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Tuesday 30th August 2016 Ancenis to Nantes We had a very good breakfast at Loire Sejours and set off about 9.48 under some cloud and in rather cool conditions compared to the previous days. It was to be a short ride today so we were in no rush and stopped for a photo in Oudon, an attractive town with a large keep.
In Thouare sur Loire we called in at a patisserie for a ‘coffee and viennoise for €1.5’ and while we were there Andrew received a call from Andrew the previous night’s B&B owner complaining about a couple of marks on Andrew T’s duvet cover. Rather bizarrely he asked if Andrew had done it on purpose after being offended in some way by Andrew B&B. Andrew T assured him this was not so and offered recompense but the other Andrew said he’d just leave it – so why ring up? A bit odd.
We carried on and were soon in Nantes, a huge city, clean and affluent-looking with good cycle provision. There’s a large, solid-looking palace (formerly home to the Dukes of Bretagne) in the city centre, a much restored cathedral nearby (extensively damaged by bombing in WWII) and wide boulevards lined by street cafes and bars, all of them well patronised, day and night.
A very smooth, wide cycleway led us into the city from the east, alongside the river, so getting to the centre was easy and pretty safe. We found a suitable hotel near the centre – the Trois Marchands (€55 for the room plus €10 each for breakfast).
Had a look round the cathedral and got a pasta at one of the cafes. Then later that evening we went out for a couple of beers and a game of crib. Average speed: 7.9 mph Miles today: 24 miles (but it read 30 miles after faffing about in Nantes) Total miles: 387.4 Nantes elevation: 45 ft | ||||||||
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