Cycle Touring in Brittany, France

Here are a few little nuggets of information that may be of use to anyone considering a cycle touring trip in the Brittany area of northwest France. If you flick back thought the last month of this blog (any post from August 2020), you'll be able to get more specific information about our journey as we traveled some 700km around the region, but hopefully, this short article will help anyone planning a similar expedition with some of the logistics.

Terrain:

Brittany is a very bike-friendly area of the world, with cycle lanes connecting most towns and villages, either with a marked area on the roadside or more often a dedicated cycle lane away from the traffic.  The 'Greenways' that this area is famous for, are traffic-free cycling roads. Generally, they follow old railway lines or canal and river towpaths (Chemin du Haulage) that are wide enough to ride side by side, unlike a lot of towpaths in the UK.

The surfaces are mostly compacted sand and gravel, (but some are tarmaced), so allow for a slightly slower average pace when riding on the greenways, compared to super smooth, fast road tarmac. Given the features that they follow, they are generally flat, with very little in the way of inclines. Around the coastal areas, the geography dictates that you'll find more ups and downs as you travel between headlands, beaches and bays on quiet roads.

Weather:

We traveled in August and if anything, the weather was too hot at times, causing us to adapt our days to setting off early in the cool of the morning and sheltering in the shade of the afternoon. We experienced some rain, but usually in the afternoon or evenings, so it was usually unnecessary to ride in the wet. Maybe we were just lucky? Temperatures, which were generally in the mid to high twenties, meant that things soon dried up after a storm or shower.

Accommodation:

We mostly camped, which is by far the cheapest and easiest option. On average, two people and a tent cost about 12 Euros for the night. The cheapest campgrounds are called 'Municipal Camping' and could be as cheap as 8.40 Euros for two people, bikes and tent, including the obligatory tourist tax. These all had water, hot showers, toilets, the option of an electric hook-up and often a small shop - or a means of ordering bread for the next day. Private campsites, usually had bigger facilities, laundrettes, swimming pools, a bar, cafe etc and charged slightly more. The most expensive night we had under canvas was 18 Euros. The main advantage of camping (apart from being cheap) was that nothing was booked in advance, so we could decide where to stay based on how tired we were on a given day. Twice, we came across a campsite that was fully booked (coastal campsites, right by a beach), but these were in popular areas, so had other campsites nearby with space.

Hotels were far more expensive and harder to come by than in the UK. We stayed in a few, to either dodge bad weather or because we just fancied a night indoors. We used a few different search and booking websites, as no one site seemed to have many options, but there are tourist information centres in almost every town, which will happily make a booking for you. We found the hotels we stayed in to be clean but very dated. Minimum 65 Euro for a night and usually extra for breakfast.

Maps and Guides:

We downloaded a GPX track onto our Garmin GPS before we left, with all the cycle routes from  www.garmin.openstreetmap.nl. We took four rechargeable AA batteries. Two to power the GPS, while the other two were charging from a solar panel on the back of my bike during the day while we rode. We also had a paper map of the region and two cycling guides for the main 'Greenway' bike routes which we found through the informative Brittany tourism website. These gave a bit history of the areas as well as details of detours and nearby attractions.

Equipment:

We each had two rear Ortlieb panniers and a small drybag over the rear wheel as well as a handlebar bag. Tent, sleeping bags, therm-a-rest (and chair kit) and a small tarp blanket provided our living area. A Primus gas stove (small enough to pack inside a tiny Trangia kettle), a nest of two pans and two folding plates were accompanied by three sporks (one each and a spare) and of course, an Opinel penknife, provided for all our cooking needs. 

We had one set of clothes for riding in and one for the evenings as well as swimwear, a pack towel and a pair of sandals. Waterproof jackets and trousers got used, but the duvet jacket which I'd taken for wearing in the evening at camp, wasn't necessary due to the heat. We had a few staples in the bags along with some cereal bars, but otherwise bought food daily as required. Due to the sandy gravel of the greenways, we cleaned and oiled our chains every other day to prevent them from clogging up. We drove from the UK with everything we needed packed into the back of the car, which we then left with a campsite owner while we were away on our tour.

Highlights:

The north coast was much harder work than following the canal systems, but the coastline is stunning, with plenty of swimming opportunities. Big sandy beaches were well frequented, but it was usually easy to find a quiet secluded bay just around the corner.

