# Brittany and Normandy June 2007



## M.J. (Jan 28, 2004)

Pat, HH and I just came back from a four day tour of Brittany and Normandy. We overnighted to St Malo on the ferry and cycled back to Cherbourg. The first two days were dry the last two days were, er, not. Easy cycling, lots of good food, beer and interesting indirect routes, some light offroad. 85k day 1, 105k day 2, 85k day 3, 50k day 4.

Our route had us riding as close to the coast as possible due east from St Malo and then circling the bay of Mont St Michel then north along the coast to Granville. From there we headed to Coutance, then to Utah Beach, up to St Vaast la Hogue and finally to Cherbourg. We left London Waterloo on the train for the ferry at Portsmouth.


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## M.J. (Jan 28, 2004)

*St Malo*

and thereabouts


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## M.J. (Jan 28, 2004)

*stop*

at the beach


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## M.J. (Jan 28, 2004)

along to Cancale


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## M.J. (Jan 28, 2004)

we were chased by rain


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## M.J. (Jan 28, 2004)

Mont St Michel


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## M.J. (Jan 28, 2004)

north up the coast


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## M.J. (Jan 28, 2004)

in to Coutance


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## M.J. (Jan 28, 2004)

rain = no pictures of Utah Beach


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## M.J. (Jan 28, 2004)

final leg


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## Mapei (Feb 3, 2004)

*Beautiful photo essay*

Looks like a fine time.


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## MarkS (Feb 3, 2004)

Thanks for a great report. I took an overnight trip from Paris to the D-Day beaches in April 2006. Your photos reminded me of a very enjoyable but all too short trip.


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## il sogno (Jul 15, 2002)

Great pics. I gotta ask though... was that a nude beach?


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## DrRoebuck (May 10, 2004)

Man, I have to see the D-Day beaches at some point in my life.

The whole ride looks fantastic. Thanks for posting.


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## M.J. (Jan 28, 2004)

il sogno said:


> Great pics. I gotta ask though... was that a nude beach?


it was when we were there!! - seriously as you can see in the earlier picture it was pretty deserted - Pat and HH would not have stripped off if it had been crowded as it wasn't a designated nude beach (but there aren't really rules for that sorta stuff like in the US) - they walked down a respectful distance from the only two other people on the beach


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## undies (Oct 13, 2005)

*Wow!*

I think I have a new dream destination! Thank you for sharing the stunning pics.


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## Velo Vol (Mar 9, 2005)

Nice report.


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## Jeff in Texas (Mar 17, 2006)

I was in Normandy for five days in the fall of 2004. I could kick myself now for not taking one more day and visiting Mont St Michel. Another visit there is worthwhile.


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## Buonarroti (May 1, 2005)

I was in Europe last August, starting in Switzerland and ending at Omaha Beach. The D-Day beaches were the highlight of the trip.


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## MB1 (Jan 27, 2004)

What a great ride report. 

You know it is a winner when it makes you want to ride there!

MB1
Ready to ride


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## Dave Hickey (Jan 27, 2002)

The best ride report I've seen this year.....I am extremely jealous


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## M.J. (Jan 28, 2004)

thanks alot - that's a big compliment - all I did was point and shoot and hope at 15mph mostly - I deleted loads and loads of pictures - I regretted not getting the camera out on day 3 but it was a long, tough, wet day on the bike - we averaged 35km for the last 15km to St Vaast to get to a warm shower


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## philippec (Jun 16, 2002)

Brilliant report! Looks like you had some real Breton weather -- "Every day is sunny in Brittany .... in between the rain showers" (rough translation of a Breton proverb). I am disappointed to see that you did not go fully "local" with your after-cycling drink choice -- picking beer over the excellent local cider.... the horror!!!


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## M.J. (Jan 28, 2004)

some of my stuff is still wet! but it'll dry in time for the London to Canterbury etape sportive this weekend...

HH had plenty of cidre - Pat and I thought it tasted like something the Romulans would drink on Star Trek - the calvados on the other hand was great - we all managed a nice cidre with some cassis in St Vaast


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## bigrider (Jun 27, 2002)

Excellent ride report. Everything was great up until the Yankees hat. 

How was your time spent with the locals? That seems like my style of touring Europe. Stay on the back roads and meet the country folks.


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## philippec (Jun 16, 2002)

M.J. said:


> some of my stuff is still wet! but it'll dry in time for the London to Canterbury etape sportive this weekend...
> 
> HH had plenty of cidre - Pat and I thought it tasted like something the Romulans would drink on Star Trek


Another roughly translated Breton proverb 
"Taste of apple, your cider is good.
{but} Taste of the farm, [your cider is] made as God would"

The best cider only marginally tastes like the apples it is made with.


