2023 - La Loire à Vélo: Day 3: Fri 26 May

10-26 degC, a beautiful sunny day, with a light to medium breeze in the afternoon

Ride: 10km

Walk: 7km, total: 13km

Wendy had a really good sleep, however, Greg was worried about how we were going to get to Nantes, and didn’t sleep all that well. He was up at 5:30am and did some washing and sorting. Whilst Wendy was awake, she did not leap out of bed. Breakfast at the hotel starts at 6:30am and we were there not long after. Not a huge spread, but lots of different breads, two coffee machines and all the essentials to fuel hungry cyclists.

We wanted to be at the rail ticketing office as it opened and Greg read on the net that it was 7:30am, so we were there about 7:35am, to find it closed! Not to worry, there is a machine for that. We played with a few options and found that all the trains on Monday were full, so we tried Tuesday and voilà, there was. 9:34 train direct to Nantes on Tuesday 30 May, and it had a bicycle symbol on it. We know from previous trips that if you’re on an SNCF train, bikes go for free. However, just to be sure, Greg asked a man in a SNCF uniform if he spoke English, and he did, very well in-fact. So, he helped us and got the same result we did. We booked the train and was immediately relieved as Wendy had put a lot of bookings in place to ensure we wouldn’t be sleeping under any bridges. Now we had to cancel our St Nazaire accommodation booking and extend our stay here in Lyon by two nights. Wendy checked on line back at the hotel, and our hotel had rooms. Armed with an internet price, Wendy bolted downstairs to see if she could book through the hotel and get a better price. Again, voilà, the price was even better and we ended up saving over Euro100, by booking direct with hotel, bonus! However, our plans to visit St Nazaire will have to wait until next we visit. A tricky place to get to with bikes, as Bob and Greg found in 2019.

With two hurdles cleared, some washing and more sorting done, we set out to clear the last hurdle - that of recharging the SIM card. We found an SFR (the phone company) shop on the map and set off. However, it seems that in France, the shops sell their post-paid products but don’t sell products if you want to recharge it. Maybe they’re not allowed to for some reason. Back to the tobacco shop to get a voucher. Wendy now has 6Gb data for Euro25, for 30 days. No passport no identification required. Didn’t need to buy anymore SIM cards either.

It was past lunch time by this stage, so we found a place that sold yummy looking small baguettes of various descriptions. Choices made, we purchased them together with a French vanilla slice and a chocolate eclair (chocolate custard inside with chocolate icing on top) and sat in a small park eating our lunch and watching the passing traffic - humans and bird life. Back to the hotel to brave the sim recharging process that took all of 20 seconds and voilà, 6Gb of data has been loaded. Phew, our last hurdle has been navigated without incident.

After a little rest, we donned the Lycra for the first time this trip and went for a test ride on the bikes. Always good to check them after being put back together. We rode out to Etats Unis (which basically means US in English) to view a number of impressive murals, then onto the Confluence Museum. We viewed and photographed the outside only, then made our way home.

Mainly due to the time difference, and a nice lunch, we weren’t up for dinner today so Wendy had lunch leftovers and Greg had something from the mini mart about 150m from the hotel. Wendy also bought a can of 1664 beer which we first took a liking to when we visited France in 2006. It is still a good brew.

Photo sorting, blogging, and bed.