Singing in the Rain
France: Tour de Manche Stage 7 – Tue 28th July 2015 – Matignon to Saint-Brieuc (67 Km)
What else can you do but just sing and enjoy! For the first 40 Km of today’s journey from Matignon to Saint-Brieuc it was overcast but fine enabling me to take lots of photos, but for the last 35 Km there was steady soaking rain with one burst of torrential rain nearing Saint-Brieuc. It is a pity I missed capturing a couple of nice villages towards the end of the ride, but you can take my word for it they were just as nice as the others in the photographs.
Undulations featured in today’s ride … climb 100m, descend 100m, climb 50m, descend 50m … no hill higher than about 100m but a total elevation gain for the day of 936m. There was also a variety of surfaces … I rode on smooth, bituminous primary roads, secondary roads, and tertiary roads; on dirt roads, and dirt paths; on gravel roads and gravel paths; on a cow track and even a goat track. The good thing was that during the stretch when it was raining the surface was mainly bituminous, which meant that I was not covered in grit and mud when I arrived (unlike Sunday).
The roads and tracks all had one thing in common … they wound around for the purpose of threading as many delightful villages and towns as possible. There must have been at least a dozen immaculate, charming villages, as well as the fine towns of Erquy (known as Brittany’s scallop-fishing capital) and Yffiniac. There were splendid sea views as well as picturesque countryside and quaint farms.
On my ride today I also encountered some unusual things of interest:
- Two new types of restaurants – a Moulerie-Creperie, and a Moulerie-Pizzeria
- Smart cows – sheltering from the rain under a tree; cows are smarter than cyclists!
- A well-dressed scarecrow with a bow in her hair
- A donkey dropping its load
- Music chords on a house
- Hundreds of boats stuck in the mud at low tide
- A sign saying S’il te plait … Pense à moi! which translates to Please do … Think of me! Cyclists in Sydney would understand what this sign is all about.
So I had plenty to sing about, notwithstanding the inclement weather. I haven’t even had a chance to explore the town of Saint-Brieuc yet, but from what I saw on the ride in (through the streaming rain) it looks impressive. And the hotel that I am staying at tonight, the Hotel Clisson, is about 200% better than the one I stayed in last night.
After a quick zip around town my verdict is …
Saint-Brieuc is a fabulous town, with its beautiful cobbled streets, fine buildings and array of eating places (you can get much more than just Huîtres et les Moules here).
In spite of the bad weather you have managed to capture yet again some great photos.Yes cows are wiser than us humans but whilst it is good for the cows to shelter under the trees people should not as the last person who sheltered under a tree from the rain was struck by lightening.
Not an easy ride maybe pretty on the way but seems rather difficult.Happy riding and no more dancing or singing in the rain!!
They have been saying all week that the weather will be better tomorrow, but tomorrow never comes. There is not a cloud in the sky here in Saint-Brieuc right now, so fingers crossed that I will be singing Jimmy Cliff’s song “I can see clearly now the rain has gone”.
Melveta you add some wonderfully straightforward advice to Kevin’s commentary – Kevin are you listening !!
Actually she gave two good pieces of advice – not sheltering under trees, and not singing and dancing. She knows I quit Fred Astaire because I have two left feet and my singing is not any better!