It did seem slightly bonkers; setting the alarm for 6.30 (GMT) when you've 80 odd miles to cycle, but we were due to meet the striking French dockers at 9.15 (their time) to commence l'etape quatre (I'm a natural 🙄) of our journey to Barca. 
I think we all slept surprisingly well in the two 3 berth shoeboxes provided & looked forward to the day ahead. There was even a little sunshine as we steamed into St Malo.
We disembarked safely at around 9.30 and moved quietly & efficiently through St Malo, well we would have done had any if the Garbage Garmins worked!
We eventually got out of the town & onto the right route. We were then able to set about holding traffic up in true Ciclista fashion:
The first leg was cool & overcast, as we headed south through Northern Brittany to our first cafe stop in Combourg. A nice little town & a nice little cafe. We sat out, as the weather held good (purely temporary) and indulged in very good coffee & pastries bought from the adjacent boulangerie, as advised by the waitress (46 points).
A leisurely stop & the subsequent rolling landscape meant that our schedule was beginning to suffer slightly. Nevertheless, we had no intention on skimping on the 'gastro' side of things so, 20 or so miles later, we decided to stop for a bit of proper lunch at Saint Aubin du Cormier. We seated ourselves outside a rustic creperie, had the waiter set the table and then promptly moved inside as it started p**sing down 😕
Didn't spoil the superb galettes though (45 points *)
We then endured some pretty miserable wet & cold weather that persisted for the next 20 odd miles, making the journey rather testing. We passed through Vitre (allegedly a rather architecturally interesting town) with ner a sideways glance. Awful weather & the 'let's just get' attitude was beginning to take seat in certain minds.
So, instead of a sensible third stop, we pressed on for a 40 odd mile stint. Hard n fast into Craon!!
A bunch of tired cyclists sliced through Craon, abusing traffic laws & entertaining the locals with their stunt riding - well if clattering to the ground off your bike counts as a stunt. Dave H (The Doc) gaining 5 points for a refusal at the Kerb de la Rue. Shaken, but not stirred!
We needed food! Fortunately, our hotel was only 5 mins away. So we were there pretty quickly.........and drank beer 🙄🍻🍻
Medicinal!
Good rooms & trad food
A pretty tough 84 miles today, all doing well. Well fed & watered now. Not sure if I'll sleep well tonight though, as I'll be cuddling up with Kev 🤔
Tomorrows planning is well advanced. More stops required!
Goodnight
* As there's now 6 of us, adjust the cafe points yourself if you're that interested 😂
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