Brittany

The first stage of a tour of eastern Brittany, inspired in part by a shorter tour published on the Brittany Ferries website. The tour starts from the ferry terminal in St. Malo, having taken the overnight ferry from Portsmout. To cut down the distance to Fougeres, the route goes direct to Mont St Michel bay via main roads instead of using the cycle route. Mont St Michel itself is also missed out, because we had visited it before, but it is not far off the route. The route is pretty flat to the lunch stop at Pontorson, and more hilly thereafter.

A shortish ride by good French D roads, after looking round Fougeres Chateau in the morning. Vitre has a large area of medieval half-timbered houses, with few tourists because we were early in the season. The route from the centre to the B&B at rush-hour time was like cycling in Britain.

After a day in Rennes, the next destination was Auray, and Malestroit was picked as an overnight stop. Malestroit turned out to be a nice place, popular with French tourists and on the Brest-Nantes canal. The first few miles out of Rennes is by a cycle track which is sandy in parts and could prove tricky with narrow tyres (ours were 38mm cyclocross type). The detour in Moredelles was to look for the Roman temple shown in a road sign, without success. It was later found to be behind the houses shortly after leaving the main road. Overall, one of the best days of the tour.

The first day of the return to the north coast proved to be a stiff ride crossing several hill ranges with steep ascent and descent. Attractive countryside for the middle part, and nearer Josselin, the calvary at Gehenno was well worth the visit.

A longer day with quite a bit of ascent and descent, on reasonable gradients. Navigation was easy, following the D793 throughout to the outskirts of Dinan. Some superb sections, and a quiet smooth road throughout.

After three nights in Dinan, a gentle run along a cycle track to Dinard, whch is a very French seaside resort. The route shown ends at the terminal for the foot and bicycle ferry to St Malo. After exploring Dinard, the ferry takes you to St Malo and the ferry back to Portsmouth. Access to the ferry includes steps so allow extra time if the bicycle is heavily loaded.

The second half of the journey from Rennes to Auray, the latter being a three-night stay to explore Carnac and see the megalithic monuments and standing stones. Auray proved a bit far from the coast to be ideal but it is a nice if touristy place. The route avoided Vannes and was pleasant enough.