MBD2 Enroute: France

Craon
Thu 29 May 2014 Cumulative distance 1210km
Today was a general holiday in France (Ascension Day) and most shops were closed. Fortunately we had been warned and had stocked up on the essentials for our travel - bread, cheese, ham and chocolate - what else could you need? We had decided to have a short day, concerned that accommodation may be hard to find in the smaller towns as apparently many people also take the Friday off to make a four-day weekend.

The sun must be awaiting for June to get its act together as it made only a fleeting appearance during the day but there was no rain and the wind was moderate, so we judged ourselves lucky.

As has happened on various previous occasions we were very pleasantly surprised by the small towns and villages we passed through - just names on a map to us until we arrived to find grand buildings, wide rivers and interesting old centres with narrow streets and crooked buildings. Château-Gontier was particularly impressive and after a picnic lunch by the river Mayenne, we wandered around town and, as we could only check into our B&B in Craon in the late afternoon, we whiled away an hour or so over coffees and teas in an an old brasserie near the town centre.

The final stretch to Craon took us through some superb countryside and, at around 4pm, we checked into our B&B 'La Demeure de I'lle' (booked the night before to be sure we had a bed for the night). 'La Demeure de I'lle' is located in part of an old mansion, and has been expertly renovated. Despite having a slightly dilapidated appearance from the outside, the interiors are very pleasing and we were soon comfortably settled. Our host offered refreshments and we enjoyed them sitting outside, admiring the gardens.

Being a holiday virtually all food outlets in the town were closed - only a takeaway pizza place was operating, so we cycled there, made our selection and placed our orders. As the pizzas were being made (they were very busy, for obvious reasons) we waited on the footpath and watched 10-year-old episodes of 'Friends' dubbed into French - the time passed painfully slowly! Finally the pizzas were ready and we cycled back to the mansion along the cobblestoned streets with the pizzas strapped precariously to Marianne's luggage rack and a bottle of rosé in Denis's backpack - where else but France could you buy wine at a takewaway pizza place?.

Our host had prepared plates and cutlery for us, and had lit a fire in the massive fireplace in the living room (isn't it supposed to be summer soon?) A lovely way to end the day.

Château-Gontier