RURAL IDYLL Le Moulin de Bel Air
for lunch by the owners, Samuel and Kim Froger, who tell us they enjoy meeting cyclists travelling from different places and hearing their stories. ‘In a way we get to travel, even though we’re working here on the farm,’ says Kim. Further into the afternoon we join another greenway, this time a railway built in the 1890s to transport iron ore. Before finally arriving on the edge of Châteaubriant, where we stay at Domaine de la Ferrière, which has a fantastic restaurant. Châteaubriant’s magnificent-looking castle combines medieval stronghold with Renaissance palace, while the increasingly narrow and higgledy-piggledy streets nearby lead to the soaring white spire of the Église Saint-Nicolas. Beyond Châteaubriant, we cycle through Issé, crossing the River Don a couple of times, and continuing for a few hours beyond La Meilleraye, where we follow the shore of the Grand Réservoir de Vioreau: a beautiful expanse of deep blue streaked with the green of aquatic plants, dotted with birdlife, and mellowed by the late afternoon sun. Day four ended with one of the highlights of the entire week, a stay at Le Moulin de Bel Air. This 18th century windmill has been lovingly converted into a beautiful guesthouse by Estelle Guihard, the daughter of its former Breton owners. Once widespread, windmills are increasingly a rarity hereabouts as we’re told there’s less funding to restore them than, say, a church, and their location is usually by definition a prime spot for a potential wind turbine. Sitting out on the flagstone patio surrounded by climbing plants, with a bottle of Trompe Souris from La Divatte, a craft brewery near Nantes, and some freshly pressed apple juice, we soon decide this is a place we’re in absolutely no hurry to leave, possibly ever. The next day is our last day of cycling, and after returning part of the way towards the Grand Réservoir de Vioreau we
France, both of which were more than keen to bite off a chunk of Brittany, if they could. La Régalante bores through a tunnel beneath the town, so in the morning we glide back down a steep street, and set off through the well-lit former railway tunnel, emerging at the other end into a steep-sided ravine on the south side of town. We pass a succession of small lakes, then pedal up into the beautiful medieval heart of Vitré. Here we visit the Gothic Église Notre-Dame, then wander down the narrow cobbled streets around Rue de la Poterie with more half-timbered facades, before stocking up on picnic supplies. There’s a familiar theme to our French cycling picnics, which has changed little over the years. The basic requirements are a nice bakery and a
small supermarket, which between them net the core ingredients of a deliciously fresh, crusty baguette and a melty Brie, along with a hard cheese such as Comté, cucumber for some refreshing crunch, a croissant for me, and a pain au chocolate
“IT’S HARD NOT TO FALL IN LOVE WITH NANTES”
for my daughter. Once stocked up, we just need a Swiss army knife and a well-placed bench to sit on; in Vitré, we find the latter in front of the railway station. From Vitré we continue south, partly along another greenway, to La Guerche-de-Bretagne – the double stage from Fougères, at over 70 kilometres, makes this our longest day. Then, the following day, we go for another double stage, to Châteaubriant. This section includes a slightly busier open road which my teenage daughter was fine with, but if you have younger kids on their own bikes, you could always skip this stage and take the train. Halfway through the day we stop at Ferme de L’Öko-Pain, an organic farm and artisan baker west of Martigné- Ferchaud, with a table and chairs placed invitingly at the end of the drive, accompanied by a sign reading: Régalante cyclists – for a break in the shade. We end up being invited in
76
Made with FlippingBook Ebook Creator