Day5 - Wednesday

The morning started promising, but then while we had breakfast it turned and by the time we left our accommodation it was raining steadily, getting heavier and at about 20 miles out we considered turning back but gladly we didn't and the ride down to Le Mont de Saint Michel was really enjoyable with a good mix of roads including some dual carriageway. However, with just a kilometre left to reaching our destination the heavens opened and we got drenched. I don't know what it is about motorcycle clothing but no mater how waterproof it say it is, or, how much you pay for it, it ALWAYS leaks at some point. My Dainese trousers are pukka Gore-Tex and they still leak. I think the problem is that the material is breathable AND waterproof, but not at the same time. The legs do not give me any issues, it is always the arse, my bum gets wet. At the start of the ride we did 25 - 30 miles in steady, heavy rain and not a leak anywhere, but that short sharp downpour got through the front of my jacket and gave me a damp belly and my arse got wet.

No sooner had we arrived at Le Mont de Saint Michel than the sun came back out and the wind got up, so after walking to the shuttle bus and crossing to the mount, we were almost dried out. Walking the mount and around the abbey worked up a sweat which got blown away on the way back to the new retail area where we snacked in a supermarket snack bar before returning to the bikes. We had decided to make a diversion into Saint-Lo on our return trip because we had heard how so much had happened there after the D-Day landings so naturally we expected there to be something there of interest. Nope. Not a thing. We stopped at the Tourist Information Office and enquired. Saint-Lo has moved on and WW2 is behind it, which I believe is probably a good thing for them but today, not for us. No matter, we rode on getting back and our bikes in the garage just before the rain briefly returned.

So what of Le Mont de Saint Michel? It is very impressive. Considering it is in the middle of an estuary surrounded by marshes and sandy / boggy ground it is an engineering marvel. Several thousand tons of stone imported and crafted into a walled fortress with ramparts, houses, paved / cobbled streets, steps all the way up into the abbey, and the vaulted ceilings, multiple levels, grand halls, towers and everything all built before the age of mechanisation. Their only mechanical assistance a huge wheel in which men would walk to wind up or down a winch to bring materials into the abbey. One hall has two magnificent fireplaces side by side with a single enormous chimney breast behind which are two equally massive chimneys - each one would have consumed a 10 - 15 foot long tree trunk on a regular basis and that would have had to be brought on horse drawn cart from miles away and then winched up into the abbey.

So all considered it was a worthwhile and enjoyable trip which would have been better if we'd had less rain to contend with.

Total mileage Day5 = 150 miles.