Tag: Granville

Le Petit Tour de France (Normandy, Brittany & Pays de la Loire) – Day 5

Le Petit Tour de France (Normandy, Brittany & Pays de la Loire) – Day 5

gavscyclingadventures

Etape 5 – Granville to Val Couesnon (Tuesday 24th June)

After a breakfast of apple juice, coffee, cereal, yoghurt, pain au chocolat & a pastry I was ready for the day ahead. We had blue skies overhead & the thermometer was already saying 20C as we set off just after 9.30am. The first 20 minutes or so were about getting across Granville & joining the coastal road towards Saint-Pair-sur-Mer.

Within 10 miles, we’d hit almost half of today’s climbing, as we crested cliffs, before plummeting back to sea level, with lovely views along the beaches. There were plenty of people walking on the promenade & even a couple of horses & traps galloping on the wet sand.

As we descended into Saint-Jean-le-Thomas we left the climbing behind for a while as we descended a small lane that took us past an ancient cannon & gave us our first glimpse of the Abbaye du Mont-Saint-Michel about 10 miles in the distance. I’ve been looking forward to seeing the island that’s connected to the mainland by a causeway ever since we planned the trip – my first view didn’t disappoint!

After about 90 minutes in the saddle, we reached the small commune of Genets & spotted a patisserie, plus a picnic spot in a nearby field, so I stopped for a pear tart & orange drink, while Sean had an apple tart & peach drink as we relaxed with lovely views across the bay.

We stayed on quiet lanes as we headed inland through Vains, La Croix Verte & Argennes, occasionally picking up gravel trails that joined the small lanes together. At Pontaubalt, we crossed the Selune estuary & headed ever closer to Mont-Saint-Michel, with the Abbaye offering tantalising glimpses of what lay ahead.

Other than a group of 4 Scottish cyclists who were heading for St Malo we hardly saw a sole (1 of their partners was acting as a soigneur & driving a car with all their luggage) – they quickly rode off into the distance.

Finally, we arrived at La Caserne, the closest you can get to the Abbaye, without walking across to the Abbaye. We stopped for a café au lait & coke, while congratulating ourselves for making the slight detour to get closer to the Mont-Saint-Michel.

Leaving La Caserne, we joined a hard-packed gravel cycle track that followed the river Couesnon into Pontorson, before picking up a lane that was used exclusively by cyclists & farmers. About an hour after leaving La Caserne, we arrived in Val Couesnon & had 1 final, steep ascent to our Bed & Breakfast.

Granville to Val Couesnon was 49 miles in length with 1,500 feet of climbing. We’re staying in the Chambres d’Hotes 1900 & it looks like we made a great choice. A small swimming pool, jacuzzi & sauna are in the large garden & we enjoyed an 1st class al-fresco plat-du-jour dinner, made by the hostess!

Le Petit Tour de France (Normandy, Brittany & Pays de la Loire) – Day 4

Le Petit Tour de France (Normandy, Brittany & Pays de la Loire) – Day 4

gavscyclingadventures

Etape 4 –Carteret to Granville (Monday 23rd June)

We woke to moody, grey skies & damp roads, evidence it had rained overnight. The breeze from the North-North-East had already blown it away & would be giving us a slight tailwind for much of the day! As if that wasn’t good enough news, breakfast was a delicious, locally sourced hot & cold buffet – it was all you could eat for €25, so I enjoyed bacon & scrambled egg, bread & jam, pain au chocolat, almond cake, quiche & a couple of small pain-aux-raisin washed down with fresh OJ & coffee.

Leaving Carteret, we quickly joined a white, gravel track, similar is style to Strade Bianche. The track ended after a couple of miles & we picked up a small back road that took us through the small communes of Les Rivieres and La Huellerie.

When we reached Portbail, we joined up with the Voie Vert, a series of old railway lines that have been converted into hard-packed cycle routes. For the next 7 miles we had the track to ourselves & we reminisced about the different trips & countries that had similar cycling infrastructure.

As we passed through Le Haye, I spotted a café next to a patisserie & we stopped briefly to watch the world go by as I tucked into a tartlette de fraises washed down with a café au lait. We rejoined the Voie Vert for another 5 miles or so, before joining a deserted country lane, which in turn directed us onto a mud trail.

We learned from yesterday’s fiasco & quickly turned back. I then had to find an alternate road to get us back on course after our detour. Luckily all worked out well & we soon joined up with the planned route again.

The skies had clouded over again by early afternoon & there was a field of cows who were expecting rain, as they were all laid down – unless of course it’s only British cows that lay down when it’s about to rain!

We were now in the hilly part of today’s ride & although our pace slowed as a result, the views across the valleys were worth the effort. After 1 long descent, we left the lanes & joined the larger D20 that connects Le Pont de la Roque with Montmartin-sur-Mer.

We stumbled upon the fact that Pont de la Roque was a key part of Operation Cobra during Worle War II, when the old bridge was destroyed by Allied bombers, with the aim of trapping the German troops on the peninsula. It was a sobering reminder of the consequences of war.

The route into Montmartin took us across a plateau of wheat & corn fields, before delivering us onto more deserted lanes. There was just enough time for 1 final surprise, as my Wahoo re-routed us onto a sandy lane that took us between a golf course & a gallop for horses. We had to get off & push our steel steeds for a few hundred yards.

The final part of our ride took us along the seafront, with big views of the Atlantic Ocean in all directions.

Carteret to Granville was 54 miles in length with 1,900 feet of climbing. We made good progress & made our way to our hotel by 4pm, so I had some time to relax before we head out for a beer & some dinner. A large number of restaurants close on a Monday evening in France & Granville was no exception. In the end we found something in between a fast food joint & a greasy spoon cafe where we had a burger & fries. On the way back to our hotel I watched parascenders making the most of the warm evening thermals, as they soared high above the town.