St Malo to Nice

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37 miles.

Chocolate rice cakes again for breakfast. It's very weird to be eating chocolate at breakfast. We supplemented breakfast with our own yoghurt. At least I could make very milky coffee.
Using the link from Booking.com we booked the hotel they wanted to redirect us to and and some one from Booking.Com rang to say they knew we had done that and could they help with anything else. Another later set off as only a short mileage.
We were soon heading out of town and on tiny roads through farm land. The first village we passed through had some of the houses built into the cliff sides. We went slightly off route in one small village because it was meant to have a supermarket. After riding round a little bit we found it and a notice on the door said it was closed for September due to holidays. Fortunately, when passing through another village further on we found a tiny Co-op and I bought a baguette, some cheese and some ham to go with crisps we already had.
At Martaiz we saw the Donjon an old stone defense tower built in 1020. To be honest it didn't look that inspiring but you have to respect its age and the fact it is still standing.
Lunch was at Vaultair sat under an old stone canopy next to the impressive Abbey. By now it was very hot. There was an Irish cyclist already sat in there and he said he was cycling from Cherbourg to La Rochelle to meet his wife for a couple of days and then he was cycling south to the Spanish border and his wife would pick him up there, put the bike in the hire car and drive down to their apartment near Alicante.
We sat there for a while talking and people watching because we were well over half way. People started to gather outside the Abbey and then a white hearse arrived. That seemed very different. The family then followed the coffin into the Abbey.
The guide book had said most of today's ride would be 'flat'. It wasn't very hilly but it certainly wasn't flat. Mainly we were on very quiet roads and through arable land.
The new hotel was right in the centre of Parthenay and ok, a bit basic but it's only for the night. We couldn't get internet in the room so had to sit in the bar with a drink. (Orange juice). We went out to dine and I had a tuna casserole Italian style. Quite adventurous for me but there was little choice of what I might eat as it was very beef oriented. Then we had a quick look inside the old city walls before walking back to the hotel. On the way we passed a large beautiful white church which looked so out of place in the run down streets surrounding it.

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