We spotted plenty of Kingfishers, Herons and Otters along the Nante-Brest Canal and other river sections.

Many of the towns are built around beautiful old town squares - some medieval in age. We thought the old quarters of Malestroit and Josselin were particularly nice and incredibly well preserved. 

The regional capital of Rennes, has an impressive and spacious town centre and the river port in Redon, where the Nantes-Brest Canal intersects the other greenways was bright and lively.

As with any good adventure, the highlight is the overall vibe of being 'on tour' - good feelings come from living simply, having a set challenge, owning minimal kit and sharing it all with a good partner. Anything else you need, as we would often say "the tour will provide"....

A Change in the Weather

The last few days have gone by in a blur of travel and sleep. We said our goodbyes to the continent with a final early morning walk along a windswept beach at Boulogne.

It turns out that Boulogne is actually a pretty cool town with an incredible cathedral within an old walled city. Timings worked out well enough for us to enjoy an evening walk around the old city.

As always, Clare had done some research and we arrived at the source of the best pizzas in town. They clearly hadn't invested much in their advertising and signage over the years, but to be fair, they knew how to cook up a great pizza and the reviews were spot on. We ate it sitting on the top of the old city walls underneath the towering basilica as the sun set.

Before travelling through the tunnel, we stretched our legs along the deserted beach front in the quiet of the early morning.

This artwork was painted on the end of the houses above the beach. It seemed like a fitting end point to the expedition. It was time to drive....

With the car laiden with bikes and supplies, we set off back for the UK.

The drive went pretty well until we reached Wales. We were only fifteen mintues from The Cottage, when the full force of Storm Francis became apparent. The A55 was completley flooded. We were able to make it though, but soon after we heard on the news that the road had been closed.

The final section of duel carrage way was reduced to one lane - you could have kayaked in the other.

Things got much worse as we neared The Cottage. The Ogwen river had burst it's banks in several places. The A5 was already closed. A friend of mine took this photo of up near Ogwen Cottage and you can see why! As well as incredible rains, a landslide had come down from the mountainside above the road. We detoured up the hill, thinking that it would be better higher up, but it was far worse. Water was pouring off the hillsides with force and the two roads though the village were already knee deep in water. The fire brigade were evacuating houses and a police man told us that we couldn't reach our hill the way we were going. There was one more route to try, before, we would have to abandon the car and set out on foot. Thankfully, we descended with the flowing water, but at the bottom of the hill, where the water was pouring left, into a lake where there should have been a road, we turned right and stayed above the waters. Thankfully, The Cottage remained water tight. The rain guage, having been emptied only a few days ago was full at 12cm and it seems that it filled with in a 12 hour period. 

We were very relieved to get inside and very lucky. We were soon asleep, and woke only during the following eleven hours when we heard the helicopter hovering nearby. We later found out that it was evacuating further properties. In the morning, the sun was back out and the waters had begun to receed. Cycle touring in the sunshine of France seemed a long way away...

Completing the Circle

The grand cycle touring circuit of Bretagne is finally complete! After twenty something days on the road, we’ve arrived back where we started at the tow-path (or Chemin de Haulage as it’s known around here) where we began back at the start of the month.

Like most best laid expedition plans, we had to adapt to and overcome any obstacles or unforeseen events as we came across them. Things such as adapting to the weather, choosing between two routes, or dealing with a government’s overnight decision to close or quarantine a border! There has been lots to take on, on this journey, not least the blistering heat, volume of croissant intake and the huge amount of kilometres to peddle (I’ll add up the final amount, from my note book later). Having had to bring our return date forwards, it soon became clear that we would require some assistance for journeying the final section. The irony was not lost on me, that in order to get back to the UK with time to safely quarantine, we’d have to do the most risky thing of the entire trip - get on a crowded train. 

Two trains later, (one full and one with only me on board!), I arrived in the old town of Dinan. Unable to take my bike on the second, local train, I then set off on foot, in search of the car that we’d abandoned at the beginning of the month.



Thankfully, it was where we had left it, only half buried in leaves and a good layer of dust. The wheels had locked up, but released with a clunk, as I pulled away, remembering to join the right hand carriageway. By later on that day, the full expedition team and all it’s equipment were reunited and we even had time to nip to the local beach.



