Our prolonged association with the Nantes – Brest Canal was rudely interrupted today because in 1923 some bright spark came up with the idea of building a dam across the valley which houses the canal and the surrounding river system and using it to create HEP. The creation of the resulting reservoir drowned several small villages and 12 lochs from the now defunct canal system. By then the canal had pretty much lost its significance and most freight was being hauled across Brittany by these new fangled machines called trains!
The upshot for today’s Velodyssee cyclist (going south to north) is that you have to make a detour around the dam and rise up over 50m from base river level to reservoir level up a very steep road ( definitely a get off and push manoeuvre). The route then follows an old railway track for about 30 miles before rejoining the upper section of the canal system. Bit of an inconvenience!!
For the dam fanatics amongst you it’s stats are;
45m high
206m long
35.5m wide at the base
Retains 51million m3 of water and produced 15mW of power, sufficient to provide the needs of a town with 15000 inhabitants for a year. So there!
Saw a snake today on the road. It didn’t look very well!
Here’s a sign that brought the Two Ronnies DIY shop sketch to mind.
‘Got any ‘o’s? Exit Ronnie C to get a hoe. No – not that sort of ‘o’ – one for the garden. Exit Ronnie C again who comes back with a length of garden hose. No not that sort of ‘ose. I need two letter ‘O’ s for my house name ‘Mon Repose’. Got any ‘P’s ? …and so on… Its obviously better seen on telly this sketch!!
Staying in a chambres d’hote tonight run by a Geordie couple. Help yourself to beer (1€) or a bottle of wine from the fridge (5€). Brilliant. Great garden, very friendly etc, There are two drawbacks first – had to cycle 2 miles uphill into town to get a pizza after having done 38 miles already today, and second – their internet is down so this epistle might not get published until tomorrow. If the internet was up and running the password you need to use to access it is the longest I’ve ever seen. Its 817646EA00E777EA7F36E83AC4 (this true).
2 Etapes left hurrah!
Velodyssee 
Hey Jimmy that password’s wrang; the 3rd ‘e’ should be lower case. And for dead snake lovers how lang wks the snake?
If you and the wife are nearly done when are you hame and fancy some golf?
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