Cycle Touring in France: A hill too far!

The morning cycle was one of the best so far. It was a bright and clear with hardly any cars as we rook the back roads from Fougeres to the bay of Mont St Michel. A few cycle groups passed us on their early morning rides and we met a lone cyclist near Avranches who took us on a back route around town that had great views of the bay. He was much older than us but very fit and had done over 100km the previous day. He was just returning from a 70km ride when he saw us looking at our map and came to offer us some assistance. Julie chatted to him in French as we cycled along. There was a long hill into town and Julie rode a bit faster than normal, so we were both a bit puffed when we reached the top and parted ways. There are some formal gardens there and we walked to the belvedere to take a couple of photos of Mont St Michel before cycling down into the town centre for a welcome cafe break. We still had quite a way to go to Granville and took the coastal route as we hoped to get good views of the bay and avoid the main road. This route was still quite busy and although there were not too many cars they came by very fast and we had to keep close to the kerb. As the day wore on we started to get a little tired and were happy to reach our hotel around 4pm. We had set off early as it was one of our longest days and we clocked up 85km in the end. After showering and having a drink at the bar we ate an early dinner and walked around the port and headland. The tides here as so large that there is a dam wall in the port. When the tide goes out the boats still float. When it comes back in again the boats queue outside the harbour until they have enough draught to get back in again. The headland walk is quite interesting as it contains the barracks of an old regiment, now turned into apartments, and the remains of the German gun emplacements that protected the bay. There are lots of seafood restaurants along the quay and their lights reflect in the water at night making a pretty scene with the backdrop of the steep cliff top houses above and the old city walls.

Mont St MIchel from the gardens in Avranches