Day 12 70miles Bressuire to La Jaille-Yvon

It was a slightly later start for us today as we were waiting for the rain to stop. Also, our host and her dog were particularly interested in our trip and insisted on a photo shoot outside before we left, I think we'll be appearing on her website soon.

The sun was starting to come through but it was still quite chilly. A far cry from the first few days when we cycled in blistering heat. It's a good thing because the last few days look like being the toughest cycling of the trip.

We hadn't yet settled on our strategy for today. Whilst Max wasn't keen to stop for a plat du jour type lunch we knew that options this evening were going to be very limited due to the remote location. So we were sort of playing it by ear - I was hoping for a plat du jour at lunchtime (not wishing to risk missing out completely) but Max was hoping we'd hold out and find something later in the day that would serve as late lunch and early dinner combined.

We cycled for a couple of hours taking in a few hills along the way. There was one pretty steep one but Max didn't feel the need to swear this time and we survived without too much pain.

By lunchtime the weather still wasn't great and I was starting to flag. We cycled through several nice towns and villages but no good options presented themselves. Eventually though we came across a restaurant advertising a plat du jour. We debated for a while on the roadside and eventually decided to go for it. They managed to squeeze us on a table in between a large group of people on the one side and two French workmen on the other. We weren't at all sure what the format was but the lady sat next to us (who was actually English) kindly explained the menu options. 

It turned out to be another fabulous meal and only 14 euros each!! We resisted the cheeseboard (which looked spectacular) and dessert though given how much cycling was left to do. We chatted to the English group and one of the couples in particular who were looking to move to France and had just come over looking for a place to buy. All in all it was a very pleasant lunch and helped us to recharge our batteries to face the remaining 30 miles 😅

The sun did come out as the afternoon progressed and the scenery was very pretty. Lots of nicevillages and country lanes/quiet roads. 

Still, it was hard going and I think I was struggling from lack of sleep the night before. As we approached our destination for this evening it was becoming more and remote so we decided to make a brief detour to another town - a supermarket dash for some snacks for tonight.

We're staying in a youth hostel tonight which sounds quite basic but we've actually struck gold again. It's a stunning location, on the edge of a Loch which reminds me of Fort Augustus. We've got the entire house to ourselves! We've even got a washing machine and put the washing out to dry before the sun goes down 👍. All's well that ends well.