Day 7 - 30-ish mi: La Chevallerais to Nantes

The sentiment was unanimous - La Longère de La Chevallerais was one of the nicest places we've stayed so far and it did not require an extraordinarily steep hill to climb to get there!  

Our host Veronique had a bad case of plantar fasciatis and her husband was in Dinat competing in a 1/2 iron man, but she still managed to put together a tasty omlete dinner with a wonderful melon and mozzarella starter.
The rooms were spacious and well appointed.  

The ride into Nantes felt like a Treasure Hunt as we were on the constant look out for the next clue along the roads that twisted and turned and switched from trail to road, driveways, hidden passages behind hedgerows and the like.  

Upon arriving in the upscale town of Sucé, it was clear that our bike attire was not sufficient to to join the well dressed French enjoying their Sunday lunches, so we opted for a picnic along the quai.  Some what of a relief not eating another 3 course meal!
As we approached Nantes, a city of 300k and larger than Bordeaux, we came to discover that our lodging was immediately across from the annual carnival squeezed into the square right next to the cathedral.  

The sight of two guys being catapulted into thin air with the Catherdal as the backdrop was a metaphor for many things!  

Having arrived earlier than expected, we planted ourselves in a café for some pressions and panaché before pushing our bikes through the lovely public garden in search of ice cream having survived 7 days in the saddle at a constant low boil.  The temperatures the entire past week were at least 20 degrees over historical averages.  As you would expect, few of us packed appropriately.

Rugby is the rage here in Nantes with outdoor tvs at cafés so no one misses a score.

On Monday we spent the day exploring the city but a tad disappointed that many of the sights were closed only to reopen on Tuesday...maybe.
Given that our chosen restaurants were closed Monday, Pete prepared a yummy Hake in beurre blanc sauce with sautéed spinach and potatoes.


Surprise...surprise...a dessert platter made an appearance!





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