turned west and cycled with the river to our right, leaving the city traffic behind quickly.

2 miles from the apartment though, M2 said "Did you put the key back in the lock box?" to which M1 replied....

"*!*!* *!*!* !!!! **** ????" and other four letter words. Because in fact M1 had not put the apartment key back in the lock box where it was supposed to be. The key was in the pocket of his cycling jersey instead. Curses. Lots of them.

It being difficult to wriggle out of this one, M1 did the decent(ish) thing and told M2 to find a place to sit and relax whilst he rectified his mistake. This simply meant cycling back into the city to the apartment, finding the lock box down the side of the building, stowing the key securely and cycling back again. No biggy really.

We rode on, enjoying the excellent cycling surface and relative speed. We may have hit 10 mph at one point, can you believe it? Well we did. And it was pretty darned good with little apparent rolling resistance and no pesky headwind. In fact the weather was wonderful. Blue skies. The sun. We'd even put on some sun block today. There really is no stopping us.

Continuing for mile after mile with the Loire to our right, we passed through various settlements with a newly built suburban feel and then into the countryside. It was rather nice.

Eventually, we came to the village of Le Pellerin and our coffee and pastry instincts took over. There was a square with a view of the river to one side. There was a bar with tables outside. And almost next door there was a boulangerie. Well, what would you have done?

We ordered our usual coffees and M1 asked M2 what she'd like from the bakery. It was then that something disconcerting happened. A kind of.... ideological shift of seismic proportions. Because M2 did not answer "pain au chocolat" (PaC). Instead she said, "well, a PaC would be nice but anything with almonds would trump chocolate". OMG, what is happening thought M1?!

M1 went to the bakery, still reeling from the shock. And to make matters worse, side by side on a shelf there were croissants au amandes (CaA) and PaCs. M2's words echoed in M1's head. ".. almonds trump chocolate" with a weird sci-fi reverb added for good effect. "Deux croissants au amande s'il vous plait..... (in my best French)", M1 said... literally including the English bit. The woman working behind the counter grinned and said "bien!", apparently complimenting M1 for his mastery of the French language used in a bakery setting.

Back at the table, we enjoyed our coffees and tucked into the CaA and you know what? M2 may have a point. Because they were proper delish.

Back on our bikes, we cycled on with the river becoming more and more like an estuary with reed beds and wetland environment either side. There were lots of large birds; White Storks, Grey Herons and Little Egrets for example. We kept an eye out for anything interesting on the ground, the water or in the sky.

And then once again, Mon Dieu! We hit another "Route Barre" sign. We've had more than our fair share of these things! Maybe they schedule maintenance of the cycle paths in the off season? Not that this is quite the off season but it is early. We looked at the map and figured out a way around and in fact started to see "Deviation" and other useful signs on the way anyway.

Soon we were back on EV1 and heading for the supermarket we'd identified near today's campsite. With about 10 miles still to go though, we were treated to our first sight of the Atlantic Ocean! We'll probably see a lot of it over the next two weeks.

The campsite is in the curiously named village of Saint Michel Chef Chef.

"Was Saint Michel a chef who cooked other chefs, perhaps?" asked M1. For some reason M2 didn't answer. She may have rolled her eyes though.

After picking up lunch, dinner and breakfast items from the supermarket, we cycled to the nearby campsite. And it's just the way we like it. Basic, spacious and green. There are lots of campsites in this area and further along down the coast but most seem more like holiday parks aimed at families. Not our kind of thing and we'll avoid them if we can, probably by favouring campsites that are set a little back from the coast and its beaches.

We ate lunch first and then put up the tent. M2 showered while M1 had a go at getting the bikes a little cleaner (they were filthy!) armed only with water from his cycling bottles, a couple of cloths and a standard bar of soap. They're a long way from perfect now but way cleaner than they were. Critically, both bikes had their chains scrubbed clean of the oil and dirt mixture they were caked with. They will be lubricated tomorrow before we leave.

And that's about it for today. The sun's still shining so we'll probably make the most of it and read our Kindles for a while sat at the table we've decided is ours :-)

By the way.... did you notice that our legs are now rated green? The rest day worked!

Oh yes. We took some photos too!