St Malo to Nice

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62 miles

Thursday 12th September

Breakfast today was one of the worst we have had. There was fruit juice, bread, croissants, jam and honey, yoghurt and a hot drink. As the coffee was black only I asked for a hot chocolate which was very nice but strange to have for breakfast. We made the most of what there was and took a yoghurt each 'for the road'. We were away by nine o'clock having further to go. It was very foggy and quite cold when we set off but fortunately it didn't last long and the sun broke through and then it got warmer and warmer as the day went on.

The morning saw us passing through pasture land and the afternoon through enormous arable fields. The fields had 'gatine' gates, a style peculiar to this area. We stopped for yoghurt and nuts at a picnic bench by the road and then realised a man wanted to cut the grass there so we got up to move across the road. "No, no" shouted the man and he dragged the picnic table off the grass onto the carpark at the side so we could sit down and he could cut the grass. To be honest the grass was so dried up and bare we couldn't tell any difference when he had finished.

Lunch was a baguette, cheese, ham and crisps in Lusignan which looked a nice place but we didn't have time to explore. Carrying on we were now into arable land and country lanes. There were lots of fields of dried up sunflowers which look quite sad. I love them when they are in full bloom.

Part way through the afternoon I went into a supermarket, we were passing, to buy a cold drink each and Mars bars as it was now very hot and that made the going harder.

Unluckily, about ten miles from our destination Paul got a puncture. He tried to carry on by blowing it up a couple of times but had to admit defeat and change the inner tube. At least we were in the shade of some trees.

The first thing we saw arriving in L'Isle-Jourdain was the viaduct spanning the valley across a very pretty river. Of course it was down to the river and then up the other side to the town. We soon found our B&B for the night and were massively impressed. The owners came out to greet us and are a retired English couple who have lived abroad for many years. They showed us round the house, showed us our room, told us we could use the swimming pool, sit on the terrace and did we want a glass of wine or beer. They took our bike bottles off us to wash and refill and offered to do any washing we had. They really couldn't be any more friendly. The house was amazing. Very ornate and well decorated. Outside was very impressive too with lots of outdoor furniture and the swimming pool.

There were three other cyclists already there and washed and changed and enjoying the terrace area.

When we were ready to go out to dine they told us the path to follow through the grounds and the key to the gate with instructions on the way to the restaurant about five minutes walk away. They rang the restaurant to say we were on our way. The restaurant was very quiet but the food was good and replenished us after a day in the saddle. It was still very warm as walked back. Today was the first evening we dined outside and didn't wear a jacket over our tea shirts.

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