We decided to forget heading West for the moment and keep going South until we hit the sea at Lorient. We’re going to have a rest day there at a hotel, before deciding where to head next. We plan on doing some sightseeing, so more on that tomorrow.
Today’s ride was the longest so far, but pretty straight forward. Following the Blavet River directly from Pontivy to the outskirts of Lorient. The ride as well as being easy to navigate, was almost pan flat until towards the end.
The weather was good to us all day, but quite chilly in the morning. With the riverside being in the shade, it took a long time to warm up. The day was largely uneventful, apart from having to navigate the results of this week’s storm damage on a couple of occasions.
Although a river, the Blavet was actually canalised for most of it’s length, with 28 locks in total. There were several signs of it’s industrial history along the banks, but for the most part it wound it’s way gently through the pretty Breton countryside.
Along the way there were signs of even earlier habitation
By mid afternoon we rolled into Lorient. It was easy to find our chosen hotel, but when we arrived there were no signs of life, apart from a couple of drunks outside the bar tabac on the corner. The flashing red hotel sign and the slightly murky interior didn’t add to the ambience. I was quite glad there was no-one home and happy to move on to a hotel a few blocks away. Once we established they had a room and that they would keep the bikes locked behind reception, we were sorted. All we had to do was unload all our bags, and move those to our room.
Job done, time to go hunting for dinner
Steady Pedals 