The others - day 32 (Pontorson to Paris CDG) - FINAL BLOG!

I cannot get over our good fortune 're the weather. First day in over two weeks of riding to dawn very wet and miserable! Our host offered to drive us to the Gare (train station) as a taxi wouldn't take on such a short trip but we would be well and truly soaked if we tried to walk it. Train arrived on time (10.47) and off we set towards Granville (!!!) Through the farmlands of Normandie. Hard to imagine the battles that occurred on this land in 1944 as it all looks so beautiful now. Had to change at Granville and instead of a TGV it was another RER (regional) train which still moved very quickly again through beautiful undulating farmland and forests and typical French villages. We arrived in Paris on exact time at 3.05 and then had to find the shuttle bus to Charles de Gaul airport. Managed the fairly long walk to the shuttle pick-up and paid our E36 for the ride. Took a while for the bus to arrive and then we set out on a very slow drive through the congested Paris traffic via Care de Lyon to pickup more passengers. No doubt about the beauty of Paris - tree lined streets, wide boulevards beautiful buildings and green parks with occasional glimpses of the Eiffel Tower - but a slow crawl in the traffic. Even when we eventually entered the motorway the traffic was at a standstill as far as you could see - should be renamed the "shufflebus" we decided. We eventually arrived at CIG at 5.15 having travelled since 10 this morning without eating! There was no foodservice on the RER which I found quite surprising and we weren't prepared for that. So we eventually booked into the Citizen M airport hotel same as last week and had a really good flat white (!!!!) and tarts for a much needed afternoon tea. Dinner tonight a very good lamb curry. Plane leaves here at 2 tomorrow afternoon for Hong Kong so easy sleep in with late breakfast to prepare for the home flight marathon. Arriving Brisbane about 12.30 Thursday morning. Fabulous trip. What next? Certainly China in April!

The others - day 31 (Pontorson)

We had a slightly earlier breakfast this morning to get to Mont St Michel as early as possible. It is a very easy .5 hr ride to the bike parking area and then another half hour walk to the Mont itself via a wooden walkway. You have the option of taking a free shuttle bus but we decided the walk would be good. Beat the crowds and wandered through the village and upwards towards the Abbey for 11.15 Mass. Plan went slightly awry as when we got to the Abbey with the intention of confirming a tour time from our pre-booked ticket we were met by a HUGE crowd and eventually informed by a guide that, due to a music festival, there were no guided tours of the Abbey today! So much for our E20 online tickets! We could, however, still return at about 11 to go to the Mass. So we went and had a reasonable quality E6.50 latte and then headed back to another huge que and general confusion as there were concert goers, Mass attendees and passing traffic all together wondering which group was which. We eventually get moving and ended up with front seats for the Mass. All in French of course so couldn't understand anything except the general order of the service we much as we know. Bishop gave a long address in French but the chanting by the nuns and monks and the organ music was very good. No hymn singing but the sung responses by the mainly French congregation were beautiful. The nuns had all the children help with the offertory and bringing up candles and they were really great with the kids. Had a good look at the organ afterwards - quite a beautuful and powerful instrument - have a recording on the phone. Took our time just wandering around the myriad of pathways around the mountain and came across gardens, cemeteries, parks and some extraordinary buildings and flying foxes to transport things up the side of this amazing complex. Lovely crepes for lunch and finally headed home about 4. Great and memorable day! Pontorson is very quiet and we were a bit worried about our dinner to fight as everything was seemingly closed but our host recommended a little place and it turned out fine- had a really good final foi gras and we both ordered ".leg of lamb" thinking we would have some nice roasted lamb but what did we each get? - a LEG of lamb! No dessert tonight! Almost finished the trip. It has been absolutely fabulous - so much variety, unexpected surprises, some crises, wonderful people, great riding, magnificent countryside, unreal towns and architecture. One of our best trips. France (for the fifth time actually) ? - what can you say? - magnificent scenery, food here is an art form - even the most humble little cafe or restaurant will treat you go amazing food; the language is again music to the ears, the children are beautiful; there are no ugly French policewomen either; they are very loyal to French carmakers; their trains are fabulous and run on time; they are very arrogant and proud of their country but tbey have reason to be. A fabulous trip but as always it will be good to go be home! It's a beautiful world!

