Day 64: Val Andre to Tremereuc

May 29, 2018

Annette followed up the style with which our room had been decorated with the arrangement of breakfast. So I had a place card with my name, a quite elegant Stéphen, and of course there was also Dorothéa. Our napkins were folded to resemble fleur de lis. Annette also showed us Bird of Paradise,said she had others up her sleeve. If people are staying multiple days, she said, she would not want them to get bored.

The actual food included "Crepes Annette", little tall cups of fruit salad, little raspberry tarts, banana mango preserve made by Serge, and similar elegant items. It was charming.

Serge then undertook to go over our day's route and to point out the interesting things not to miss on the way. In this he showed a remarkable knowledge of the coastline. Since we of course "know it all" we were at first just listening politely. But we soon realized he did have some excellent tips, and we carefully stored away the map on which he had written notes for us.

In parting we took a picture not only of this lovely couple, but of the house. Serge allowed that it was only 110 years old, probably making it new construction by local standards. He was more proud of the fact that they had updated it, such as with double windows.

Serge had an excellent knowledge of the coast. That bandaged hand is the result of being bitten by a client's dog, six weeks ago.

As has happened on most of the past few days, we started in the fog (as opposed to in a fog, which is also possible.) It's frustrating, because it means we can neither see nor photograph the interesting things we have come to see. I pointed out that the environment was more "mist"ical that way, and Dodie felt we should take photos of fog, which would be a fair record of what we saw.

Actually, it is rather fun to ride in fog, for a little bit, anyway. We also managed to find some sheep, our favourite black headed type. Wool is great to have in a raw and moist maritime climate.

We had no view at all of Cap d'Erquy, which was off to the left.

These guys still think they are going to go see something.

The fog lifted and things got interesting as we approached Sables d'Or Les Pins. Here we found more restored railway bridge, this time spanning wetlands extending in from the sea. There are actually two bridges, one after another, the longest being 150 m long. This is said to be the longest bridge in the region.

The Passerelle de la Cotiere traverses interesting wetlands.

The wetlands were hard by a beach area where in 1921 a developer had built villas, hotels, and a casino. Much of this is seemingly still there, and we benefited from the resort area having a good bakery.

From Sables d'Or began the most exciting part of the day, as we progressed over to the lighthouse at Cap Frehel. Along this stretch the road rose to follow bluffs, with views to perfect cove beaches below. We had dramatic open views along the bluffs, the subtle colours of the sand and water, and the chance to look down - a little weak kneed - from the cliffs to the beaches below.

Following all the up and down fun on the bluffs, we eagerly scanned the map of the route ahead for any signs that it might flatten out. Maybe it would and maybe it wouldn't, but we considered that our bikes did not have enough charge left to gamble. That is an indication of just how much climbing had been involved. These bikes think nothing of doing 120 km, on the flat. But now, after little more than 30 km of extreme hills, they were getting pooped. I should add that that includes us also pushing the pedals with all we had.

The benefit of this was that in Matignon we stopped at a cafe, and gave the batteries a 45 minute charge. Why a benefit? Because if you stop at a cafe there is likely something like ice cream in the deal. In fact, it has been about 50 days since our last ice cream, in Worms, so we were due. t's a lot more costly in France, but this is what we got anyway:

It took 50 days for us to break down and spring for ice cream in France.

From Matignon we actually got a somewhat flat stretch, on a road that had been created over the former rail line. But the route did take a dive down to the water at the Baie de l'Arguenon. That is a spot where the the Arguenon river enters the Channel with a large estuary. There are large mud flats there and apparently lots of wildlife, especially wading birds.

Climbing up from the flats, we found ourselves on a narrow stretch of hill where helpful authorities had further narrowed the roadway with barriers. Presumably the idea is to slow traffic, but all cyclists know that such narrowed areas create a danger. You have to take the lane to avoid being run off the road. We did that, and attracted a car behind that was totally impatient. The driver revved his engine and attempted to creep up beside us, first on the left, then on the right. When he did edge me over and came abreast, getting ready to go on after Dodie, I shook my fist at him and shouted repeatedly No! No! No! He did get the message, though I guess I should have said Non! Non! Non!

As soon as the way was just a little clear, he took off at high speed, leaving Dodie and I to review all the various bad driving behaviours we had seen in France. The top of our list is speeding, followed closely by unsafe passing.

We arrived at our booked B&B in Tremereuc, to be greeted by yet another lovely couple in yet another great house. Tremereuc is the end of the Tour de Manche in the Cote s'Amor departement. It carries on to St. Malo, Mont St. Michel, and then all the way to Cherbourg. We will continue to follow it, almost all the way, until we cut out and head for Normandy. For now, our sights are on nearby St. Malo, and then on famous Mont St Michel. We are planning to spend a whole day at the famous island Abbey.

We expect one more day of upping and downing, until somewhere past St. Malo and then - dead flat to Mont St Michel. Up and down has been fun, but we are about ready for some easier riding. For tomorrow we have again planned a short day, through St Malo to St Coulomb, after which things flatten out.

We are excited about these next couple of days, which will include St Malo, the port from which Jacques Cartier sailed to Canada, and Mont St Michel, the famous pilgrimage site.

Today's ride: 68 km (42 miles)
Total: 4,269 km (2,651 miles)

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