Day 12 Malestroit-Gouenrouet 62km

We had hoped to stay another night in Malestroit but the B&B was fully booked, so after a very decent breakfast in the bar of the Cape Horn (marine archaeological finds and got up like a ship's cabin on a sailing sloop, perhaps) we hit the canal in brilliant sunshine and for a fair bit of the day we had tail winds, the benefits being cancelled out by when we didn't.

Redon was by far the largest place that we passed through, being known as the crossroads of the canal system. Unfortunately, as the canals are now primarily used for leisure, this means that it is not doing too well economically. Signs of poverty and a very high proportion of vacant shops on the traditional high street, probably crucified by edge/out of town stores, as in so many places. 

We tried to buy food for the evening in the market hall but it had closed at 13:00, which seems a little shortsighted, but they presumably know what is required. We bought some superb pain de campagne from an artisan baker in a 14C half-timbered building that had leaned a great deal without collapse but we could not find a butcher or wine merchant, so we had recourse to SuperU local and Cath got some pork chops, merguez, rocket, heritage tomatoes, Leffe and a great bottle of Cazes brothers' Collioure. Last night we had Coteaux de Languedoc (Narbonne), so a bit of a southern French theme, being the wines we know and love that make use of Grenache, Syrah and Mourvèdre. The previous night we had a Côte de Bourg 2011, which was excellent. Bordeaux wines are great but they have become pricy, particularly the famous names, because India, China, The US and Eastern Europe have become big buyers. 

Today's highlights included a man playing the Breton pipes on a stretch of the canal outside Redon, presumably to avoid annoying too many people (he was very good) and blokes from the Council working out how to get a dead motorbike, pulled from the canal, onto a pickup - they phoned for help but only after sitting on it and going, vroom, vroom.  

Today we heard woodpeckers, saw a bird of prey, maybe a red kite or a falcon, saw two herons and Cath ran over a snake, which was amongst the sticks on the path. The saddest wildlife sight to date has been a dead badger, roadkill in Worcestershire. 

Tonight we are staying in the first Airbnb that we have tried in France and it turned out to be an architect-designed modern house with an internal gîte, where we are staying, huge shower, sun deck overlooking the canal, delightful. 

Below some rather nice houses in Malestroit.