The Riders of Rohan
The Riders of Rohan actually is the name of chapter 2 of The Two Towers, Part II of the Lord of the Rings trilogy. But tonight Rohan is the town in which we’re camped.
This is supper. I made guacamole.
The road to Rohan was along a canal called the Nantes-Brest Canal. The bike path was all paved!
It was built in the early 19th century, and its total length was 385 km. It has 238 locks! We read that one slave per kilometer died during the making of the canal. It was built so Napoleon Bonaparte could send boats and supplies through Brittany without having to brave the English fleets in the sea. Read Horatio Hornblowerfor additional information.
There were fish and otter in the water. Lots of people were fishing. It is a long, slow process for boats to get through the locks. We watched a boat go through a gate and it took maybe half an hour to get through one lock. This morning we went to an amazing bakery and had second breakfast. We took this picture for Heidi.
— Lyle
— Lyle
Now there's a huge puddle of drool all over my keyboard! Thanks a LOT, Lyle. I'll take ALL those strawberry patisseries on the edge, please. Now, please. What a great blog entry! Thank so much, Lyle. So cool that you brought the Lord of the Rings to life. Sounds like a GREAT bike path! And it looks flat!! Yay! What an amazing number of locks. Keep having fun! Your guac looks amazing.
ReplyDeleteI need to eat one of those strawberry ones for you!!!
DeleteYes, please! One or three...
DeleteFantastic report, Lyle! Thank you for saving some energy to make supper (the guac looks perfect) and create a fact-filled report on your day. Did you have a baguette to go with the guac? You're making me drool too!
ReplyDeleteIt hasn't stop raining since you left here :( and WE can't even lift our moods up with 💩-shaped pasta (want, want, want!) nor millefeuille (my all time favourite). Gigia says life now is awfully boring...
ReplyDeleteMartina, I tried a millefeuille in your honor yesterday. Amazing!!!!!!
DeleteLyle, thanks for the great post! I love that you already knew about Brittany from reading Horatio Hornblower. That makes seeing everything much more exciting, doesn't it. Cam was telling me about Horatio at Tashi's birthday party, when he realized you were in Brittany. The food looks delicious. Especially the pasta.
ReplyDeleteYum! Lola and I would like one of each of the pastries please. That biking path looks so relaxing!!! How is French sounding to the Spanish speakers?
ReplyDeleteI wish you were riding with us today! It is so idyllic, pleasant, and relaxing.
DeleteAn idea; Team Gifford can ride to the end of the canal, turn around and ride back, repeat until late August. No hills, beautiful scenery, clean bikes. And a summer biking in France! Wait... where was that bakery?
ReplyDeleteLove these posts! What an adventure and lifetime memory. Love the C2C jersey in the cover shot too!
ReplyDeleteLooking good, Lyle! Great post And fun history lesson. And you'll remember that it was in "Flying Colours" in which our hero Horatio fled down this same route from execution at the hands of the tyrant Bonaparte!
ReplyDeleteHornblower comment From Cam...
ReplyDelete