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Saturday 13th June 2015 Mortagne au Perche to Thorigné Sur Dué It was a nice day today with a few clouds to temper the heat. I got away from Mortagne au Perche at about 9.00 and was soon making good time along the easy, rolling roads. At some point I saw something like a stoat crossing the road, fairly large it was. I didn't have much for lunch - an éclair bought from a boulangerie - so I was getting a bit hungry as the day wore on. Hungry and thirsty too although I did get a pot of tea somewhere and enjoyed a broken chat with the friendly lady there, telling her of my trip.
I was heading for Saint Calais as the petrolheads had rather annoyingly scheduled their 24 Hour Race for this weekend and I thought all the Le Mans hotels would be full. As it was all the St Calais ones were too! I discovered this when I got there and tried to get a room at the Hotel D'Angleterre - I mean, come on, if I couldn't get in at the Angleterre hotel where was I going to get in! Fortunately my 'hapless old English idiot' demeanour prompted the nice lass there to help me out by getting on the internet and searching online for accommodation for me. Eventually she found me a room in a hotel in Thorigné Sur Dué which I took despite it being 115 euros and 30 kilometres away - and I'd ridden 50 miles that day already.
Never mind, it had to be done and at least the roads were good and mainly traffic-free. I set off for Thorigné, slightly worried about my dehydrating state but in the middle of nowhere I saw a farmhouse where a bloke was sweeping some stuff up. I rode into the courtyard and asked him if he could fill my bottle with water and of course he obliged with a smile and a 'bon voyage'. After that it was a straightforward ride to Thorigné sur Dué and the Hotel St Jacques.
The hotel was a nice enough place despite obviously having hiked its prices up for the race weekend but it was probably a bit too 'haute cuisine' for me. I came down for dinner and asked them to do something vegetarian for me - it said on their menu that they would do so but they did seem ill-at-ease with the idea, it must be said. Despite having said I didn't want an entrée they served up a tiny pot of soup with a few croutons in it. Then the 'vegetarian' dish appeared - a bowl of salad with tomatoes, lettuce, asparagus and melon plus a couple of bread rolls! Bizarre. Another cheese omelette would have been better. The waitress, friendly if slightly sniffy at the uncultured oik who was declining their usual high-class fodder choices, then asked if I'd like 'encore'. Oh, ok then. She didn't expand on this, probably just as well as I'd have struggled with her explanation, but less than a minute later her friendlier chum came along and with a grin at my evident peculiarities asked if I was OK with eggs and crème fraiche. Sure, why not. A few minutes later part 3 of the meal arrived, a tastefully small amount, this time comprising some carrots, asparagus, mashed potatoes and a few other odds and sods. Well it all went down. Bike computer: 63.37 miles GPS: 65.1 miles 11.1 mph avg 95.8 mph max (I think this may be a mistake!) 3369 ft ascent | |||||
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