That was the greeting when I stopped for a coffee in the small village of Coglès on the first full day. I obviously wasn't the first British cycle tourist to stop here. I explained that I was not going to Nice, but maybe to the Med if things went well.
My planned lunch stop was in Fougères after about 60 km, but the resaurants in the lower town were all heaving and had no space. I soon found out why. There was some sort of bike race finishing in the town, and when I rode up the steep hill to the upper town the road was lined with barriers like a Tour de France finish and with banners counting down the distance to the top. I somehow escaped into the back streets and a small restaurant for a lunch of cuisse de canard and frites.
Maybe that lunch was a mistake, as the final 30 km to Vitré felt like hard going and I resolved to try a different refuelling strategy in future. My hotel is geared up for cyclists - the host is a genial old lady wearing a dress with red polka dots like the king of the mountains jersey in the Tour de France. After she had showed me the garage to store the bike, and I had teased her about the dress, she presented me with a 1.5 litre bottle of mineral water and instructed me to drink the lot to avoid dehydration.
Vitré is a pleasant town to stroll round with numerous floral displays to justify its 3 star rating as a Ville Fleurie. Three different people mistook me for a local and asked the way... a pity that I was no help.
Distance today - 92 km. Distance from St Malo - 128 km.
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