Bilbao to St. Malo 2023

 We awoke in our minimalist room. Quite chic. Modern clean lines an all that. And perhaps too comfortable as we needed the jump leads to get going this morning. Once we had pulled ourselves and our meagre belongings together, we made our way to the 'real' hotel because we had been told that we were allowed a cup of coffee in the morning from its hallowed corridors.   We went from the sublime to the ridiculous. The upholstery on the very comfy sofas was a combination of orange, red, blue and purple. And that was without taking all the other colours used in the room into account. If the bedrooms were decorated similarly, then we would have been lucky to get any sleep! After one and a half coffees each, we set forth through Chatellerault. It is impressive. We crossed a mighty bridge crossing what I think was the Vienne (but I'm open to suggestions) and the ends of the bridge were guarded by fortified turrets. At one end the turrets were also guarding a boulangerie which was ...

 It could have been such a good night's sleep. If only the duvet hadn't been a scarily high number of togs and I hadn't opened the window more as a result. You know when your body goes into high alert in the night because you can't identify a strange noise? Well, eventually, I identified this strange noise as two cats which had obviously spotted the open window and managed to climb up and in, probably with a skill born of much practice. It was very dark and I was shining my phone and moving as quietly as possible over impossible creaky floor boards whilst trying to literally herd cats. I saw one and 'ushered' it back to the window. I wasn't sure if there had been another and I didn't really want to know. Kate, who would usually claim that she was woken by a cat stamping down a carpeted corridor, slept through the whole escapade. In the morning, as I made my way to the bathroom, the second cat walked out of the spare bedroom (we had a spare bedroom!) stre...

 Yes, the old joi de vie returned today for both of us. No more comments such as "What doesn't kill you makes you stronger" or "This is a growing time" or "It's character building " It's hard to say why the sudden shift, really. Today was billed to be pretty well as hard as yesterday but we seemed to get into a different zone. The first twenty miles still climbed a lot and we still had to climb about 3,500 feet in all today. Mind you, the weather had switched from European holiday weather to UK weather. Cloudy skies with outbreaks of sun and distinctly cooler temperatures rising to a high of just twenty degrees. I suppose this is the sort of weather we can function in. We got into low gears and plodded steadily up the big climbs  on a day that we knew was going to feel more remote than all the other days. We passed through Montron after just six miles and bought lunch as well as stopping for a pain au chocolat and a hot chocolate from a vending...

 I think last night was a low point. Actually,  it was a low point. Kate is covered in mosi bites. They seem to go for her (which is great for me...) It was a hilly ride and we knew we had a very demanding day, today.  We went down to another stately banqueting  hall for our breakfast. More splendid wardrobes, of course. Breakfast was just what we wanted and we were joined by a young Dutch couple, which meant that all conversation was carried out in impeccable English, as it always is with the Dutch. They are off to Spain in their car, which they will manage today. It took us four days to get here from Spain.  We loaded up, paid the €7 which madame charged for the two coffees yesterday and left. We are learning, through our assorted and many overnight stays that hosts fall into two camps. Those who run it very much as a business and those who make it clear that they are concerned that their guests are at ease and made to feel welcome.  We embarked on today'...

 I heard lots of watery sounds at about 6am and decided that either one of our hosts was having a vigorous shower or it was chucking it with rain. Alas, it was the latter. But no matter for a while because first we had breakfast to look forward to. There was a door which joined our accommodation to their half of the house which they kept locked but said they would unlock it for breakfast at 8, so that we could go through to the dining room. At about thirty seconds to 8, we heard the key turn in the lock. Breakfast was excellent and we sat in a magnificent room to eat it. The size of the wardrobes alone was something to marvel at. The French still take their wardrobes seriously (quite right too) and it didn't stretch the imagination much to consider finding a lion or a witch in this particular structure.  Our hosts were lovely. By far the most welcoming so far and happy to communicate despite the fact that all conversation was in French. In the end, though, we had to set off in...

 Up and out. We saw no one this morning as we merged from 'la cave' at 8am and headed for the middle of Bordeaux.  We followed the sat nav which took us through the city on cycle routes. These are always fascinating because the route is off the beaten track to stay on the quiet roads. You see the non-tourist side. And then, suddenly we found ourselves in the middle of a very impressive square with the cathedral, an immense hotel de ville and several chi chi cafés. We stopped at one and had coffees for a very chi chi price! We then followed the grand river Garonne seeing more amazing squares and impressive buildings before crossing the river and re entering the 'behind the scenes' part of the city again.  I thought the route was going to be quite flat today so was surprised as well as apologetic when things took a nasty turn out of the city. Upwards! We climbed for what seemed an hour but that's probably an exaggeration. We left the grand city and entered grand count...

 We slept on our bed with no covers in our static caravan. Not because it was hot. In fact, it was cold. But the ferocious staff only gave us one sheet and two pillow cases. It's an odd feeling, going to bed fully clothed in your 'day' clothes but without the security of a sheet. Just a sheet. That's all you need as a barrier between you and the outside world. In spite of such an extreme bed situation, we slept. Every now and again, we would wake up and find something else to put on but we slept.  Because we had passed no shops for miles the previous day, we had no food or drinks so when the alarm went off at 7am, we had no choice but to have a drink of water (no alternative beverages being available), get into our wet, cold clothes (we had washed them the night before) load up the tandem and go. But not before the lady in white appeared and demanded €10 with menaces for kindly lending us the inadequate bedding. It wasn't the easiest first few miles. No breakfast, n...