The others- Day 30 (Pontorson)

With two days in Pontorson we had to toss up which day we would use to visit Mont Saint Michel and because it was advised that Sunday sung Mass is something really special and the weather didn't look too bad and the forecast was for some rain but in the afternoon we decided to do a casual cycle along the coast East of the Mont and hopefully reach a museum in Avranches which shows the manuscripts produced by the monks on Mont Saint Michel. We got the cycle map from the tourist office and headed off and had a very good, scenic and fairly easy ride to Beauvour where the map showed the cycle path going South West. Only problem was that there were no signs in the village to show which road led to the cycle path. Had a bit of morning tea at a cafe which gave you a cup to get your coffee at a machine (!!!?) But no one knew the road/cycle path we were after. Eventually decided from the map to head for Mount Saint Michel and use a main road East from there to access the cycleways. Plan worked fine and had a few Km of lovely rural riding when the skies opened up and it poured! On with the wet weather gear and continued for a bit but when we reached Huisnnes-le-Mer we decided that it wasn't worth continuing as the rain was all around us and was showing no signs of ending. As we back-tracked to Mont Michel of course it started to clear so we stopped along the huge boardwalk leading out to the Abbey and enjoyed out bagette which we purchased earlier. Back home to dry out shoes etc and headed downtown for a coffee and bite to eat Found a little cafe around the corner for a quick simple meal tonight - ended up with more Cancale oysters and a very nice steak, salmon and creme brule! Looking forward to a special day tomorrow. .

The others - day 29 (San Malo to Pontorson)

Sad to leave beautiful San Malo this morning but the weather was looking pretty good, if a little dull and cool and see set off after a good breakfast. Beautiful ride through the countryside with lots of healthy looking crops in fertile farmland and diverted to a little coastal village called Canacale which is famous for - OYSTERS! The tide goes way out here and exposes the rocks where the oysters are harvested. Little tent shops along the foreshore where the sellers offer plates of freshly shuked oysters do who are we not to take up the offer? Pretty easy at Euro 7.50 A dozen and we are them on a seat near the beach. Absolutely beautiful oysters which were in huge shells but the oysters were thinner than ours but were on each side of the shell. Bit of a climb out of Canacale but soon resumed easy level cycling along cycleways with the sea on our left - through numerous quaint villages. Stopped along the seafront for a beautiful "crepe cappuccino" for lunch and then continued along the coastline bikeways. Just as we got Mont st Michel firmly in our sights the dire tions to Pontiorson became very ambiguous and we ended up pretty well lost at which time it decided to rain fairly heavily! Got the wet weather gear tops on and then it pretty well stopped but remained threatening. Pulled up a fellow on a motorscooter who sent us in the right direction then found another country Frenchman who smelt like a winery but gave us a very animated description of how to turn left, go straight through two big roundabouts Ang get to Pontorson. Surprisingly his directions worked a d we got here about 5.30 having travelled 74 km instead of the planned 61! Lovely B&B in the middle of town and a terrific meal with the most reasonable but top quality foi gras and stewed beef and lamb for dinner. We'llprobably do a rude along the coast tomorrow (weather permitting) and head to Mont st Michel on Sunday when the monks is Dave a sung mass at 11.15.. That is the plan at this stage anyway.

The others- Day 28 (st Malo)

