Day 3. Vitré to Monjean-sur-Loire

Tricot Graffiti

The day started with an easy and quick ride on back roads to Craon (the hotel lady corrected my attempt at pronunciation - it only has one syllable) after 40 km.  I sat down outside a café in the market square, ordered a large coffee, asked about cakes and was sent to the bakers opposite.  An enormous almond croissant looked to be a good choice for the alternative refuelling strategy.  Next stop was Segré where I got lost in a maze of new roads outside town before I eventually got to its very picturesque centre ville complete with chateau above the river, although the bikini-clad lady sat astride a pink hippo seemed rather out of place.

I thought about a lunch stop but the croissant was still working so I kept going on minor roads to the west of the France en Vélo route, which passed through several villages that I hoped would have a café. No such luck. Perhaps we Brits have a rose-tinted view of rural France, imagining that every small village has a boulangerie and a café full of old men sipping brandy and reading L'Equipe. In reality, half the houses are holiday homes and everyone shops in the nearest hypermarket so most villages are deserted.  I had to dig into my emergency sweet rations for extra fuel before I eventually crossed the Loire at Montjean and found the hotel right by the river. 

Montjean was a pleasant spot for a pre-dinner stroll, with a fine church on top of a hill overlooking the river, lots of mildly eccentric sculpture, and some fine examples of tricot graffiti (guerrilla knitting). I was impressed that they had managed to include both the French national animals in the sculpture collection.

As to why there is a British phone box by the Loire - I've no idea but, just like back home, it was being used as a book exchange.

Distance today - 104 km.                   Distance from St Malo 232 km.