BETWEEN TWO WATERS

The mouth of a river and its meeting with the ocean is always a fascinating place. From the Mississippi in New Orleans to the Yangtze that flows into the East China Sea, such locations have a power beyond words. And the mouth of the Loire is no exception; marine waters mix with fresh water and the phenomenon of the tides is felt over more than 100 kilometres back up the river.

The landscapes of the estuary and its wild wetlands meet the shipyards and their hyper-industrialized mechanisms; this confrontation between nature and technology is as explosive as it is unexpected.

Riding in this area south of Brittany with its typically bucolic scenery is a captivating experience, somewhat reminiscent of a Jacques Tati film with Monsieur Hulot carousing about the seaside.

But then you see the brutalism of large metal bridges contrasting starkly with the pretty seaside houses and delicate marsh birds going about their daily errands aside huge maritime wind turbines waiting to be shipped out. Salt workers fling their haul manually beneath gigantic automatic tippers, the scale of modernity is captivating.

We set off from Nantes, a dynamic and creative western metropolis. It is also a milestone on the long cycle route that is “La Loire à Vélo”. We meet a few cyclists along the banks of the Loire before riding away from the river to get lost in the infinite and pan-flat marshes. The scores herons and egrets will be our only companions for the rest of the day.

Here and there, however, we can see chimneys announcing a monumental factory or a sprawling industrial complex. The closer you get to the ocean, the more their numbers increase. Wide expanses of reeds and duckweed gradually give way to gigantic areas of apocalyptic architecture looming aggressively on the horizon.

Saint-Nazaire is the first French port on the Atlantic coast, and it marks the end of the river and the beginning of the ocean. Giant, colourful cranes punctuate the skyline, making us feel tiny beneath their towering structures.

A huge blockhouse, a former German submarine base during the Second World War, offers a breath-taking view of the river and the port, and makes a rather original playground for our own two-wheeled machines to explore.

It is time to leave the river and roll alongside the coast, the beautiful villas of the middle of the 11th century recall the seaside tourism of the olden days and it is easy to imagine city dwellers travelling here to refresh themselves at the edge of the ocean and to walk under the aromatic pines. A little further north, the salt marshes of Guérande unfold in a vast plain punctuated by the forms of the salt mounds.

The workers continue to plough on, raking in the ever-loved mineral. Our track follows the Vilaine, one of the first canalized rivers in France, by a superb gravel track that would almost make us believe that we are in the United States. The small medieval town of Redon located at the intersection of the river and the canal from Nantes to Brest indicates the way back. The circle is complete.

Il Giro dell'Ichnusa

Sophie Gateau explores Sardinia, the second largest island in the Mediterranean Sea, which boasts landscapes of breath-taking beauty.

A Tour of the Volcanoes of Auvergne

Sophie Gateau explores the Auvergne region, where there are probably more cows than humans per m2, armed with our camera, a tent and a knife.

Tracing the Torino-Nice Rally

A legendary gravel ride travelling from Italy to France. Sophie Gateau and Mathias Riquier explore the route ahead of the start of the Rally this September.

The Ultra Distance Gravel Race

Sophie Gateau tackles Badlands, an unsupported off-road race through Andalusia, made up of around 725km and 15,000m of altitude gain.