Day 9: Thu 1 Jun - Nantes to Ancenis-St Gereon, 41km

15-29 degC, fine and sunny with a strong headwind

Total ride: 84.5km

A later than usual start to the ride for two reasons; we knew we only had 40km odd to ride today, and we had to fix Wendy’s rear view mirror, which took longer than expected. Repairs completed, we rode away from the hotel about 8:50am and were soon mixing it with the early morning commuters, 100s of them, bicycle traffic jam. It was really great to be on tour for real. Once we were about 5km out of the city, the numbers of riders diminished greatly and Wendy was able to relax and enjoy the ride. 

Mornos was had about 11:15am, not because we didn’t want it sooner, we just couldn’t find any where suitable. We finally came across an area with some wooden picnic tables surrounded by wildflowers, perfect. It wasn’t far out of La Varenne. Onwards we travelled and after crossing a rather long bridge, with a narrow path and a hefty side wind, we made it to Oudon. Although the route didn’t take us into the town we could see church spire and the top of a castle so we deviated. Lucky we did as there were some interesting things to see, including a chateau and various sculptures.

Back on the Loire route, we made it to Ancenis - Saint-Gereon about 1:15pm. We have an apartment for our accommodation tonight, just a pity we are only here for one night. We were a tad early, (check-in was 2pm) but decided to call the number on the door but with no luck. So, off we went in search of a lunch venue. We hadn’t gone very far when Greg recognized a boulangerie he and Bob had lunch or mornos at back in 2019. However, just as we were about to go in and order, the lady from the apartment rang back. She spoke as much English as we speak French. Anyway, we eventually got the code to the key lock box, went back, did a quick change of clothes and returned to the boulangerie for lunch. We did a slow wander around town after lunch then called it quits for a rest. 

We noticed a garage next to the front door to the apartment that said it was reserved for the accommodation clients. So, Wendy, with the assistance of Google Translate, sent a text to the lady, who replied with the code for garage lock box. We had locked the bikes up to a solid-looking drain pipe outside, but being able to store them in a locked garage was even better. 

Just before 5pm, we struck out again, this time for the supermarket to purchase dinner and breakfast makings. After dinner we blogged and read, before bed. We are looking forward to what tomorrow brings.

Leaving Nantes, it was a bit chilly but quickly warmed up.

One of the many surfaces we road on today, all smooth and well maintained 

Looks like they’ve had to install barriers to stop motorists driving on the bike path

One of the bridges we crossed today

Different fields in different stages of production

Beans

Leeks

Nice looking cattle

Saint Martin Church at Oudon

Chateau d’Oudon

Sculptures at Oudon

Oudon streetscape

Our apartment at Ancenis

Killer stairs of our apartment 

Chateau d’Ancenis

Ancenis Town Hall

Lunch venue

Nice building overlooking the Loire

Bridge over the Loire at Ancenis

Our accommodation from the outside. We are on the top floor and the only opening window we have faces the street. There are two air conditioners that work well to compensate.