Apologies- internet stopped last night so couldn't finish/send blog.. two to read now! The decision was made to leave the bikes in the garage for the day and spend our time exploring San Malo and areas around. The day dawned cloudy but once again it became clearer as the day went on and ended up bright and sunny. Very cold first up though with quite a strong wind. Good breakfast at the hotel and then left for a walk around the wall of this amazing city. San Malo is famous for Being the home of the "Corsairs" who were privateers or basically pirates who controlled the English Channel and also frequented the Caribbean on pirate raids making rum a distinct local delicacy which features in restaurant menus. The walk around the wall took about an hour and a half with beautiful views of both the town itself and out to the surrounding rocky islands. After a coffee in a cafe near the wall we set out to walk to the neighbouring town of Saint Servan which was actually the original settlement in the first century but as they kept on being raided by just about everybody they decided to shift to the more rocky area of San Malo where a fortress could be built. Had a nice relaxed day wandering around the town of San Servan. Lovely shops, beautiful foreshore and parks. Had an interesting museum on all the early voyages around Cape Horn from Magellan to Cook, Drake etc all housed in a 14th century tower. On the headland there remains the German defense structures from WW2 with all the evidence of the American attacks on them and their eventual defeat. Back home where it began to drizzle a bit but clear for dinner at about 7. Went to a seafood restaurant and had z a set menu which was absolutely beautiful - three courses. Off to Pontorson and Mont San Michel tomorrow!

The others- Day 27 (Dinan to St Malo)

No doubt about it - we are being very lucky with the weather. Rain and plenty of it was forecast for today and sure enough, as we prepared to leave the hotel after breakfast the drizzle started out of heavy skies so o went the wet weather coats. However, almost immediately tge drizzle stopped and soon we we riding in fins but quite cool weather for tge rest of tge day! Had a bit more of a look around the old centre of Dinan which really is worth seeing with buildings dating back centuries and so much history all around. As we passed through one of the old town gates in the wall we turned down a steep street leading to the port and found an even more incredible streetscape which just kept revealing more amazing old timbered buildings as we turned each corner. The old port is also quite beautiful and had a nice coffee at a quayside cafe before rejoicing our bikeway beside the canal for a while. Eventually climbed away from the canal and estuary and wound our way through farmland with lots of corn crops, modern estates and traditional villages mostly still on bikeways. Stopped at a modern shopping mall for a bite of lunch and glass of wine before continuing on to reach Dinard about 2 to catch the ferry just over the estuary to St Malo. Only snag of the day was that the ferries are now running to off-season timetable and the next ferry was not until 4.50! Long wait with not much to do but eventually we arrived at St Malo and booked into a great little family hotel right in the middle of town. They recommended a little typical French restaurant almost next door so after a bit of preliminary exploring we went for dinner. Following the obligatory foie gras Elizabeth had scallops and I had a HUGE lamb shank. As always they produce flavours you have never experienced before. Two options tomorrow- we can catch the ferry back over the estuary and do a ride through the countryside or explore St Malo and given our experience with the ferry today we are leaning towards the local option. Stay tuned!

The others - day 26 (Dinge to Dinan)

Now neither of the above two places are on the normal tourist routes but both will remain in our memories for ever - Dinge because of the wonderful Fabienne at Les Clos der Anges (The House of Angels) sho looked after us in the most extraordinary and hospitable ways possible and Dinan because of its surprising and exotic architecture and history. In spite of the fact that she was supposed to be leaving for a holiday this morning, Fabienne was up early, visited the bakery and proceeded to present us with the most amazing candlelight breakfast you could imagine! Bowls of fruit, beautiful breads, meats and cheeses, yoghurt home made of course, jams the same all served with "est voila". She certainly saved a pretty terrible situation. Set off with my maps downloaded onto the phone so had to stop frequently to read but we actually did the whole ride today without a deviation! Absolutely beautiful and level ride through changing forests and farmland with everything from geese to goats to cattle to corn. Again heavy rain was predicted but while some of the bikeway was quite wet, we did not actually go through any rain heavy enough to warrant wet weather gear. Amazingly lucky. Internet here is excruciatingly slow so I won't download too many photos but the scenery has been superb. Dinan is incredible. Dating back to 1100s in its archive cure it is a world heritage site and is just amazing to walk around - everything is clean and well looked after. Dinner tonight was at a little restaurant where after the obligatory foie gras (the best we've had!) I cooked duck on a hot rock and Elizabeth had beautiful prawns. The duck was absolutely beautiful with a honey sauce and mushrooms. Yum! So we survived the omission of a guide document quite well actually but we do t want to make a habit of it. Tomorrow we have another easy day with circa 2 hour ride to St Malo.