September 1, 2022
Day 1: Saint Malo to Pontorson
Well, that went well!
After a leisurely petit déjeuner, we loaded up the bike to start this ride. We made sure the rain jackets were readily available because we’re in Brittany where it rains often. Although the locals we chatted with talked about how little rain they’ve actually had, and how it was still warmer than usual. But to be safe, the rain gear is easily accessible.
And with the goodbyes and thank yous done, we set off for the waterfront and the official tire dipping ceremony.
A sweet gentleman volunteered to take our photo, but it was hard convincing him to come closer. With the official starting ceremony completed, we pedaled off.
After 5 kilometers or so we found ourselves on quiet country roads that skirted along the waterfront. Eventually we came upon a vista we couldn’t resist.
Continuing along the route we passed quite a few cyclists sporting panniers - must be a thing around here. We ventured out to the Pointe du Grouin for our first sighting of Mont Saint Michel.
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Our next point of interest was in the village of Cancale, well known for its oysters. We stopped to visit the Église Saint-Méen, followed by a quick stop at a boulangerie to buy some quiche and madeleines for a picnic lunch.
Our route continued through town along the waterfront. Due to the darkening of clouds we decided to forego checking out the oysters (not my favorite anyways) and to keep pedaling towards the brighter sky. We stumbled across our first routing error - a road had been changed to one way and it wasn’t the way we wanted to go! We worked our way around and up the hill to continue along the mudflats. We finally decided to stop in the sunny little village of Saint Broladre to have our picnic. As we sat in the sun, we sent a text to our next chambre d’hôte host to let her know we were going to ride out to Mont Saint Michel for photos before meeting with her. We did say if it starts to rain that we’d high tail it into town instead. So, once again we rerouted and found a cycling path to take us to Mont Saint Michel.
Well, wouldn’t you know it, our luck just ran out. As we are well into the hard pack cycling trail, the rain appears. We donned our trusty Outdoor Research rain jackets and continued along. It didn’t take long for the shower to quit. A bit later Chuck commented on how little rain we had. Jackets were drying off. But I pointed to the right where we could see the rain coming down over there. Minutes later, that rain arrived. Oh well, after 10 minutes it was gone again. When we hit the paved road, we gave up the idea of seeing Mont Saint Michel (it was socked in) and beelined it to our chambre d’hôte, Le Grenier du Jardin in Pontorson.
Warm showers, laundry washed, pictures reviewed, blog updated, and the Vuelta watched. Then it was time for dinner. Our host recommended a couple of restaurants. The first (her favorite) was closed, so we stumbled upon her second recommendation. Another crêperie! A second helping of galettes were consumed with cider - not bad, two days in a row! But these were so different from the ones we had yesterday. See for yourself.
This galette had filet mignon (Americans know this as pork tenderloin) with caramelized apples, red onions, emmenthal cheese, and beetroot sauce. It was divine.
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2 years ago
My galette had chèvre, magret fumé (smoked duck breast), salade, beetroot, poached pear, goat milk ice cream, and raspberry sauce. It, too, was delicious and surprisingly light.
All in all, it was a fun day!
Stats: 71.3 km, 457 meters elevation gain
Today's ride: 71 km (44 miles)
Total: 340 km (211 miles)
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