DAY 22. IN THE SURBURBS OF NANTES

Let no-one say a bad thing about Ronald McDonald.He's my new best friend.After spending the last few nights camped up on hill-tops with sea views,in a valley by a stream filled full of fallen autumn leaves or silent forests next to a park bench by a lake (they are all glorified ditches according to some people;-Hi Frank), you really begin to want a bit of normality. After a few days of fly-tenting, you start to want the things we take for granted i.e. running water(a tap preferably,rather than stream water), a plug socket(can you remember the last time you went through a day without using a plug socket???) and Wi-Fi.(Just in case ye think I cycled off the face of the earth). And then at a big roundabout approaching Nantes you spot a McDonalds.Today, for the price of a Mccoffee, I charged up my computer,camera battery,ipod and head shaver while also checking my emails,updating my website(look at all the new photos) and checked out 'Google Earth'(How do I get into the centre of Nantes without using a motorway).And then of course there was the McToilets.(Even the best of views can't top a toilet seat) and I don't think I'm a vain person but you can see yourself so much more clearer in a mirror rather than an inverted saucepan lid.A word of advice for anyone reading this who works at senior level in McDonalds. If ye just made your sinks slightly bigger,I would have been able to wash my pots,pan and cutlery. And then I filled up my water bottles and went looking for a 5* ditch Tonight I'm camped up by a library in the suburbs of Nantes.Tomorrow,I'll head on in to the city centre. Its great,my dad,Jim and brother,Paul will be in the city this weekend, so the Doherty clan can met up in a nice spot.I'm tired. I think I'll adjourn to the wad...............