Day two. Paimpont to St Etienne de Montluc. Tues. 23rd June

 It was a scorcher today by my standards, 25 Celsius.  Which is the opposite to the kind of night I had.  I was bloody freezing! It had rained in the night so everything was wet.    When I crawled out my tent I was so pleased to see clear skies and the sun just appearing above the tree line.  

I had a warm shower and donned yesterday's smelly gear.  It was a warm start to the day.  

I had not been able to buy milk in the village to make porridge so with a handful of nuts for breakfast I set off at about 9am. 

The previous night I had mapped my ride and it was extremely easy to navigate.   It was a day of very long straight roads flanked by fields of corn, wheat or cattle. Again I passed through the most delightful villages and towns.  I was hungry so stopped as soon as I could for some food.  

I was tempted to get one of everything

But I just got a croissant and a baguette for later. The baguette was very long and I felt so cool cycling out of town with it sticking out of my jersey pocket.  Get me! 

I also stopped a little earlier for a coffee.  I love French coffee! 

I made pretty good time as the roads we're fairly flat and I hardly needed to check the map.  What was hard though was not stopping all the time to take photos.  By midday I'd managed 45km.  I stopped in a woods and ate most of my baguette. 

It was roasting hot now and I put more sunscreen on. 

The heat and constant flat pedalling began to take its toll on me.  I was feeling pretty tired.  One town I went through had a supermarket so I stopped to get supplies for the evening meal. Up until now there had been very few grocery shops so I thought I'd better get what I need here. I still had thirty miles to go but didn't want to be in the same position as yesterday.  I bought, milk, pasta, fish and peas and bread.  I stuffed it all in my panniers and reluctantly set off in the heat with the sun beating down. I stopped a few times for a snack and photo opportunity.  I finally got to this town at 5pm. Then had trouble finding the bloody camp site.  Worse than that there is a supermarket nearby. 

The reception was closed so I just went to a corner of the site and set up camp. 

I emptied all my bags and instantly my corner looked like a family of gypsies had moved in. 

I was exhausted and just wanted to lie down.  But I had to put up the tent, shower and cook my food.  Once I'd showered I felt a bit better.  The facilities are pristine here.  

I got my cooker going and soon had a big plate of food. 

I sat at picnic bench about 25 feet away and was so engrossed in stuffing my face that I didn't notice the two dogs polishing off what I'd left for later by my tent. I ran over to chase them off and they thought it was play time. Anyway, they'd finished the food and eaten half my wooden spoon. 

Just as well I'd put enough on my 

plate.  

Now I've eaten and washed up, I need to look at the map to work out tomorrows route.  

I am anticipating another bloody cold night. 

Here is the bomb site.