DAY 2: IFFENDIC - BRAIN-SUR-VILAINE: 72km
MONDAY 14 JULY

We woke up to the sun streaming through the window. The long-range forecast hadn't been that good and it was such a relief to see that it was wrong! It was the sort of weather I had dreamed of and we couldn't wait to get up and get going as we both felt really positive after such a good day the day before.

I'm not religious but finding the bike waiting next to the cross felt like a good omen

At about 9am, after a Breton breakfast of pancakes, we pushed the bike back up the gravel drive. It wasn't the easiest start to the day but it was a very pleasant walk through the woods with the birds singing and the warmth of the day beginning to filter through the leaves. We were pleased to see the tarmac D road at the top of the drive and soon got into our stride as we headed towards St. Peran.

The roads were empty as it was Bastille Day

The only time the map source let us down - it told us there was a road here


We followed quiet roads, again bordered mostly by maize, and found ourselves following the route the Tour de France had taken a couple of weeks previously.



St. Peran's welcome to the Tour de France

Even the small lanes had tributes to the Tour

A quick stop in Maxent

We stopped for morning coffee in a very friendly bar in the village of Campel where everyone wanted to know more about our trip. Coffee was served from a domestic filter machine and to reach the loo you had to walk through the patron's front room, negotiating her television which was on for those wishing to watch it. As was often the case as we left we were wished "bonnes vacances" and "bonne route".

I was really hungry by this point - a French breakfast is not sufficient when you are cycling - and I went to the village shop to look for food. Unfortunately the most substantial thing I could find was a packet of biscuits.

Campel was really friendly - shame about the lack of bakery

We followed the road through Maure-de-Bretagne which looked a very nice town but we didn't have time to stop because we had decided to get to the Port de Guipry for lunch and were conscious that the sacred hour of mid-day was approaching.

We picked up the old railway line at Maure-de-Bretagne.

This cycle path would take us all the way to the Port de Guipry. The track was quite wide with a fairly good surface in places but in others it was quite overgrown and very stony. We were cycling quite fast as we didn't want to miss our lunch and as I ducked out of the way of over hanging brambles I didn't dare mention the word puncture.

The cycle path cut through beautiful countryside - but there were a lot of barriers to negotitate


We had assumed on reaching the Port de Guipry and that there would be a path from the cycle track down to the Port. This wasn't the case and in a desperate attempt to get to a restaurant before they stopped serving lunch (that is a downside of French restaurants, they do stop serving so early) we somehow managed to manhandle the loaded tandem down an incredibly steep bank from the bridge above and through the local campsite. It was about 1.30pm by the time we reached the port and service at the first restaurant we tried had already stopped.

Luckily the Creperie du Port was still open

Exactly what I had hoped for - a lovely meal in the sun

The view was good too

After working our way through the crepe menu it was time to move on.

We picked up the cycle path by the side of the Vilaine

We spent the afternoon following the river all the way to Brain-sur-Vilaine. It was absolutely stunning.



We had the Vilaine on our left



and beautiful countryside on our right

It was a lovely hot day and it was so tranquil to follow the river firstly on the cycle track and then on a lane. It was just how I had imagined cycling in France would be and I was enjoying every minute of it.

We hardly saw a car all afternoon

On the approach to Brain-sur-Vilaine at about 5pm I had my first "I have to get off the bike now" moment. I was beginning to feel a bit uncomfortable as riding a tandem doesn't give you the ability to change position in the saddle as you would a solo bike.

The village wasn't as picturesque as it might've been due to the road works

Our chambre d'hotes for the night was the home of the mayor.



It was a beautiful house full of antiques with its facade on the main street

and its garden backing on to the river


As it was Bastille Day the table d'hotes was not available so our hosts had booked us a place at the village meal that evening. It all seemed a bit uncertain as to what time the meal would start but as we were right in the middle of the village it was not a problem. After we had had a shower we had a walk round the village to see if there was any sign of anything happening - which there wasn't. This didn't surprise us as most village festivals are like this, one minute there is no-one around and you think you have the wrong day and then the next minute there are stages, dance floors and refreshment tents everywhere.

We decided to go back to our chambre d'hotes and rest and try again a bit later. The mayor and his family together, with their guests, were having their meal in the garden when we got back and we didn't like to intrude so we sat in our room.


It was a good chance to catch up on our diary writing


After a while we decided to go back out and see if there was any sign of the evening's festivities. There was slightly more happening and a bar had opened and rows of tressle tables were ready to accommodate diners. We bought a bottle of red as our apero and sat down at one of the tables and decided we would just wait and see what happened. Suddenly the tables were filling up and a queue for food had begun so we tagged on the end and got our beef stew. Luckily there was really nice bread on the table and we were able to fill up, to some extent, on this.

We felt rather out of place not knowing anyone but it was a lovely evening to be sitting outside and we were happy. We had had a really lovely day's ride and this cycle touring was proving to be easier than I had anticipated. I thought we would be getting to our destination each evening exhausted but actually we had arrived still feeling fresh - although of course this was only our second day! The weather was also helping, it was absolutely glorious - I'm sure the day's ride wouldn't have been so scenic if it had been grey and raining.

We were entertained by a French group singing English sea shanties and Irish folk songs

As we ate we were aware of a group of local English people behind us and we fell into conversation with a lovely, friendly man who asked us if we would like to join his table. We really enjoyed the evening chatting to him and his French wife and everyone made us feel really welcome and were interested to hear about our trip. I encouraged everyone to get up and do some Breton dancing and there was more dancing later in the evening when the disco started. We waited until midnight to watch the fireworks and then, reluctantly, said goodbye to everyone who now felt like old friends, as we needed to get a good nights sleep.