We arrived in Roscoff on Sunday and up to Wednesday, Day 4 we have been travelling down France in a south easterly direction. Thursday, Day 5 we were to travel east from St Nazaire on Véloroute 6.  Given that we were starting the Véloroute, we really wanted to start at the start so instead of setting out from St Nazaire on the north side of the Loire, we first cycled to the south side of the river at Saint Brévin-Les-Pins. This took a little negotiating – first crossing this railway bridge.

 

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This took us over the Pont de Saint Nazaire. The bridge is approximately 3.5km long and does allow cyclists. It was very windy crossing the bridge, a nice climb and descent.

 

We  expected an ‘all singing, all dancing mark’ at the start of Véloroute 6. Instead the start was marked by this single sign, the sign that marks the route all along its 3,653 km. Who says cycling doesn’t embrace simplicity!

 

 

And with the bridge in the background

 

 

 

 

But all this was tackled only after a hearty breakfast, (picture not including the fruit!) We aren’t under eating!

For the rest of Thursday we had many beautiful views of the Loire.

We passed these guys at one point – the rhinoceros and camel are made out of scrap metal.

 

They were so cleverly made – the level of detail was amazing.

 

 

 

Yesterday’s cycle ended up being 80km with the added piece at the start plus the fact that the Véloroute to Nantes, our stop for the night, took us on a much more scenic route in every sense of the term.

We met Fearghus, (son of Breda, our Sligo friend) and his partner Lola for dinner last night and had a really lovely evening, first with drinks in their back garden.

 

We had to move indoors quickly because of a lot of thunder and lightning. This beautiful tree in their back garden is a protected tree!

 

 

 

We went to dinner at the lovely Art Deco La Cigale restaurant.

 

 

 

Nantes at nightime

While Theresa May contemplated her decision to call a snap election and Donald Trump the Comey testimony, after all the exercise we had no problem sleeping!