E5 Days 26-30

Saturday, March 30

Le Mont Saint Michel

• After our host assures us that she always takes the road under the motorway with her children, we take the same shortcut to reach the village of Dol-de-Bretagne.

• We continue along country lanes towards the sea, all of which are totally muddy.

• The mud-madness reaches its peak when we meet two female hikers who warn us that there is a lot of mud up ahead and the worst thing is that there is mud on one side and a fence under power on the other, so we’d better find another way around it! ‘Ah, mud,’ we think, “that won’t stop us,” so we incorrigibly carry on.

• Only to then realise: Yes, it does stop us – this is next level mud.
• Instead, we reach the shore via small roads.

• There we are immediately greeted by another unpleasant surprise: A wooden sign saying ‘Le Mont Saint Michel 45km’ – after about 10 kilometres of hiking today
• What?!? I can’t believe it, it shouldn’t be that far! ‘No,’ says Matthäus, completely relaxed, ’it is not true, the sign must be wrong.’
• To round off the disaster perfectly, one of my blisters on my heel (thanks to new shoes) grows over the blister plaster and starts to hurt.
• Great!
• At least Mont Saint Michel can soon be seen on the horizon, which is little consolation when you consider how flat everything is here and how the visual perception of a destination doesn’t say much about the distance to the destination – it can be anything from 5km to 50km.

• All day long, our path leads us in a dead straight line towards the monastery island.
• And as we are travelling on foot, it is approaching at a paralysingly slow pace.

• Normally, the island is only an island at high tide and you can walk across at low tide, but they have now built a bridge so that the crowd of tourists can easily walk to the monastery at any time or even be transported there by special buses.
• To reach it, however, we have to walk a huge loop, which turns out to be unavoidable as the tide is coming in and we don’t really fancy walking on the mudflats with our rucksacks.

• As a reward, the loop leads past a tidal power station, a huge facility, which never ceases to fascinate me.

• This is where we meet the huge crowds of tourists pushing their way onto the island.

• We mingle happily with the crowd, this is exactly what we wanted at kilometre 30 of a long hiking trail – but fair enough, like everyone else, we are totally taken with the small island, in the middle of which the monastery is enthroned and around which the medieval village stretches in a spiral.

• It reminds me of Hogsmeade, which they built in Florida in the Harry Potter theme park, only it is real!
• I remember that once I read something similar about Venice: ‘If the onslaught of tourists continues, the city will become like a theme park and no one will really live there anymore.’ – something like that.
• That’s what happened in Mont Saint Michel, although there are still 10 nuns and monks or so living in the monastery.
• Fittingly, we booked a hotel directly on the island (with early access virtually included).
• Well, it pays off, since it is super nice and from our room we have a great view of the monastery – wow!

• We chill out in the room, enjoy the view and let the evening fade away.

Sunday, March 31 – Easter sunday

“Bless you!”

• Easter Sunday!
• ‘Happy Easter!’, Matthäus wishes me when I wake up and then adds: ’Do you think you’ll remember it in 10 minutes?’ Because I look so sleepy.
• Breakfast buffet at the hotel, where we have to go over to the main building – but it’s worth it!

• At 11am we head up towards the abbey for Easter Sunday mass.
• So many stairs!
• There are already a few people waiting at the top and it’s only when four guys from the military patrol around with machine guns that we realise the significance of the event: Easter mass at Mont Saint Michel – that’s quite something!
• All visitors to the mass are given green ‘participant messe’ stickers, which look very funny when they light up on the jackets of one of the countless children jumping around with them.

• The mass is long but beautiful, especially thanks to the singing of the nuns and monks who accompany it.
• After mass, we return to our hotel and – look at that! – find an Easter nest there! Cool!

• The chocolate sheep it contains, which I’ve been looking forward to for days, is immediately beheaded and eaten with relish while we watch climbing (the European Olympic qualifiers, this time in Laval – not that far from here).

• Finally, we head back up the steps to the abbey, for which we have a ticket to visit.
• Our ticket is valid from 3 and when we arrive at 4, the queue is very relaxed and we go straight in – even the grounds are really quiet – no comparison to the crowds at the Easter mass earlier.

• You would have to pay extra for the audio guide and, which finally talks us out of the idea, go up some stairs, no doubt, somewhere to get it.
• Instead, we find an information booklet, which is free, but you have to read it yourself.
• We learn that the history of Mont Saint Michel goes back to the year 708, when some bishop built a monastery on the holy rock.

