A day’s rest is a great thing… we were up, and back on the road by 8.30 this morning rearing to go. Our plan for today, to get to Savennières, 85km according to Google maps cycle.

These days we plan to do about 75k cycling each day, so we look for accommodation in a town/village at that point on the route. Obviously we may have to go a little bit more or less depending on what’s available. In very rural areas the things we check for when booking – wifi, (yes please don’t give out!) but also if there’s a restaurant serving dinner locally. The latter is particularly important when on a bike as we don’t want to have to cycle for our supper! When I was booking for tonight I checked dinner and no, no restaurant in Savennières but Madame would cook dinner for guests. That sounded perfect.

Today was a no day – no hills, no rain, no wind, no traffic, no lorries. We had loads of sunshine and plenty of flat cycling. In fact now that we are on Véloroute 6  by the Loire it should be like this for many a day. Today reached 27 deg C but the breeze generated when cycling makes that perfectly comfortable. Obviously we were wearing plenty of sunscreen.

If yesterday was a day of beauty in a city, today was same in the countryside.

We cross the Loire many times on many lovely bridges.

I asked the farmer in my best broken French what crop was growing – salad.

And leeks

Morning break at Ancenis.

And morning break for the cows too!

We no longer need to follow Google maps, this little sign guides us on our path. Whenever we come to a decision point, there is always this sign.

We are meeting other cyclists on the Véloroute 6, many older men and less many women. The age profile will probably change once school/college is complete.

A new bridge beside the old building.

These plants about the size of basil plants all sown in individual pots, (which are hard to see in the photo). I assume they are the pots of herbs one gets in a supermarket. I’m thinking basil as I’m sure that would grow fine outdoors here in France, though I
can’t be sure. If I could have easily gone into the field to check, I would have.

Some sculptures in a small village along the way.

We arrived at our lovely B&B in the middle of nowhere for the night. Measuring on the Strava app, we had cycled 98km. The sight of a bath and crisp white sheets after a long day was magic! Our accommodation off the beaten track was very beautiful and yet very inexpensive. The house, parts of which date back to 1707, has been in the Alix, the owner’s family since 1835. We had a beautiful dinner cooked by her using many local ingredients and served with local wine. Starting with drinks and canapés in the garden at 7.30pm, a dinner of Caprese salad, roast duck with vegetables and potatoes, a cheese course and a cherry clafoutis dessert followed. (To give you an idea of the exceptional quality/value -dinner including wines was €30.) There are three rooms in the main house and two in a converted garage. All the guests ate together with the owner. Speaking both in French and English, conversation was very lively and we only left our garden table at 11.30pm.