June 2015
Mont St Michel
Our route took us onward & westward aiming to stop overnight at the aire at Mont St Michel. Wrong.
We had last visited Mont St Michel back in the early 1990s. We had driven along the causeway & parked in the car park & then proceeded to explore.
On approaching the tourist honey pot, things were somewhat changed. Roads barred, new signs, swish buses & huge car parks. You can no longer drive up to Mont St Michel. It has been 'themed'. Yes there is still an aire in the new car park but at 20 euros l don't think so.
A quick check in our Vicarious Books French Aires book, suggested [ as did some signage] a new aire at Beauvoir [ GPS: N 48.59429, W -1.51206 N 48°35'39", W -1°30'43"]. The site costs 12.5 euros which includes electrics, water & wifi. It is spacious & has direct access to the myriad of cycleways which include the route to Mont St Michel itself.
Mont St Michel is undergoing mammoth transformations, the rock is set to once again become an island, an elevated causeway, environmentally friendly buses and wooden board walks are turning the place into something more akin to Disneyland. It all seems very un-French. You are not even permitted to cycle along the board walk between the hours of 10 am & 6 pm.
Once inside the walls, the place hadn't changed much in the intervening years. Loads of eateries. Loads of tourists. Loads of 'tat' shops.
Large earth movers were busy in the bay excavating tonnes of sand & mud, making way for the sea to once again reclaim the shallow bay.
Views from the walls gave an excellent viewpoint to watch the engineering challenges.
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