• The monastery was gradually extended and as the complex grew, so did the surrounding area, so that by the 14th century the entire rock had been built on.
• The most important thing (and mentioned about 5 times): The fortified complex withstood the attack of the English during the Hundred Years’ War and thus became a symbol of national identity.

• We admire the church (half Gothic, half Romanesque), the beautiful cloister and the portico fortifying the Gothic extension to the church.
• I finally find my new travel diary in the shop. 🙂

• A short stop at the hotel before we set off in search of dinner.

• We find a fancy but inexpensive restaurant with sea view (OK, not difficult) and enjoy the mussels and seafood and I discover oysters for myself (‘Can I try some?’, I keep asking Matthäus, who has ordered some).

• The waiters in the restaurant are also in a great mood, one waitress sneezes, I shout ‘Bless you!’ and we all have a fit of laughter, which catches one of the waitresses so hard that she’s still giggling five minutes later everytime she looks at me.
• Afterwards we go for a walk through the incredibly empty Mont Saint Michel – mega!

Monday, April 1

Tranquille Oasis

• Breakfast buffet!
• Running back and forth 5 times to fill the thermos, sighting another hiker and off we go over the crowded bridge and along the sea through polder landscapes full of sheep.

• At one point, we see two sheep crossing a huge muddy slurry and realise that there are also two approaches with sheep: the ‘close your eyes and go’ approach, where the sheep run through the mud as quickly as possible, splashing in all directions, and the ‘I’d rather go slower so that it splashes less’ variant.

• We even see cyclists fighting their way through the mud on bikes that don’t look very suitable – crazy!
• At least you can always see Mont Saint Michel in the background.

• In Pontaubault, we say goodbye to the sea for good and stock up on lunch and dinner at the bakery.

• We then enjoy eating the leek and salmon pizzas on a bench right in front of the bakery – yum!

• From here, we follow the really relaxed Voie Verte, which speeds up our walking pace considerably.
• We enjoy the station and barrier houses that keep popping up.

• Easter Monday afternoon has a similar effect to Sunday afternoon and there’s a lot going on: runners, walkers and cyclists are out and about.
• ‘Are they all panicking at the end of the day’, I say, ‘Oh no, I haven’t been out yet this weekend, if not now, it won’t happen anymore!’ – I should know, knowing the feeling only too well myself.
• Dark storm clouds are gathering all around us, but miraculously we always manage to be in the blue cloud hole.
• Only very shortly before the end it starts raining.

• Our accommodation today describes itself as a ‘tranquil oasis’ and the name says it all: it is more remote than our house in the Waldviertel. We reach a village via small and ever smaller roads, which we leave behind us, and finally we see a sign ‘La Chevallerie’ in the middle of the meadow – ‘Ah, there it is!’ exclaims Matthäus with relief, as we had been wondering whether there were any more houses here at all, and we turn into the driveway that leads to a beautiful old house with an Irish flag flying in front of it.

• Caroline, our host, has been living here for a year, since she gave up her job in the financial sector and bought the house, renovating it and renting out one, soon to be two, rooms to guests.
• We have a good chat, but then we have to leave, because we are have arranged a phone call with friends tonight!

Tuesday, April 2

Saint Mathilde de Bertholde

• Breakfast is served at 7.30 a.m., which is good because I need to get used to the time change and go to bed earlier again – that would be good for our hiking rhythm.
• Breakfast at Caroline’s in the living room is great: pain au chocolat, croissant, bananas, muesli – everything you need and more. 🙂

• We chat with Caroline again, who tells us that this is the second time her parents have visited her – by ferry overnight from Ireland – and that there was a guest drama once when she had a couple visiting and he wanted to watch the Grand Prix, but the British channels she receives didn’t broadcast it – mayday!
• So we don’t set off until half past ten – although not much later than usual – of course not before taking a selfie in front of the Irish flag.

• The first 10 kilometres fly by, partly thanks to the very flat Voie Verte paths, which are great for relaxed walking, and partly thanks to our conversation about a wide range of topics.
• We chat about Caroline and her beautiful home and philosophise about God and the world.

• Later on in the stage, we listen to ‘Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire’, read by Stephen Fry, to my absolute delight – wow!
• We borrowed it from the library and have to hurry because we only have six days left to listen to the 21-hour audio book!
• For our break we look for a table, which we find (a bit of a surprise on the Voie Verte), but without a roof, which is a bit uncomfortable as it’s been drizzling all day.

