Ploermel sounds to me as though it should be in Belgium or Holland but it’s slap bang in the middle of Brittany. Le Thy, which is where I stayed the night is a bar with rooms over and when I arrived Madame was busy managing all aspects. There was trotting racing showing on the box and a fair number of drinkers. Eventually she had a moment to grab some keys to the beer store which is where my bike spent the night and told me that I was to occupy the Klimt room. She and her husband are clearly fans of art and have named their rooms after their favourites from Edward Hopper to Van Gogh. My room was very large and had Klimt paintings on the wall. Otherwise the furniture was “distressed”. The bed was a double with foam mattress, the first I’ve slept on this trip and the bathroom had a bath with a shower mixer which worked moderately well. Proper coat hangers so I was able to hang the washing in front of the window where it dried well overnight. Madame was not offering any food but said there were lots of places in town. My Galette at lunchtime had filled me quite well so I didn’t bother with a meal as such but went out and bought a bottle of wine and some saucisson which I consumed whilst blogging.

By the time I got back to the hotel it was raining hard and I was glad I had taken my Puffa jacket, the first time I’ve worn it this trip. When I tried to go on-line I couldn’t get a connection, so went down with my computer and they logged me onto their private network which operated well and didn’t drop out at all. It kept raining most of the night and It was quite chilly this morning. Breakfast was french with no cheese or ham and my tea was served in a large bowl. I was ready to go at 0830 so set off up yet another old railway line, with some old rolling stock to prove its origin.

This voie took me no less then 14 miles to Saint Lery, having to slow to cross roads en route, but it was a good way to start the day. The air was fresh after the overnight rain and I almost stopped to don a coat but kept going, knowing the weather forecast was for rain about lunchtime.

The wind and rain had brought down beech mast, acorns and chestnuts and I had a job steering my way through the piles of seed in places. I glimpsed this out of the corner of my eye and went back to take a picture. Presumably the industrious arachnid had produced this since the wind and rain of yesterday.

Even when the cycle path ran out I was on quiet back roads winding through well farmed fields of maize and stubbles, in some of which the Oilseed rape was already well established. I started being diverted off the road and onto headland tracks. It was not too hard although a bit slippery in places

At Gael I passed a water tower. If you’ve got to have a concrete monstrosity to ensure you have a supply of water then try and make it more beautiful.

I was about half way when the weather Gods frowned on me and it started raining steadily. I stopped and put on two jackets and my overshoes and kept going. A lot of the roads I was now following weren’t tarmacced but neither were they very slippery so I just put my head down and went for it, getting wetter by the minute. I must have done about ten miles before the rain eased up but the byways I was on became worse. Fancy being faced with this?

Fortunately I spotted a path to one side over a very narrow stone slab bridge and managed to get across.

At the substantial town of Dinan I was directed around the outskirts through trading estates and kept away from the worst of the traffic and then I was back onto another six or so miles of cycle track before the most exciting/worrying bit of the journey, crossing the Rance on the barrage with no cycle lanes and no way of getting off. It was interesting and I was mighty glad when I reached the top of the substantial hill that leads up from the river. I had no chance of stopping to take pictures but here’s one from t’internet.

The barrage has been producing electricity from the tides since 1966. It seems amazing to me that we haven’t managed anything similar in the UK. It’s not for want of trying: there have been several schemes put forward on the Severn estuary but they all seem to founder on ecological grounds. Although there have been downsides on the Rance with silting of the river the high construction costs have been recovered and electricity is produced at roughly half the cost of nuclear energy.

I stopped to collect mself before carrying on for the last couple of miles of my journey to the Ibis budget Hotel where I shall stay for a short night as I have to be away by 0615 to book in for the Condor Ferry to Poole that sails at 0730. The bike is in the hotel garage along with another dozen or so Brit bikes who are taking a ferry to Portsmouth a bit later than me. I’ve picnicced tonight on chicken and 1664 and will grab breakfast on the ferry.

It’s been a generally enjoyable trip with no major problems. Nothing has broken and there have been no punctures (that’s probably asking for at least one tomorrow on my way home from Poole) The trip up west coast was a bit of a slog but I haven’t had a day that didn’t provide some enjoyment. Brittany would be a worthwhile destination for the future, taking a bit more time and taking in sights instead of just cycling.