We broke camp at Benoît des Ondes in a slight drizzle and switched between roads and trails until we found the official Velo verre path which began winding through farmland. We went trough produce fields of onions leeks potatoes beets parsley lettuce, I got hungry:)
we made a stop for lunch and took off. We could see the Mont ahead and off to our left.
The chapel on the Mont becomes larger and more distinct and you think you are almost there, the distances ate deceptive. We ventured onto some farm roads to get a better view of the bay and the Mont( the Velo path is well shaded by trees but blocks the view) and after some uncertain zigzagging and a little help from google maps we found our way to the Beauvoir and camping which is just south of Mont and has a bike path up to it. This is where we finally purchased a tasty cidre (sold at the accueil- reception). Because it was early in the day we threw out stuff into the tent, bought tickets to the chapel at reception and rode our bikes up the path towards Mont. Bikes can only go so far, and there are many police at the Mont( an office, cars, we saw many doing patrols) we locked up at the bike 'park' and caught The free bus Over the bridge. The tide was out but little rivers of water feed into the bay from the surrounding lands. We saw a couple of egrets, seagulls and ternes.
it was so busy and crowded! We managed to stroll along the ramparts and press our way through part of the souvenir shop alley before climbing up many stairs up up up just to get to the entrance of the church.
The church is boggling in its levels and rooms and eras of change and supports built and rooms created. It would take several visits to experience it. It is unfurnished so the rooms are not too easy to make sense of. Doug bought a small booklet tjat describes it at the gift shop on our way out and I would recommend taking that with you. There is an audio tour (device) but sometimes the audio tours are so wordy they can be little boring OR you forget to really look around and see where you are standing. (Apparently we didn't take many photos with the phone)
We stopped at a small brasserie and there I had my second and best galette ( a pile of mushroom lightly cooked with chives on a galette with a tiny pat of butter). Doug also got a gallette compléte. Followed by coffee and back to camp. Windy windy windy.
day 2
back to the Mont wandering through the lower areas, clothes, antiques, souvenirs. According to the pamphlet many o the sho powners are descended from the original shopowners who sold stuff to the pilgrims. It said to not be put off, but a snow globe made in China doesn't really carry any historical weight:)
by accident, while searching for access to a garden, we entered some museum from the exit( totally unmarked) and wandered through some dark vignettes with dusty looking monks and people dressed up in period outfits(mannequins) and examples of prisoners in prisons, skeletons, cages for prisoners, pretty miserable conditions. Then as we exited(entered) we came upon a room full of random stuff...I have no idea but there were paintings and art made by prisoners, wax signet rings galore, fossils, the skeletal head of some fish with teeth, some knives or swords and staves with spears on the end. No real signage. It was pretty cool and packed in there. Then there were the dolls. Yea a lot of vintage dolls maybe wax heads maybe porcelain dressed in tattered finery. Detailed too.
anyway we had another lunch at the same brasserie, just as delicious as before. That made me happy. Food can be hit and miss even if you are ordering the same thing, quality an recipe vary drastically from place to place. We say overlooking the bay and watched groups of people traversing the bay sands with professional guides. The have to be careful because the waters move in fast and there is a high defer of quicksand.
We stopped at a calvados shop in Beauvoir and sampled a few then bought a small bottle of apple calvados for us and a small pear one for George(who has taken care of the garden so well). We had calvados and cidre that afternoon/evening, very tasty.
day 3
head towards Granville with a night camping in between.
