When Dave unexpectedly gained rather a lot of holiday, we decided to use a week of it cycle touring in France and the Channel Islands at the start of July. A long-distance route called the Petit Tour de Manche (its grand cousin extends further west into Brittany and Devon) formed the basis for this, although required some tweaks as there are no longer regular ferries from Weymouth to France.

So we took the van to Poole (getting caught up in various road closures and traffic chaos on the way), spent half a night in it, left it parked in a posh-looking cul-de-sac, and caught an early ferry to Cherbourg.  Over the next couple of days we wound our way south down the Cotentin Peninsula, enjoying the Normandy countryside (marshes and bocage) and towns and an interesting detour to Utah Beach.  A good day or so was spent following the Vire river valley – often on the voie verte, a series of old railway lines.  As the weather became sunnier and hotter, we turned west and were soon in sight (albeit way across the marshes) of Mont-Saint-Michel, which we later spent a pleasant evening wandering around as the crowds thinned out.  A final day in France took us into Brittany, zooming along the rocky coast to Cancale and St-Malo, and on an evening ferry to St Helier.

This felt a bit like the start of another holiday, since we now had two days to explore Jersey, and the weather was still hot and sunny.  As the round-island route is only 40ish miles, this was very leisurely and involved a large number of food, drink and paddling/swimming stops.  We decided we liked Jersey, once we stopped expecting it to be like the Scottish islands and accepted that there would inevitably be a cafe and other people on every beach!  A final evening ferry brought us back to Poole (via Guernsey), where we were relieved to find the van exactly as we had left it.

All in all, a nice relaxed tour through varied scenery, with great campsites, some history, and countless opportunities for excellent food and drink (and the good weather might have helped a bit too!)

Setting off across Hamworthy Park to Poole ferry port at 7am

Beach huts cheering up a grey morning

Brownsea Castle, sailing out of Poole Harbour

Le Redoutable, France’s first nuclear submarine and our first stop after getting off the ferry

Lunch on the quay in Cherbourg

Finally on route, climbing out of Cherbourg into undulating rural Normandy

We arrived in Bricquebec towards late afternoon, and explored the first of many castles

Followed by a beer

Then a roll down the greenway to our first campsite at Saint-Sauveur-le-Vicomte

The campsite was directly under the castle walls and it was rather late by the time we arrived – pasta and pesto has never tasted so good!

Marshland (nature reserve) on the way to Carentan, where we arrived at lunchtime

An out-and-back to Utah Beach filled the afternoon

A good day for an ice cream

We didn’t go the museum, but there was plenty to see and read outside

Dave making friends on the way back to Carentan

Our second campsite was right next to Carentan canal, which made for a very pleasant evening stroll

Carentan fountains

Sunny evening selfie

Our only mechanical of the trip – puncture heading out of Carentan the next morning – and the worst road of the trip (unrelated…)

Soon afterwards we entered the Vire valley, and followed the Vire to Saint-Lô

Here we had lunch and a wander around the ramparts, before continuing along the Vire

Some creative gardening in Saint-Lô

The Vire

And again from higher up, after a steep climb to visit Les Roches de Ham

Unfortunately the Tour wasn’t visiting Normandy this year…

Another lovely, peaceful campsite in the tiny village of Pont-Farcy

The first really hot day, after the morning mist cleared. Here we left the Vire for (according to the guidebook) “some climbing”

This turned out to be a hard morning’s work of diving in and out of steep, wooded valleys as we traversed some classic Calvados bocage

Very pleasant countryside, if slightly frustrating!

But obviously not that frustrating.

Boulangerie stop in the pretty village of La Graverie, before a long, gently uphill section of greenway from the town of Vire to Mortain

A brief pause on the greenway

La Grande Cascade at Mortain

We continued a little further to camp at Saint-Hilaire-du-Harcouët, which provided a few interesting buildings to view on our evening stroll – including this medieval tower

And an impressive twin-towered church

Another castle at Ducey, close to the Bay of Mont-Saint-Michel, as we continued next morning

Millpond at Ducey (medieval bridge out of shot)

First view of the Mont, after which we meandered our way to the nearest village (Beauvoir) and sat in the shade for the afternoon, before venturing out again

Examining the new dam at the mouth of the Couesnon – once an engineer…

Two channels, and the new causeway to the right

We walked across the causeway rather than take the free bus – longer than it looks, but great views all the way

Up and down the passageways

Rooftops and the bay

Old stone and sparkling sea

A little expedition around the far side

Paddling spot

Evening on the beach

More ramparts

More paddling (not us this time)

Even more ramparts

Empty main street – quite a contrast from our arrival several hours earlier!

Photography on the beach

View from the other side

Finally leaving

Next morning – still there (and visible for quite a long way into Brittany)

Reaching the coast at Cherrueix. The raised greenway was nice but the road was much faster…

Arriving at Cancale, oyster capital of the world

Beach at Cancale

Oyster beds

Well, we had to…

Slight detour out to the Pointe du Grouin – well worth it

Rocky coast and clear water – a contrast to the silty marshes at Mont-Saint-Michel

St-Malo – time for second lunch and a celebratory local cider

View from the wall

Leaving St-Malo on a rather exciting (well, Dave was excited) catamaran ferry

Our campsite on Jersey – a haven of peace and shade (after a somewhat frenetic cycle over from St Helier on the main road) near St Ouen, where we were glad to stay for two nights and not have to cart camping gear all over Jersey!

French red

Our tour of Jersey started with a short roll down the hill to La Grève de Lecq – beach number 1

Rocky coast

Beautiful colours

We followed Route One around the north and east coasts. Quiet, pretty roads with frequent detours down to the sea, inevitably involving a steep climb back up again…

A walking detour to a headland viewpoint and the Devil’s Hole

Rozel Bay

An excellent lunch at Rozel Bay tearoom (if hardly deserved, as we’d barely cycled 10 miles yet)

Typical Jersey road

Gorey, on the east coast

Jersey cream tea on the rather busier south coast promenade

St Aubin

Evening explore of Noirmont headland, site of a WW2 German naval battery

Noirmont Point lighthouse

Ouaisné Bay

More paddling, before heading back to our campsite

On the second day we cycled down the west coast, starting from Plémont Beach. We were early enough to have it nearly to ourselves, so we took the opportunity to go for a proper swim.

Heading towards Corbière Lighthouse

Looking north along the surfers’ beach

A good day for sailing

And another good day for ice cream, after crossing the causeway to visit the lighthouse

St Aubin’s Bay, this time with the tide out

Leaving Jersey (the cow didn’t want to say goodbye)

Short stop at St Peter Port, Guernsey

Coming into Poole somewhat later than scheduled, we made a cheeky overtaking manoeuvre to place ourselves ahead of Barfleur (our outward ferry) in the queue for docking…

Which resulted in some spectacular views of her following us in under the nearly full moon

Old Harry

Barfleur

Poole Harbour