Day 2 – Bagnoles de l’Orne to La Fleche - 80 miles

We cycled away from Bangles and Basse Normandie due south into the region known as Pays de la Loire.

First "brew stop" - I'd made friends with the speedy group who tolerated me because of my fine knees

Very fine cakes. The chocolate eclair was 'to die for...'

Polythene sheeting to encourage crop growth

It was a glorious day. The temperature was 11.36 degrees. We were speeding along the excellent French country roads - fantastic surfaces, hardly any traffic. The villages were stunning but empty. Again we found the crowds at one of several flea markets along route.

The terrain varied, undulating, with a few moderate but relatively short climbs. The route criss-crossed its way southward, through pasture land, ruminating cattle, crops of rape and lavender and avenues dissecting farmed forest and native woodland. 

Some of the downhills were super fast with breath-taking scenery and breath-taking descents.

Lunch at lake with a beach in the forest north of Sille Le Guillame    

Pizza with chips - lots of carbs!

The lake and beach had attracted many cyclists of all varieties.

We cycled past this Conservatoire. I always associated this title with angst-ridden, brilliant young musicians at an intense academy; but in fact this was a chateau with a massive collection of peonies  based at Château de Sourches (Sarthe).

See photo above on left to see the massive drive!

Their web-page is in French. Google translate comes up with a fabulous rendition concerning the planting...

"...originally scheduled in chartreuse between the garden and the orchard, the idea was quickly aborted because peonies cohabitation with other plants is impossible since the peony is greedy, solitary, egotistical, whimsical..." 

After an excellent and speedy afternoon's cycle, we arrived in La Flèche at 4pm

Important facts for the region and La Flèche

• Fine foods include -  Beurre Blanc sauce, cheeses (Port Salut, Saint Paulin and Curé Nantaise), Petit Beurre pure butter biscuits, Muscadet wine from Nantes, Macaroons with lemon, violet or rose, "Prytanéens", chocolate-flavoured nougat with crushed praline, "Fiches" small piles of dark chocolate, chocolate orange and finely crushed nougat. Jasnières is their regional wine.
• England conquered Normandy in the 15th century. En route, we cycled through Sillé-le-Guillaume, where the lord of the manor was Sir John Fastolf of Caister of Norfolk (1380-1459).
• The lord of La Flèche gave a hamlet, called Villaines s/s Malicorne, to a soldier named Simon. He built it into heart-shape in honour of his beloved.
• La Flèche was the home to philosophers René Descartes and David Hume.
• More importantly, La Flèche is twinned with Chippenham. Both have limestone buildings. There the comparison ends.

Statistics

Road kill - a rabbit and, sadly at red squirrel (we saw a live one the year before in Balmoral)

Map

Note the cold morning warming to the 20s by midday.

Again - very sad of you to have read this far. Go and do something more interesting.