| Day # |
11 |
State of Legs |
:-) |
|
Distance (miles) |
Distance (km) |
Ascent (feet) |
Ascent (metres) |
Punctures |
| Today |
51.4 miles |
km |
581 feet |
metres |
1 |
| Trip Totals |
564.9 miles |
km |
15650 feet |
metres |
1 |
Travelogue
The weather today was magnifique. Sunny all day with blue skies to match. If anything, when the breeze dropped it may have been a little on the hot side, but that would be getting picky. It was very good cycling weather.
Almost immediately after leaving the campsite, we were cycling through another area of wetland. There was more of this later in the route as well. What a great way to start the day's cycling.
Most of today's cycling involved either wetland areas or farmland. We passed through the occasional village though, including La Tranche-sur-Mer where we stopped for what we like to call "second breakfast". There was a boulangerie right next to a bar so we bought pastries first and then sat outside the bar and ordered coffee. M2 spotted something novel amongst the pastries on display and we ended up ordering two "Drops". These are apparently also known as "Pain Suisse". They're oblongs of brioche filled with a sweet yellow cream that is studded with bits of chocolate. And they are delicious! I suspect we'll order them again if we ever see them on offer anywhere else. M1 also had a PaR (Pain au Raisins) because apparently he was "starving". Literally. And this justified the evident gluttony in his eyes.
In Saint-Michel-en-l'Herm we cycled by a large estuary which had a long, high concrete wall along its edge. We couldn't resist stopping to climb steps up to its top and enjoy the view.
We did of course see lots of birds. We positively identified a Yellow Wagtail which M1 thought he'd seen the day before but wasn't 100% sure about. This time there was no doubt.
 |
| Yellow Wagtail (photo from Merlin app) |
We saw lots more of the Black-winged Stilt as well. These are interesting looking birds that look very geometrical, all edges and vertices with incredibly long legs for their size.
 |
| Black-winged Stilt (photo from Merlin app) |
There were Cattle Egrets, Grey Herons, all sorts of ducks, Coots and Moor Hens too. There was a small hovering bird that we have yet to identify but will look out for again.
The wetlands became farmland and we cycled through it on excellent gravel trails.
Today we're staying in an Airbnb studio apartment which is located about 6 miles from the
Vélodyssée route we're currently cycling. To get to the apartment, which is in a small village called Esnandes, we had to detour away from the Vélodyssée and this first involved cycling across a scary bridge, narrow and with fast and sometimes large vehicles on it! No harm came of this though and we were fortunate in that there was a lull in the traffic whilst we cycled down the busy road before turning onto a quieter road. Phew! We're not used to cycling on busy roads that have no dedicated cycle lane in France!
We'd identified a supermarket near the apartment but also noted than another of the same chain was located near our initial turn off from the main route. We thought we'd go there first, just in case there turned out to be a problem with the one nearest to our apartment. There didn't seem to be much choice beyond these two options, but with two to choose from, what could go wrong?
Well, the first of the two it turned out was not open at all on a Monday. And guess what day today is?
So, we cycled onwards to Esnandes and found the other supermarket. But it had a sign in the window that said it was temporarily closed (i.e. not just today). No food for M1 and M2!!! And the village boulangerie was closed! And so was the actual take-away pizza place! Oh my. DISASTER!!
Well, not quite. More like SLIGHT INCONVENIENCE! Because we'd just passed one of those legendary pizza vending machines and noted to ourselves that if the worst came to the worse, we'd be having pizza tonight. M1 has
eaten from these machines before, including on last year's trip and can vouch for them. The pizzas are actually not bad at all. And.... if it's the only food available, they can quickly become absolutely delicious!
We cycled to the studio apartment which is in a self-contained extension to a bungalow that the Airbnb host lives in. It's very nice and just what we need.
But what are we doing in an Airbnb in the middle of an otherwise typical week? Don't we usually reserve such luxuries for the end of each 5 or 6 day block of cycling and rest days? Well, yes we do. But M2 likes football (soccer) and there's a match tonight she wishes to see. And as everyone knows, football is best watched from a sofa rather than sat in seats somewhere on a campsite. So there you have it. And in fact, for this very reason and because we're going to have two rest days this week, tonight is the first of five nights in a row in various Airbnb properties. #livingthedream
On unpacking what little we needed to unpack and showering, we both agreed we were starving right now and couldn't wait for the evening. So, M1 cycled back into the village, intending to use the pizza machine. But as luck would have it, the village boulangerie was now open. So, M1 went in and returned triumphant with two substantial quiches made with goats cheese, spinach and tomato, two large CaA (Croissants au Amandes) and two coconut cakes. The cakes have not yet been eaten but the other items were awesome and we feel human again. And it's not impossible that we'll hit the pizza machine later this evening, maybe sharing a pizza between us.
We took some photos, can you believe it?
 |
| DISASTER! (not) |
No comments:
Post a Comment