The river in town, despite being 10km from the sea has a huge tidal flow still. When we arrived yesterday, there was just a muddy brown trickle, but at high tide, the place was transformed.







The jigsaw puzzle of fitting everything into the car was completed with remarkable speed and ease.



Finally, it was time to begin the long drive back east. We broke the journey up by stopping for a swim at Port Moguer. We timed it perfectly with high tide and had a fantastic swim in the sheltered little bay. The water felt cold at first, but once in, we swam and dived for ages in the beautiful clear waters.

As the tide went out, we were able to scramble around the rocks to our own private bay, where we fell asleep in the sun.





The drive continued east past St Marlo, but on our way back from the beach to the main road, we stopped ‘in tour style’ at one final village square (Plouha), to soak up the last French village vibe. It’s so different arriving by bike - in a car, you miss so much. So it was a great finale to stop and take it all in...



Total Ride: 0.5km

Locquirec to Lannion - Velo 4

It’s time say good bye to this section of coastline today. We survived the storm of the trip during the night, which is more than can be said if quite a few of the other campers here. The wind was gusting all night and you could hear the big ones coming through the trees before they hit the tent. We went down to the waters edge, but yesterday was ‘the’ swim day, so instead we got packed up and set off on the trail. 

This time, our ride coincided with the high tide, which gave a beautiful ride across some of the estuary mouths. 

We made a quick detour to get to a shop to buy some lunch produce, in case we didn’t come across another, but were soon back down by the next long and sandy bay.



Where we enjoyed our freshly purchased pain au chocolates, while watching a bit of surf.



The trail continued along a couple of nice bays. A windsurfer seemed to be having the best time - everyone else was just getting blown about.



At the beach called Grève St Micheal, we watched a squall of rain heading our way on the wind. It produced a good rainbow, which we watched while sheltering behind a sign. 



We put waterproofs on to move onwards, but it soon warmed back up once the shower has passed by.





In my head I had imagined that it would be great to come across a typical French village at around 11am, where we could take a break. I had pictured a nice church, village square, baker and cafe and that’s exactly what we found at Ploumilliau. We couldn’t quite believe it - it was just as I’d hoped - but were delighted to take a quiet seat outside the village cafe.



The final section down into Lannion was good fun, with quiet lanes and finishing with a long downhill all the way to the river, where a pedestrian area has been developed.



We took a seat to admire the view and rest our legs. 



No camping tonight either as we have some logistics to sort out tomorrow. For tonight though, a little stroll through the old town and some filling foods should sort us out nicely.



Total Ride: 27km

Locquirec Living

Typically, having designated today as a full alpine rest day, I woke up before the sun was even over the horizon. From the tent I could hear waves gently lapping at sea shore, so got up and took a walk along the deserted beach.

As I was walking, the sun popped over the horizon and it felt pretty special to have the moment to myself. 

Once it was up in the sky, I crawled back into my sleeping bag, which still felt warm and cozy and dozed a little while longer. Next time we got up, we put swimmers on and got straight in for a swim. It wasn’t exactly warm, but the ambiance was incredible. The French don’t seem to be early risers. 



It was incredibly convenient to be able to walk straight out of the sea and into a hot campsite shower. The beach side cafe was just opening up as I came out the shower, so on a whim, ordered a café au lait while the place was still empty. It all felt so luxurious, sipping a nice coffee, sitting at an empty bar looking out to sea. 



After a while, some of the other campers began to get up, so we retired back to our pitch for breakfast in the comfort of a therm-a-rest chair. With non-loaded bikes, it was a short and easy ride over to the Point Locquirec, via the shop, where we got a couple of baguettes that were fresh and hot from the oven. It’s a walk around the point, so we pushed bikes, then found a place to lock the up. There are lots of folk collecting something - mussels I guess? We relaxed in the shade of a small cliff, then went for another swim in the inviting turquoise waters. 



Completing the loop of the point, we paused briefly for a drink in the town, but decided that the vibe and view was better from camp, so continued home and took our beach side table again for a demi-pression, before cooking up the last of our food supplies at the tent. A final walk along the beach before bed, coincided with a fantastic sun set. Great rest day!

Total Ride: 10km.