Mike's ankle is a great deal better but there's still room for improvement.
The sun made a couple of brief appearances this morning before hiding for the rest of the day and we started off earlyish in the hope that we could outrun the rain, but it was a vain hope. We hadn't reached the outskirts of Pontivy before the first drops fell and it was drizzle, drizzle for most of the way with not a lot of shelter along the way.
The path was mostly good, a few bumps here and there but we've encountered worse so no complaints and we were able to easily avoid the muddy bits.
The river was brown today.
A disused mill on the River Blavet.
250m off the cycle path is the Chapelle Notre Dame de Carmes, an essentially 15th century church which has undergone various later phases of renewal. We hoped to see the 18th century painted ceiling panels and those from the 15th century (showing scenes from the life of saint Catherine) which were discovered beneath them during restoration in the 1980s. Unfortunately, the church was locked but we could see remnants of paintings on the walls of the porch
where we were able to shelter for a while and eat the pain au chocolats we'd bought this morning.
Weeds floating on the surface of a section of the river.
About a kilometre before the barrage at Lake Guerledan, we came across a stone cottage, apparently being restored and having no windows or door and with a dirt floor, perfect for us and the bikes to get out of the rain for a while. It was a steep climb towards our accommodation, forcing us to get off and push which was not a lot of fun, especially as the rain had increased. Finding a bar at the top of the hill, we stopped and dripped in for a welcome cup of hot coffee.
A surprising sign in the bar in a little corner of France!
The road to our chambres d'hote where we were surprised to discover that our hosts, Sharon and Charlie, are from Wolverhampton! We were warmly welcomed with hot tea and home made cake, shown to our room and after hot showers and dry clothes and a little snooze, feel human again. It's now time to cycle up into town for a meal. Hopefully, the rain will stay away.
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