Author: Rob Ainsley

I’d decided on a rest day in L’Isle-Jourdain, given the forecast of downpours and the lovely B&B. But the sun came out around ten, and I got itchy feet – I really must get some new trainers – so I set out again. The way out of L’I-J was via the viaduct (pic). Britain isn’t…

Yesterday evening, which was sunny and hot, I couldn’t use the campsite swimming pool because I have shorts-style trunks, which are not allowed in France. (You have to wear budgie smugglers.) But this morning I got my own way. Torrential rain from 4am turned my tent into a swimming pool of my own. It meant…

A mixed day of sunshine, lots of cool cloud, the odd headwind, and drizzle. It made me homesick. Plenty of interesting historic towns and villages to ride through, though. At Airvault I dodged a shower by having lunch in the fine covered market (pic) which was busy with the Saturday marché. It’s about the most…

Best day of the trip so far, mostly spent dawdling alongside the Loire. Which was pretty misty in the morning chill, but once away from Chalonnes, there were some fine views over the valley (pic). You can see why hot-air ballooning is big in these parts. One of our friends got married in a hot-air…

Another long hot sunny day cycling through pleasant French countryside. You really get a feel for how rural the country, and its economy, is – you’re always being overtaken by tractors. And, if you cycle at my pace, joggers. There are quite a few chateaus too, in amongst the endless kilometres of corn and cow…

A hot sunny day of quiet Normandy and Breton countryside. And a lot of English-looking farmland en route to Fougères this morning, though of course it could only be France because the cows were shrugging and the cars were giving me loads of room when they passed. It’s true, drivers, even HGVs, really do give…

By ferry – especially when you’re cycling off it – is a great way to arrive in St Malo (pic). Its stern, grey, granitic old walled town centre is famous, though it holds unpleasant memories for me, and always looks to me like the backdrop to a harrowing black and white film set in World…

The obvious way to get to St Malo with a bike is on the ferry from Portsmouth. The place reminds me a lot of my native Hull, being a gritty town with an underachieving football team and overachieving criminals, but with the major plus of being a port, ie a fast getaway to anywhere else….