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## M.J. (Jan 28, 2004)

time with locals was good - we got our arses kicked in foosball by the French bar tender in Coutance - some other people wanted to practice English - clearly those who exhibit skill at foosball and the like are only evidencing their misspent youth - there was a great bar in St Vaast right on the harbour "Le Perrey" which was salty, locals only and very welcoming - they played great music (unusual in France) and comped us some drinks - saw no other cyclists save for the British cyclists who were on the ferry leg out - Pat said he got passed by a race club in a big peloton - they went past him at 40km when he was at 25km - he said the noise was great and punctuated by plenty of friendly greetings of ca va? - French riders don't cycle tour - so on the road people would have known we were foreign - we all pulled our schoolboy French out, made do and were understood - HH was particularly impressive - we'd thought he could only say "hands up" and "where are your daughters" in French (he's German - and took our teasing in good nature - but "is this where my grandfather shot your grandfather?" jokes never get old) but he was very good - people were friendly, roads were great, drivers were courteous, beer and food was good - when you cycle tour you see all the out of the way places where people acually live and go about their business - Normandy is one of the few places in Europe - France in particular - where Americans are absoluteley, unquestioningly welcomed - if I lived there I'd get tired of all the WW2 war history stuff - there's probably 40 "museums" not counting cemeteries and official and unofficial monuments - we sat in the Coutance town square watching weddings and masses late on Saturday - it seemed a very Catholic area to me - people are not surprised that you are out riding your bike in the deluge - we had a few say "bravo - sportive!" and clap their hands - Mont St Michel was very touristy but has been so for 1000 years and we enjoyed staying on the island rather than off it - St Vaast was like a Patrick O'Brian novel - I could see Jack Aubrey rolling in - it had a very moving seaman's cathedral / memorial - loads of plaques commemorating sailors and fishing vessels lost at sea - whole families went down with some boats - memorials were current up to the last few years - very sobering - I've sailed around there some - the sailing can be treacherous - tides are huge and rocks are plentiful


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## M.J. (Jan 28, 2004)

that's a great proverb - and, having now tasted Breton and Normand cidre, is so true

knowing it in advance would have piqued my interest a bit more and prepared me for what we actually encountered - HH loved it and sought out the real deal when possible


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## bigrider (Jun 27, 2002)

M.J. said:


> time with locals was good - we got our arses kicked in foosball by the French bar tender in Coutance - some other people wanted to practice English - clearly those who exhibit skill at foosball and the like are only evidencing their misspent youth - there was a great bar in St Vaast right on the harbour "Le Perrey" which was salty, locals only and very welcoming - they played great music (unusual in France) and comped us some drinks - saw no other cyclists save for the British cyclists who were on the ferry leg out - Pat said he got passed by a race club in a big peloton - they went past him at 40km when he was at 25km - he said the noise was great and punctuated by plenty of friendly greetings of ca va? - French riders don't cycle tour - so on the road people would have known we were foreign - we all pulled our schoolboy French out, made do and were understood - HH was particularly impressive - we'd thought he could only say "hands up" and "where are your daughters" in French (he's German - and took our teasing in good nature - but "is this where my grandfather shot your grandfather?" jokes never get old) but he was very good - people were friendly, roads were great, drivers were courteous, beer and food was good - when you cycle tour you see all the out of the way places where people acually live and go about their business - Normandy is one of the few places in Europe - France in particular - where Americans are absoluteley, unquestioningly welcomed - if I lived there I'd get tired of all the WW2 war history stuff - there's probably 40 "museums" not counting cemeteries and official and unofficial monuments - we sat in the Coutance town square watching weddings and masses late on Saturday - it seemed a very Catholic area to me - people are not surprised that you are out riding your bike in the deluge - we had a few say "bravo - sportive!" and clap their hands - Mont St Michel was very touristy but has been so for 1000 years and we enjoyed staying on the island rather than off it - St Vaast was like a Patrick O'Brian novel - I could see Jack Aubrey rolling in - it had a very moving seaman's cathedral / memorial - loads of plaques commemorating sailors and fishing vessels lost at sea - whole families went down with some boats - memorials were current up to the last few years - very sobering - I've sailed around there some - the sailing can be treacherous - tides are huge and rocks are plentiful



That sounds so perfect. I really enjoyed your photo montage.


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## Rollo Tommassi (Feb 5, 2004)

*Wonderful!!*

I'm crying I'm so jealous!! :thumbsup: :thumbsup: :thumbsup:


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## fredstaple (Jun 2, 2003)

Sweet trip. Most enjoyable read. I have to get there now.


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