We arrived in a city after the best part of 3 weeks in the counrtyside and man did we feel out of place! Muddy trousers, filthy water proof covers on our backpacks and the general odour of sweat and toil. Hello Rennes! And sadly also goodbye Dave, as he had decided he would be leaving me here to head back to England and grab some bulls by the horns (proverbially speaking, obviously, there've been plenty of actual bulls to grab here if the electric fences weren't doing their jobs).

We spent 2 more days on the canal after Pontivy and although they were both long they were thoroughly rewarding. The first night we rough campedin a little woodland patch next to the canal and were treated to stars and luminous satellites gliding over our heads in the darkness of the countryside. We were up with the light the next morning to avoid detection and the canal was mesmerising. No one around, frosted white grass and shrubs either side, swirling mist all along the water and to cap it all, we saw an otter! He swam towards for a few moments until he spotted us, then challenged us to a staring competition from the opposite bank. Only a random car driving up the canal path broke the deadlock. It was a real treat.

Further along was the town of Josselin with it's pretty spectacular waterside chateua. And a lovely old man who shouted einz, zwei, einz, zwei at us as we passed. Our confused looks prompted him to try 1, 2, 1, 2, which made us chuckle and stopped. He then enthused with us about his trips around Scotland, Skye and Wales on his motorbike, before beckoning us into his garage to see said bike (actually a 3 wheeled scooter). He rounded off his endearingbanter with some recollections from his childhood during the war and a rant about people who don't clear up their dog s***! We left him with a warm handshake and the now familiar "Bon courage!"

From the canal we headed to the enchanted forest where Merlin was 'apparently' born andLancelot was brought up. We spent pancake day eve sleeping above a creperie being hosted by another lovely french family in the warmth of their open fire heated kitchen.They also arranged for us to stay with their son in Rennes when we arrived.

And so another couch surf and then to Rennes. A really nice, young city with lots of littleshops, bars and food places in the beautiful quartier historique. But it was all a bit overshadowed by Dave's departure the next day. I was very sad to see him go, and setting off the next day was daunting, to say the least. But he left me the cappuccino supplies and some more plasters so i couldn't really have asked for more!