Day 3 Hédé to Rennes (51 kms)

The breakfast was almost the best thing about today. Not surprisingly; look at it! Martine is an artiste in everything she does; her breakfast table is a work of art! Trouble is, I needed Tony there to help eat it all, but she made me wrap up what was left and take it with me for later. This turned out to be a good idea because it was the most food I saw all day and I didn’t eat again until nearly 5pm!

Setting out into the rain on a bike is never fun, and I was reminded of the trip Tony and I did in 1984 from Roscoff in west Brittany (via ferry from Cork) to Poitiers over four days. It rained and blew every day and we set up and took down a sopping, dripping tent twice a day. We didn’t have the option of b&bs then although we wished we had but we were near the start of a year-long trip home. What I’m able to do now, I used to dream of.

And so it went, I started in the day in the rain and I finished it in the rain, and most of it in between was in the rain. It didn’t rain hard all the time just most of it. I am so happy with my great NZ gear: my Macpac jackets and Ground Effect overtrou. Totally effective and comfortable. I didn’t get wet at all. Neither did anything in my wonderful new bike bags. But we did get muddy, my bike and I. Mud and sand from the track sprayed everywhere and my shoes and legs were covered by the time we got to Rennes. As for the poor bike – I don’t know how it kept going, but it did.

There wasn’t a lot of choice; there was really nowhere to stop, no shelters, well, only one. This route that I’m taking is along the canal d’Îlle-et-Rance which was built in the early 1800s to link Rennes and Saint-Malo to overcome maritime blockades which had been imposed by England. It is now used only by pleasure craft and the route is marketed as La Manche à l’Océan (English Channel to the Atlantic) in the guidebooks both for canal boats and bikes. It starts at Saint Malo and finishes at a place called Arzal on the Atlantic.

However, to be marketed for cycle tourists there need to be a bit more than a few signs and the very occasional seat. I tried finding food in two towns today, pedalling up hills each time to get to them and they were both as bleak and ugly as each other. So I carried on to Rennes and did 51kms practically without stopping or eating.

I don’t do big cities very well and Rennes, being the capital of Brittany, is quite big. Plus the bike path just stops and leaves you with no signs at all. I didn’t see the Youth Hostel which is apparently right on the canal, nor could I see any signs to the Tourist Office, so I fell into the first hotel I came across, mud and all, and made very good use of the bath, basin, hair-dryer and radiator.

Then I had to go out to try to find food! By this time I was practically falling over! After an hour of walking around and finding nothing open, I came across a wonderful place. ‘Apple Pie’ it’s called and reminded me of Martha’s Kitchen in Wellington. It’s run by a lovely Irish woman who has lived her for twenty years (for love, of course) and runs an organic dynamic farm not far out of Rennes while raising her French/Irish children. She told me about how badly the recession has hit this area as Rennes relies on Peugeot which is laying off many staff. She said the towns I had passed through were commuter towns for Rennes; they  
 
 
 
used to be smart and had things happening but now there’s no money for extras. She and I had a great old chat and I realised it was the first time I’d spoken English in three days (except to myself which seems to becoming more common). I had a huge Irish scone with blackcurrant jam and a big cup of tea, after which I didn’t need to go out for dinner.