2018 Cycle Ride to Brittany - Routes

2018 Cycle Ride to Brittany: 

St Malo - Rochefort-en-Terre – Carnac – Dinan - St Malo

This was our second cycle ride directly to Brittany. It was modelled on our 2017 trip. We sailed overnight to St Malo from Portsmouth to start the tour. 

We wanted to explore further into Brittany and this time we had a target of visiting Carnac the site of the Mesolithic stones in southern Brittany. Like our previous trips, we had largely good weather for the whole trip with only one afternoon where it rained (though pretty heavily!). This was a 7-day cycle trip and there were 4 of us.  To begin our trip we took the train from St Malo to Rennes. This allowed us extra time for the rest of the route as cycling to Rennes alone would have taken a day on its own. As it was the rail journey was about an hour so we arrived in Rennes to commence our journey before midday. I hope to publish a description of the tour but for now here are the routes and distances: 

This 90 minute film, currently available via BBC iPlayer, (also available to buy) tells the amazing and dramatic story of Gertrude Bell who worked tirelessly to get the British Empire to do the right thing in the Middle East during and following World War I. The two features are the incredible story of her life and the vivid historical photographs. I highly recommend it. The narrator takes you on a journey through Gertrude's life where she expounds on the critically and globally important issues of the day Whilst painting beautiful word pictures of the magic of the orient and life as it was during the decline of the Ottoman Empire and later in sharp contrast the stark reality of World War I. The film goes on describe the creation of new countries and rulers in the post-war period set against the hard commercialism of the British and American scramble for possession of oil rights.

Gertrude was a contemporary of T.E. Lawrence (Lawrence of Arabia) but far more influential. Sadly she has been almost completely written out of history. In large part, this film tells her story by the narrator reading from Gertrude’s letters set against a backcloth of original photographic and film footage from the period. Just seeing these Edwardian and wartime images and films is an historic feast in itself. If you want to see what Damascus, Baghdad, Cairo and the amazing ruins at places like Babylon & Palmyra were like just watch this film. The real Orient Express is also depicted with scenes at Istanbul and Baghdad. Despite the black-and-white imagery the desert scenes are stunning! There is also amazing footage from scenes in London and Paris. It's an historians delight! 

https://plus.google.com/u/0/+VicIent/posts/ATtR7wLLLg8

Camino de Santago by bicycle!

Research begins!

Also See: 

https://www.caminosantiagodecompostela.com/blog/

https://www.turismocastillayleon.com/en/art-culture-heritage/great-routes/way-saint-james

Recommended cycle route:

http://www.utracks.com/utuk/index.php?section=trips&id=2676055

it seems the recommendations are to start at: Pamplona. There is a railway station there.

Summary from a cyclist:

Camino de Santiago (Way of Saint James) is a pilgrimage for all people at any stage in life. In 11 days, we cycled the 764km (475 miles) of the Camino Francés (French Way) route. This is the most popular of the paths that lead to Santiago de Compostela. Our journey began in Saint-Jean-Pied-de-Port, France at the foot of the Pyrenees. The first day consists of climbing these mountains into Spain. Pilgrims come from all over the world and vary in their motivations for this journey. Along the way you're bound to encounter unforgettable churches, masses, monuments, landscapes, and new friends. Buen Camino!  

from Vic: more like 31 miles per day = 15 days. I think one would wan to take a minimum of 3 weeks: 2 days before you start + 15 + 3 days at the end = 20. 

Helpful guide: 

http://caminodesantiagoguide.org/pathsandmaps

Further info

https://caminoways.com/cycling-the-camino-routes

Maps to buy: 

http://www.stanfords.co.uk/AdvancedSearch?q=camino+de+santiago

Books to buy:

Click to see Amazon books

Maps: