FRANCE - DAY 9

TOP OF THE HILL NEAR ST SULIAC

After two nights in Dinan it was time to hit the road again.
With just three days left on this trip we felt that it would be sensible to head for St Malo. We wanted to have a complete day to look around the town and Peter and I also wanted to have a day to cycle around part of the coast from St Malo to Cancale.
That was days ten and eleven taken care of, so today  the plan was to cycle to St Malo by way of the small coastal village of St Suliac. Chris had read somewhere that this was a place worth a look so the plan was laid and we were on our way.
The route seemed fairly straight forward apart from a small error made within ten minutes of leaving the campsite. This meant that we cycled in a bit of a loop before finally heading off in the right direction.

OLD FORTRESS TOWER OVERLOOKING St SULIAC

VIEW OVER St SULIAC FROM THE TOP OF THE HILL

It was another very warm day and with a bit of a breeze it made for good cycling. Just a few miles from St Suliac we had a choice.... Up and over a steep hill or take a low level route..... Apparently the route via the hill offered some great views as a reward for making the effort to grind your way to the top in something approaching the granny gear. Mike and Chris decided to take the lower level route and Peter and I went for the granny gear..!

At the top was an old fortress tower ruin and some lovely views looking over the village......well worth the struggle to get there. After taking in the views and taking some photographs Peter and I freewheeled at some speed down into the village. We headed to the coastal end of the village where Mike and Chris had already arrived. Just a little way along the coastal road we found a little beachfront cafe where we stopped for lunch.

VIEW FROM BEACHFRONT CAFE

 After lunch we set off  back along the coastal road and then headed up the hill out of the village....before long we were on the outskirts of St Malo.
We found a couple of campsites about five miles from the centre of town, but Mike and Chris said that they would prefer to be closer to the ferry port itself as they wanted to be within walking distance of the old part of the town.
This was because they intended to have an easy day of exploration while Peter and I were cycling around the coast on day ten.
The ride into the centre of St Malo was not too difficult although we did need to check the route a few times. After all the quiet cycling routes we had been cycling on this trip it came as a bit of a shock to the system to be back on busy traffic filled roads again.

ROUND HOUSE SEEN IN THE CENTRE OF A TRAFFIC ROUNDABOUT-  St MALO

 We headed for the Port area and before long picked up signs for a municipal campsite....we followed the signs and eventually we arrived at the site which overlooked the ferryport . We couldn't be closer and it really proved to be an ideal site for our needs....close to the town.....easy to cycle to the ferry (about 5 mins ride) and also well placed for the coastal cycle ride that Peter and I had planned for the following day....
That evening we found a small restaurant only about five minutes walk from the site and after our meal I rewarded myself with a giant cream & icecream confection for my efforts in the granny gear earlier in the day......

A JUST REWARD FOR GRANNY GEAR USAGE....!

FRANCE - DAY 8 a day in Dinan

VIEW FROM THE OLD TOWN WALLS

WALKING ALONG THE RIVERSIDE CYCLE TRACK INTO TOWN

GENERAL TOWN VIEW

VIEW NEAR TOWN CENTRE

LOTS OF OLD BUILDINGS

ANOTHER OF THE OLD BUILDINGS

ATTRACTIVE COBBLED STREETS

ANCIENT MOTORBIKE FITTED IN WITH THE OLD BUILDINGS

OLD TOWN GATEWAY

ANOTHER GENERAL VIEW

VIEW BY THE DOCK

FOR CAT LOVERS EVERYWHERE..........

CONGRATULATIONS........

Congratulations to Bradley Wiggins on winning the Criterium Du Daphine today.
Bradley has shown that he can really hold his own with the best of them in the mountains as well as being able to produce a good time trial result....
This must all bode really well for his chances in the Tour De France.....I can't wait..!!

FRANCE - DAY 7

CYCLE TEAM.......

................FOLLOWED BY PETER

IN THE SHADE AS WE GOT TO OUTSKIRTS OF DINAN

RIVER ROAD DINAN

VIADUCT WE CROSSED  ON ENTRY TO DINAN

OUR NEW TWO NIGHT HOME - CAMPSITE DINAN

Day seven was an A to B day.....a travel day. After two nights at the campsite near Mont St Michel it was now time to move on again. The plan was to head for the town of Dinan. We had heard that this was an interesting place to head for as it had lots of history.
The day was another of those very hot days when you only dare stop if you can get under some shade...It was fine as long as you were cycling along as the act of moving forward helped to create a breeze which in turn kept you cooled. However...when you stopped..phew..!  HOT.
We had some initial difficulty finding our correct route.....Peter likes to know exactly where he is at any time on the map whereas my system is more basic. I just like to go on instinct, on the basis that every road and turn will end up taking you somewhere.....anyway, the result of our joint efforts plus some sprinkling of GPS meant that for the first few miles we seemed to travel in a big loop before eventually heading off in the right direction.
The route when we found it was really quite straightforward just following a couple of roads for the entire distance.We found another nice Cafe/bar for lunch with the proprietor showing us a safe place for us to put our bikes out of the heat of the sun.
When I got to the outskirts of Dinan I pulled over and waited for the others (in the shade)......First to come by was a cycling team followed not far behind by Peter...five minutes later Mike and Chris arrived. We then all headed down a hill and before we knew it we were all cycling across a massive viaduct. This was a very high structure and gave us a fantastic view up and down the river.
First stop in town was the tourist information office to enquire about campsites.....and eventually we were heading along the river road in the direction of one of the nearest campsites....
It wasn't easy to find and we seemed to finish the day as we started....cycling around in what seemed to be a bit of a circle before we arrived at the days destination.
The plan here was to follow a similar plan as at previous sites...stay over for two nights giving us a full day the next day to explore the town......


TO BE CONTINUED.........

ANOTHER BLOGGER GLITCH....?

IT APPEARS THAT THERE IS ANOTHER BLOGGER GLITCH.......

IT SEEMS THAT A NUMBER OF BLOGS - OF WHICH THIS IS ONE- ARE MISSING THEIR FOLLOWERS LISTS & ALSO THEIR ADSENSE PANELS FROM THE SIDE BAR.

LET'S HOPE THAT THE PROBLEM IS SORTED SOON.

FRANCE - DAY 6

BREAKFAST DELIVERED TO THE TENT

Day six started with breakfast delivered to the tent.....Chris had ordered croissants from the campsite reception and she had popped along there to collect them and then she kindly delivered  them to our tents..... Oh the joys of camping...!
After breakfast we mounted our unloaded bikes for the short ride to Mont St Michel.....the plan was to spend the day doing the 'tourist' thing.

PLENTY OF PARKING FOR BIKES

 It was an easy ride along the cycle path that followed the river to the Mont. Half a mile from the Mont the path joined the road to cross the causeway. There was quite a queue for the car park but being on bikes we were waved past by the car park attendant and just slightly further along the causeway we came to the bike parking area....lots of it....no worry about parking for us and no charge either....

CLOSER VIEW OF MONT St MICHEL

 Lots of tourists of course, but then that is what we were too...tourists I mean...! The day was spent looking around ...taking pictures....eating....drinking (coffee only) and enjoying the day.

ANOTHER MONT VIEW

 Mont St Michel is a lot larger than St Michaels Mount in Cornwall England. This French version has a village around the base and the Mount and the Abbey set upon it is much bigger. From a distance however they do look very similar. A lot of the 'village' around the base consists of tourist shops and little bars and restaurants but all very interesting nevertheless...If you are ever in this part of France it is certainly worth making the visit.

VIEW OF THE CAUSEWAY FROM THE MONT

ANOTHER VIEW FROM THE MONT   -SLIGHT MONET OVERTONES

MASSIVE WALLS OF MONT St MICHEL

ABBEY VIEW

OUT BUILDING IN THE GROUNDS OF THE MONT - NOTE SIDE OF ROOF FACING PREVAILING WIND

We all enjoyed our visit and late afternoon we headed back to the bikes and ride back to the campsite. This was the second time that I have visited the Mont. The previous time was about twelve years ago when I went on a weeks camping trip with a classic car club that I was a member of. The weather on that first visit was not as good as the weather we enjoyed on this trip.....

TO BE CONTINUED............

FRANCE - DAY 4 & 5

ON ROUTE ON DAY 4

After two nights at Coutances it was time to move on.
Target for day four was a small town on the coast called Genets.  We planned to pick up the coastal route and head down toward Granville and then on to our days destination.
With a mix of both map and GPS we managed to get out on to the correct route fairly easily and it wasn't long before we started to get glimpses of the coast. Weather wise it was another beautiful day.
As with any coastal route there were quite a few ups as well as downs. Chris is not too keen on hills and on some of the stiffer climbs she has to get off and walk, we would normally wait for her at the top.
Unfortunately Chris is not too keen on the downhills either, using her brakes for most of the descent. I usually tried to get in front of her for the downhill sections as I hate riding on the brakes.
Towards the latter part of the day's ride we had some great views of Mont St Michel away in the distance...

THE BISTRO GARDEN

CAMPSITE AT GENETS

At Genets we quickly found the campsite and booked in at the reception.
Chris might be slow going up and down hills but she did a cracking job as 'communications officer' managing to ensure that what we wanted was what we actually got....She tells us that her French speaking is a bit rusty but it seemed pretty good to the rest of us.
That evening Chris was back in action at a small Bistro in the town where we had chosen to have our meal. The garden of the Bistro was so 'bohemian' with some really weird items dotted around. Unfortunately the evening was a little chilly so we decided to go inside for our meal which was served in what appeared to be old baked bean cans....so odd but oh so French..!!

VERY HOT ON DAY FIVE

 The morning of day five started a bit cloudy but the day turned into a very hot day.
We were heading for a campsite about four miles from Mont St Michel and the route meant negotiating a lot of minor roads around the river estuary near Avranches.
After only about an hour Mike decided that he would have to cover his legs from the sun....he had got sunburnt on the top of his legs just above his knees the day before. We stopped and while Mike was donning his cycling tights the rest of us were putting on another coating of high factor sunscreen.

MIKE COVERING UP HIS LEGS

 The route for most of the day was quite flat with no 'nasty' hills so Chris was well pleased with today's cycling.
We found a little cafe for lunch which consisted of a ham sandwich followed by coffee. The French call it a sandwich but it is actually a huge french bread roll about 18" long....and the bread is really tasty..!
At about 1600hrs we pulled into the campsite.. We were planning on staying here for two nights as we wanted to spend a day looking around the Mont.
The receptionist at the campsite was really helpful giving us advice about a cycle route that we could take to the Mont and information on tides and viewing times.

WELL I'LL SOON BURN IT OFF ON THE BIKE..!!

CAMPSITE PITCH NEAR MONT ST MICHEL

 That evening we had a look around and found a reasonable place to eat and then we decided that we would walk a couple of miles up the cycle route to get a bit of a closer view of the Mont.
The campsite receptionist had told us that Mont St Michel would be lit up at about 2200hrs and we all wanted to get a good view of it before our proper visit the next day.

2200HRS - MONT ST MICHEL LIT UP

It proved to be well worth the walk and lots of other people were out to get a good view...After taking some pictures and taking in the view for about half an hour we made our way back to the campsite.....

TO BE CONTINUED......