After breakfast provided by Eric and Dominique and shared with our fellow guests, a couple and their young son from Paris, we left our accommodation under a threatening sky and with a cool temperature.
In the first kilometre we stopped a few times to take photos, the path was good and it was easy riding.
Not surprisingly as it was a public holiday today, there were plenty of people boating and cycling, making the most of the canal. There were also several people fishing along the canal banks, family groups with their picnics, umbrellas and folding chairs, groups of friends including half a dozen young men who had their beer supplies and their portable barbecue and a few going solo, all seemed to be having a lovely, relaxing day.
At Guenrouet we stopped at a bar/cafe where we shared a lunchtime pannini and salad with coffee,
and where there is a church on a site of religious foundations dating back to the 11th century. During WWII, the church tower was destroyed on the 7th December, 1944, on the day Mike was born in Essex in England.
Before crossing the bridge over the canal and up to the church, we got talking to a couple from Lyon who were cycling to Vannes via Redon, which is where we were headed. We also spotted a boat which we'd seen yesterday, with a group of French people on board, travelling in the same direction.
Thereafter, the path was a little bumpy
and we were pleased when we finally came to the last section which was bitumen and we arrived at our accommodation in Redon.
Redon is at strategic junction of the Vilaine and the Oust Rivers, was once a thriving commercial port and is now a busy centre for pleasure boats.
After settling in to our accommodation, we strolled along to the port where we watched this boat go through the lock, it was the same boat we'd seen earlier today and yesterday but we didn't have our bikes at the time and none of the crew recognised us without them!.
We strolled on into the town which was very quiet, had a snack meal and met the couple from Lyon again, then returned to our B&B where our hosts Michele and Frederic invited us to join them for a cuppa and we spent a very pleasant couple of hours chatting with them and their friend Christiane.
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