Friday 25.05.2018

Treguier - Lannion

Going down our turret stairs was almost as hairy as the ascent, laden as we were with large bags. These mediaeval folk must have been on the thin side with commendable fitness levels. .

Today has been a beautiful day following the coast and continuing to dive down to sandy bays and sheltered harbours. I now have a question for any geologists who may be following this blog. Lying in amongst the beaches and the adjoining countryside and randomly strewn around were these huge rounded blocks of very smooth pink granite. How they came to be stranded thus, we could not fathom. Any suggestions would be much appreciated. So impressed were we with this section of the ride that it is likely we will return but maybe with the camper!

It is an oddity with this coast that some of the towns/villages in the bays are very well loved and others need a real sort out. One that was less than beautiful, was Trebeurden where we thought we might overnight. However, a surly landlord said his establishment was full and that was sufficient to spur us on to Lannion with some trepidation. (We are still doing lots of ups and downs and it was another 20 kms). When we reached Lannion it was HUGE. The signs for our route were abundant and without them, I suspect we might still be circling the city. Eventually, after a tour of the many backstreets, we arrived in what seemed to be the city centre, judging by the number of cars, motorbikes and one way systems. Quite tired now and a bit overwhelmed, we asked of a passerby by where we might find the Ibis hotel - we were almost next to it! Dooh! We didn’t stay there but it was opposite to a much cheaper option. We discovered why when we were assured that our bikes would fit in the lift - no: that we could carry them down a flight of steps - no. As a last resort to getting them down to the garage, we unloaded completely, left the panniers in the hallway, upended the bikes into the lift! Mission accomplished!

It was now quite late so we took advantage of the offer of a ready meal from reception. This arrived in a kilner jar to be heated i e microwave of our tiny kitchen. Assuaged the hunger though. Just need a good night’s kip.

Saturday  26.05.2018

Lannion - Plougasnou

Thankfully, this morning when we went to check on the bikes, and after a short exploration of the underground car park, we found a much easier exit system than the previous evening’s fiasco. Took command of a lift and ferried all the baggage to the garage.

Sadly, it is not the weather we have become accustomed to - it being very foggy and not warm. The forecast is a mixture of clear skies by eleven and/or thunderstorms throughout France. Ever optimistic, we opted to believe the clearing up one. Silly billys - without any warning at all not even a murmer of thunder, the heavens chucked a downpour onto our unsuspecting bodies. In the seconds that it took to don wet weather gear, we were soaked, the roads were running with water and we found ourselves paddling in the gutter as we pushed sodden bikes up the steepest hill of the day! Thankfully, this all occurred nearing the end of our day.

Hitherto, it had been misty and views from the cliffs were obscured,but we nonetheless, saw enough of the coast to be impressed. At a particularly pretty inlet at Locquirec, we met up with a group of guys from Cornwall who had come over to Brittany for the bank holiday and to ride the area. We exchanged comments on bicycles and for a short while we were envious of the fact that they were on lightweight road bikes with no luggage - but only momentarily. Do I lie? Nooo. It was, however, generally agreed that Sustrans found the longest and hilliest route between any two points. Today, I have to point out that they also find paths, which at high water, would be impossible to wade through. Fortunately. our passage coincided with low water!

Now that Roscoff is so close, we had been contemplating where to stop. The thunder storm made the decision for us. So two very soggy cyclists arrived in Plougasnou and found a bed and a meal for this night.