• We don’t see how it’s going to get any better later and we need a break, so we prepare ourselves for a quick meal with ponchos in the rain.
• Just as we’ve sat down, a man comes over and calls out to us: ‘Hey you!’
• Suspecting we’ve done something illegal (like picnicking on private property), we slowly turn around and he continues: ‘There’s a covered picnic area about 500 metres away. With a toilet, even.’ What, really?!
• He is our saviour, because less than half a kilometre later, the aforementioned place appears – covered and with a toilet!

• So we eat our baguette with pâté in the dry – nice!
• Towards the end of the stage, Komoot wants to take another wild shortcut, with a river crossing and over something that looks suspiciously like cliffs from our position.

• We check Geoportail and find a small picture of a climber next to the suggested route.
• So we reach Mortain via the Voie Verte instead, with a bit more kilometres but no climbing, and find our accommodation in the main square, which is used as a huge car park – idyllic.

• Our accommodation, on the other hand, does not disappoint:
• The name of the accommodation is ‘La Tour Cachée’ and while the building looks rather unimpressive from the outside at first glance, as soon as you enter it, it looks like a castle – ‘It is like sleeping in a castle.’ someone wrote in the review.

• In this hidden tower, there is a spiral staircase that takes us to our room with high walls, chandeliers, stucco decorations on the ceiling and thick walls that merge into each other in a labyrinthine fashion.
• A mega beautiful room, great ambience, a sandwich in bed for dinner and then we happily fall asleep. 🙂

Wednesday, April 3

Bain Nordique und Calva

• Great breakfast with our hosts at home, who have a really nice chat with us and ask us what we’re up to – they also tell us about the big renovation project in their house with the hidden tower, where they want to convert a room on the lower floor into a common room – that will certainly be wonderful!

• From the top of the hill, we walk a little way up to a war memorial.

• And continue through a gloomy forest, initially on quite good paths, which become increasingly muddy.

• At one point, we pass a cow pasture full of curious cows who all come to see who’s there.

• We continue along small roads, glad of the asphalt after all the mud.
• We pass through inhabited areas, past a turkey enclosure.

• One of the turkeys has escaped and panics because it wants to get back into the enclosure, but can’t find the entrance.

• We also see a small, fat pony along the way.
• We soon reach our accommodation, FlorEl, or as I call it, the ‘Eco Lodge’.

• We booked our accommodation via the ‘Green Go’ platform, which has since been sending us messages such as ‘Travelling needs CO2, have you thought about how you’re going to reach your accomodation?’
• Florent greets us with his young son and tells us that he is currently at home on daddy time as his wife Elena, a doctor, is working full-time again.
• This has only been the case for a short time and he is still getting used to it: Nevertheless, he relaxedly shows us to our room in a huge house that we have all to ourselves, conjures up a three-course dinner and heats up the Bain Nordique, the hot tub, for us. Wow! We ask him if we can help and he assures us several times: ‘No, no, it is fine!’

• The hot tub is super relaxing and we really enjoy it! We didn’t even realise there was one and were very happy when Florent showed it to us.
• While we are soaking in the water, Elena comes home to Florent’s relief and to celebrate we have a toast with him with a bottle of Calva – mega! Cheers to Florent!

Thursday, April 4

We are actually on the E5!

• Great breakfast at FlorEl of course – even with a fried egg. 🙂

• The E5 takes us along hiking trails that are muddy as usual, but today they are particularly muddy.
• The muddy atmosphere is intensified by the rain, which alternates with grey clouds.

• Grey on grey, that suits our mood well, we’re both groggy and Matthäus is a bit sickly.

• Fighting through the mud also feels more difficult than usual and so we only make very slow progress on the long route today.

• One section of the path leads up a beautiful hill – with a summit cross and a wonderful rocky landscape – including an enchanted tower.

• As a consolation, we also see our first E5 hiking sign! On stage 30! Yes – we’re on the right track after all!

• Just before the small town of Domfront, there is a river crossing that has become impossible due to the high water level – we have never seen anything so wild on the already very watery route!

• The rushing river has not only torn away the bridge except for two pillars, which are now somewhat lost in the middle of the river – no, it has also become one with the surrounding meadows, on which hiking trails apparently also run – unfortunately these can now only be explored on a rafting tour.
• We therefore switch to the always reliable Voie Verte, which runs all the way round and is therefore longer in terms of distance, but we prefer this to a swimming tour in difficult conditions.

• There are stable bridges with concrete pillars – hallelujah!
• A final climb takes us up to Domfront, which surprises us in a very positive way.

• We have a nice flat, where we use the TV with YouTube function to watch climbing and chill out in bed with the rest of our food, which we luckily still have left for dinner.