Brittany journal - day 13

5/6 - Day 13 – miles cycled = 28, total so far 407

Slept well and woke with a slight hangover.  Breakfast was the usual tea and croissants.  It was heavy overcast and chilly for the first time.  I took my time packing up and said goodbye to Mike and Chris before heading off up the VV2 towards Dinard and the ferry to St Malo.

The ride was smooth and flat on a route I knew from travelling in the opposite direction on my first day.  Halfway to Dinard the heavens opened and delivered the first serious rain of the trip – it was like stair rods.

I arrived in Dinard just in time to catch the ferry across the Rance to St Malo.  On arrival I had a walk around the town – I was hoping that the rain would subside before I went to find the campsite.  3 hours later it was still lashing down so I decided to bite the bullet and find the campsite.  The site is on a headland just outside the main town, it’s a municipal with reasonable facilities (14 Euros).

 I pitched my tent and sat and waited for the rain to subside.  It didn’t.  I decided to go for a walk around the nearby old port.  I stopped for a coffee and got chatting to an elderly English couple who told me that the weather was due to get worse over the next few days – my plan was to arrive here today, day ride or explore St Malo tomorrow and then head home the day after – given the weather and the outlook I decided to change my booking at the ferry terminal and head home tomorrow instead.

I walked back to the campsite and met John and Dawn from Nottingham.  They had been away from the UK for 2 months riding recumbent trikes through Holland, Belgium, Germany, Switzerland and France.  They had covered nearly 2000 miles and were heading home tomorrow.

This was the first municipal site I’d stayed at.  It was a very large site and there were quite a few people about – its used as a convenient site by people before getting the ferry to the UK.  There were quite a few tents that had a permanent look about them too – I wondered if some people saw it as a low cost living option.

I walked to a local creperie for dinner.  It was still raining and the wind was getting up.  I had a chefs special crepe or gallette (I can never remember which is which), which was very nice, 2 scoops of cookie ice cream and a beer.  Back in my tent by 10, hoping for a good nights sleep – long day tomorrow.

Total miles today = 28