Author Topic: Normandy - St Malo to Cherbourg 2017  (Read 2659 times)

LEE

  • "Shut Up Jens" - Legs.
Normandy - St Malo to Cherbourg 2017
« on: 06 June, 2017, 05:31:10 pm »
A long weekend in Brittany and Normandy has become a twice-annual occurrence of late (and I'm not complaining).

Rather than doing it as a full camping trip I've started doing it as a 3 day, <200 mile, "credit card" tour using budget hotels.  That way it's easier to attract members of my cycling club (Whitchurch Social Cycling).

Once again we had a perfect, and I do mean perfect, 3 days.  Summary:

- 10 people (some couples) arrive at Portsmouth Ferry  Terminal at 6pm on Thursday evening (specifically the Ship & Anchor).
- Beers and food
- 8:15pm..set sail...head to the bar.
- Bar closes....head to cabins
- 7:00am breakfast on-board then disembark at 7:45am Friday

- Coffees in St Malo and then a look around on the ramparts (St malo is one of my favourite towns).
- Head along the coast to lunch at Mont St Michel (which never stops looking stunning and amazing).  Despite rumours to the contrary you can cycle right to it along a new boardwalk.  There were plenty of officials about and nobody minded.
- From Mont St Michel we headed, via another village cafe, to our Hotel (Hotel Patton) at Avranches.
- We found a beautiful restaurant, on it's opening day, by a fountain, in front of a lovely church.  Truly a great location.
- Beer, Wine, Cidre, food...hotel.

- Hotel Breakfast on Saturday before heading back to the coast road via more deserted roads.
- 2nd coffees at Jouloville before heading to Granville Harbour for a delicious Seafood menu.
- Overcoming the urge to snooze our lunch off we headed along the coast to Coutance, a town whose medieval defences seem to comprise of a road so steep that any potential invaders would get knackered before reaching the town centre.
- You guessed it...hotel..restaurant.....drinks...hotel

- Brekky in Coutance hotel then back to the coast.  We had to use fairly big roads to make time but they were so quiet on a Sunday morning, and the tarmac sooooo smooth and flat, that it was no hardship.
- We got to Portbail for coffee and cakes and then Carteret harbour for a sandwich and cidre snack/lunch shortly after.
- From there we headed inland to Cherbourg and some loong climbs.  It all gets very much like England's South Downs as you approach Cherbourg.  A change from some of the pan-flat roads we'd got used to but, quite tough all the same.

- We hit Cherbourg around 5pm on Sunday and ordered drinks until they started serving food at 6pm.
- Cherbourg is a bit of a dump but we found a nice restaurant on the harbour and the food was great.  I finally had my Moules Frites & Cidre.
- At 7pm we head over to the Ferry, boarded at 8pm and were back in good old Blighty at 10:30pm.  Back home at 11:30pm.....for a few more cold ones.

Highly recommended.

Spit Bank Fort - Portsmouth Harbour


The Motley Crew at St Malo



A coastal cycle path leading to.....


Mont St Michel


It's as amazing as I remembered



Avranches.  Opening night at Restaurant "DT"


I want to go back..


Coutances, the view from the Restaurant


The lumpy bits nearer Cherbourg.  Still gorgeous..just lumpy.









Some people say I'm self-obsessed but that's enough about them.

Re: Normandy - St Malo to Cherbourg 2017
« Reply #1 on: 06 June, 2017, 06:05:07 pm »
Cool !!  Just perfect. We cycled past the building in that last photo in the Summer.
Rust never sleeps