Skies grey to start, managed eventually to prod Étienne awake a bit earlier than usual1 to get breakfast in and out to Mont St. Michel to get the abbey tour before leaving. Again a spectacular view from the restaurant, and realizing that being Sunday there was likely to be little open along the way, managed to purloin enough bread, cheese and eggs for lunch from the spread in the true Hossack fashion….. a great call, as it turned out….
Back to Mont St. Michel by 9 a.m., again a quiet tour around and the Abbey; was well worth the return visit – crowds starting to amass by the time we left though, can’t imagine what it’s like in full summer there…. We packed up and hit the road to our next destination about 11 a.m. – many km. of gently undulating and lovely coastal roads passed then Étienne decided on a side trip to Avranche…. still searching for an open market to buy a tomato – we ended up on a pedestrian path that went straight uphill, and I mean straight – walking the bike up the unbelievable grade – hot sticky and tired by the time I got to the top of that (Etienne rode up, incredibly)2. Avranche a fairly unattractive town with a castle under restoration, where we had lunch on the grass as the only bench was occupied by a sleeping homeless person. Have to admit, the ride downhill was kinda nice, on a real road with a reasonable grade…. rejoining the route we spent the rest of the day riding up and down (some fairly decent hills), through many spots marked as Tour de France routes/starts etc., and very scenic country. Quite a tiring 60 km again (+15kms exploring I think) though with some fabulous downhill runs and some roadside cheering at one point (“Allez, Allez, Allez” near the top of one hill) was appreciated for its humour! The roads got busier towards Granville, our next destination, and with little shoulder some of the curves uphill were a bit nervy, though have to say, the French drivers are pretty patient with cyclists…..
We arrived in the old town about 5 p.m., to find it crawling with shoppers and sightseers – happily we stumbled into a chocolaterie and patisserie, and had a well deserved ice cream and obtained birthday dessert treats (my birthday today). Also got a few ideas for my next batch…..The hill up to our hotel was again of a grade beyond belief, but it is nice and handy for downtown old ville. The obligatory shower and laundry completed, we set off to find some beer (we had been promised a good local spot which of course, being Sunday, was closed so Trip Advisor steered us to a bar in the upper town (yes, more flights of stairs and uphill….) but it was well worth it and hilarious to watch a pizza truck block the end of a street and set up shop – apparently an event going on in the square tonight….. with dwindling battery power on my phone we headed for a restaurant on the harbour front and had a FABULOUS seafood meal – a conglomeration of tastes and presentation accompanied by a lovely Bordeaux…..
Well, yes my blogs cover a lot about food but we are so appreciating the great cuisine….
Back home we devoured the amazing patisseries – wow, the best mousse creation I’ve ever had, sooo light ….
Memories from today? Discovering at lunch that the eggs weren’t hardboiled (I hadn’t noticed the boiler beside them at the breakfast table, Eacute;tienne apparently had) – beautiful sandy beaches – “Allez, allez” and the first chocolaterie I’ve made it into!
Étienne’s notes:
1. Surprisingly late actually. But what can you do. We’ve been running a sleep deficit since a week before we left Vancouver…
2. Yeah. Second steepest road I’ve ever taken a bike up, and definitely the steepest I’ve been able to balance up. See the random path photo below. *phew*
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