After visiting the historic town of Mayenne, with its castle dating back in part to Carolingian times, head south via the Mayenne Valley. This La Vélo Francette stage is well suited to families, following the riverside towpath in a lovely natural setting punctuated by lock-keepers’ houses and beautiful old homes. The town of Laval is a delight to walk around.

The start of this stage affords fine views of the town of Laval and its two châteaux. The nine-arched railway viaduct here also has a footbridge open to cyclists, and links the Mayenne River’s east bank to Laval’s town centre and its river port. South of Laval, admire the well-known Abbaye du Port Salut (historically connected with popular Port-Salut cheese) before discovering more of the natural beauty of the Mayenne River.

Travelling along the Mayenne Valley, each meander reveals new delights to spur you on, with a château here and a mill there, or then a waterside village with a river port. Before the town of Le Lion-d’Angers, you’ll get a notion of the importance of the equestrian professions around here as you pass the Domaine de l’Isle-Briand, home to a world-class national stud farm that hosts equestrian events.

After the picture-postcard equestrian grounds at L’Isle Briand, with its château and national stud farm, plus the Mayenne and Oudon confluence, you cross the low-lying ends of several river valleys that form one of the most exceptional areas of wetland in Europe, going right up to Angers, a famed historic Plantagenet city. Up to that town’s Pont Jean Moulin bridge, the rural atmosphere remains almost untouched.