Friday 31st May – Monday 3rd June 2024
We decided that a few days at a more leisurely pace, riding our bicycles along the towpath of the Nante to Brest Canal would be good. Unlike many towpaths in the UK, the canal route is designated as a cycle/walking route. It has it a good surface and is well signposted. It is also quite busy in places with minor traffic hold-ups occasionally.
Friday and Saturday: Gouarec, Côtes-d’Armor
Gouarec Village:
Gouarec is a lovely old village right next to the river Blavet and the Nante to Brest canal. We stayed on an excellent free aire, on the far side of the canal from the village, right next to the towpath . There is a service point, but for water you need to get a 2.50 € token from one of three retailers in the village, which was no problem.
Many of the houses have huge door and window surrounds:
The railway no longer comes to Gouarec, but you can hire a pedal-powered buggy (“Velorail”) and propel yourself along a length of track from the station, which resembles a train graveyard with many examples of rusting rolling stock. Sadly from a photographic point of view, this is not part of the area which is accessible to the public, but I did manage to get some images from the roadside.
One shop in the village centre was just crying-out to be explored. This was the brocante, or antiques shop which has stock on two floors of this corner property:
There was an amazing range of stuff for sale, but the usual French design-conscious approach to marketing seemed a little lacking:
Built in 1770, the building looks robust enough, but once upstairs I felt as if the floors were about to give-way beneath us as the boards all moved and creaked in an alarming way. The upstairs ceiling looked …err “interesting” and I am not too sure about the large crack in the wall:
On a more sober note, a plaque on the wall outside commemorates a hero of the resistance:
Cycle Rides:
For some distance here, the river becomes the canal with the use of weirs and locks to maintain navigation depth.
The towpath makes a very pleasant and enjoyable route alongside the canal/river.
Our first ride was downstream to the Abbaye de Bon-Repos, about 6 km away. The Abbey can be seen from the canal:
It is a small abbey which has been restored in the hands of the local community. It now provides exhibition and conference facilities. When we visited, there were exhibitions by two different artists. The first consisted of large (huge) sculptures by Matthieu Dagorn in the middle of the cloister:
…and a multi-roomed exhibition which featured art made from repurposed items, occupied much of the indoor space:
I just love some of the inventiveness and humour, but sadly I cannot recall the artist’s name.
Later, we cycled in the opposite direction, passing several locks and even one double lock:
We briefly also explored a neighbouring village, Plouguernével where the church has no bell tower, but has a bell gantry built on the back:
Sunday and Monday: Pont-Réan, Ille-et-Vilaine
The small village of Pont-Réan is a little way south of the city of Rennes and is again on the Nantes to Brest canal, this time using the river Vilaine for navigation. Our park-up was on an aire which provided services and electricity for 13.16 € per night. A nice quiet place to spend two nights with sheep, cows and a goat for neighbours.
We again explored the canal in both directions and enjoyed some lovely countryside alongside the river.
The Moulin du Boël:
We enjoyed a picnic (note the informal tablecloth):
The Écluse de la Bouëxière. A water mill converted to a house, alongside the lock on an island. A stunning property in a superb location:
We traveled for a while alongside the railway line:
..and spotted a menhir (neolithic standing stone) on the opposite side of the river:
It is surprising how quickly the land has dried after all the rain over the last few weeks. You could hardly see this tractor at times as it cultivated a field:
"See-u-Later" 