Garry McGivern Travelsonabike2 is cycle touring in France Monday, 1st-May-2023. Rennes to Rochefort-en-Terre. 81 miles. Well, that was a long day, and it certainly wasn’t intentional.
I spent all of this morning on the cycle path that ran beside the river Ille-et-Vilaine. Then for some reason, the app I was following decided to veer away from the river and take me across land and over some hills. I could see why it had done it; it cut out a big arc in the river and was possibly shorter, but had I known about the hills, I would have stuck with the river.
Anyway, I made it to Redon, my overnight stop. Or at least that’s what I thought. I was aiming to stop at the same campsite I’d stopped at in 2019 when I cycled the Loire Valley. Unfortunately, it was closed; there was a great big pile of earth blocking the entrance.
On To The Next Campsite
After looking at the map, I found another campsite, in the direction that I wanted to go, about ten miles away. So I headed for that. I was praising the new app I got for this trip this morning, not now. On route to the campsite, it took me over some ridiculously steep hills that weren’t even roads; they were dirt tracks. It’s probably my fault and has something to do with the settings. I’ll look later if I remember!
I reached the campsite only to find this one was also closed. Great, now what do I do? The gate to the campsite was open, so I went in. I was thinking of camping there anyway and worrying about somebody coming to tell me off later. But as there was no water, there was no point in stopping. I didn’t have any, either. In fact, I was running very low and only had a small amount myself. It’s a public holiday in France today, and nothing has been open. And I’ve not found any taps. So I didn’t have much choice but to continue on.
I’m not too sure what I’d resigned myself to, but I continued on. With no water, I couldn’t camp wild, so I just had to keep going. I think I was thinking of stopping in a hotel, although they also seemed to be scarce. But then, out of nowhere, I saw a sign for a campsite. It was a little out of my way, but if it was closed, I saw there were some hotels around that I could possibly stay in.
Thankfully this campsite was open, and it just happened to have a bar and restaurant. So I’m fully hydrated and fed.
To see where I spend each night, and the route I’ve taken on this tour, visit the Where’s Garry page. You can also follow my progress on social media Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, YouTube and Pinterest.
