Cycling in France 1

Apparently the Pyrenees don't run all the way to the atlantic. I did not intend to skip them but the hills I crossed were not what I think the Pyrenees are... 🤷

I quickly hit Biarritz, a popular surf town/area. The beginning of a long stretch of uninterrupted Beach up the French coast. 

It is a lot of work to set the small square stones they use for streets in downtown areas. And I certainly don't appreciate it. Bumpy AF and only for aesthetic benefit, it seems to me. 

I met up with a friend I made last time I was in Puerto Escondido, Mexico. Below the tattoo shop/social club where he worked was this interesting shop for women. 

Surf life saving training. I feel like I would have participated in this sport/culture if I grew up on the coast. 

I've been camping out like 90% of the time so far in France. No shortage of rain, though :/

Bikes everywhere. Including lots of E bikes

I happened to be with my friend for the first day of the summer celebration in France. Essentially a music festival all over the country. 

I snapped this photo of how much water was accumulating around my tent one early morning... I had about 8 nights of rain my first 10 nights France, with rain during days too... Gets a bit soggy 😟

Traveling by bicycle in western France is like training wheels. Which explains why there are so many individuals/couples /groups cycle touring here. It's all flat with bike paths 90% of the time and mostly in the shade. So easy! 😂.... But at the same time a bit boring. Not much view while surrounded by woods. 

But the campground facilities are the best I've ever seen. They do the whole camp ground thing very well on the coast here. 

Well laid out with pool areas - including slides and games, restaurant, convenience store, bar, grilling area, sporting areas, with access to the beach or some kind of nature... The kind of place you'd want to take your kids and hang out for a while.

My standard meal. Baguette, butter, tomato, greens.... 

It is remarkable how much cycle path network there is in France, where cars are nowhere to be seen or heard. That element is quite lovely 💙

And in that setting, it is easy to strike up conversation with other cyclists. As I do from time to time. It can quite a pleasent experience.

I have not had too many crepes in my life, but this is the best one I've ever had. Crepe, cooked apple, vanilla ice cream, whipped cream, caramel sauce 😋

At this point I decided I would not have enough time to go further north into Brittany. So instead I turned east at Nantes to join the eurovelo route #6. A route that connects the Atlantic to the Black sea, cutting across the center of France along rivers, starting along the river Loire, in the Loire Valley. 

After leaving the serene coastal bike path, I was back onto regular roads. Oh boy! There was a few miles stretch of construction with traffic in both directions squeezed very narrow, leaving me only inches of shoulder. The kind of situation that makes you want to cycle as fast as possible to get out those conditions quickly. At one point an 18 wheeler passed me at speed and squeezed me right up against the edge of the road while I was doing about 25m/h. At one point that traffic had pushing at 30m/h on the flat! That is me going out of my head fast 😯... Not something I could sustain very long....

I got a tip from a friend of a friend for a couple things to do in Nantes as I passed through. As it was too much $ to stay the night ($60+), I would just visit on the way to a campsite on the outskirts of the city. After visiting the castle

The multiple pullies for pulling up water from the well inside the castle 

What was the moat is now a public lawn 

I walked over to a crêperie. I stepped inside to alert the waitress to my presence outside and ask if my bike was in the way where I put it... When I go sit outside and find my pannier is missing. Someone stole it when I stepped inside for like 2-3 minutes. Had all my cloths, electronics, pump, spare parts, lock, creams... Fortunately my spair bank and credit cards were in my other bag.

So I quickly pivoted into shopping mode, to try to get myself back up to speed to continue. I got spanked overpaying for common cables and charger, but thank goodness for Uniql--they had good stuff, not so expensive. I left to camp in the outskirts of town and returned to the city the next to exchange some things and buy some more. It was disheartening. My systems that I've dialed in to be able to travel like this have been compromised. But I'll manage. The good vibes abide 😎

 Is