Day 7 – Le Chateu Colombier France

Carentan – Mount Saint Michel – Le Chateu Colombier

Today was another late start after being up to the wee hours watching Argentina in the World cup match surrounded by folks dressed in Orange. I think I was the only Argentine supporter in the room and managed to mute my enthusiasm until the second blocked goal of the shootout. I was actually a little sad that Holland lost as I plan on being there on Sunday for the final match and I’m sure it would of been quite the party if the won the whole thing.

The World Cup is now a battle of in-laws.  One of my brothers has an Argentinian wife and another has a German wife. Hmm which should I root for? On the one hand I will be visiting my brother in Munich on the other hand yo gusta chori-pan y Quilmes.
In the morning I decided to head to Mont Saint Michel as it always looked like an interesting place. The island/fortress/town/abbey is very impressive but the crowds almost had me turning around a few minutes after I got there. God I hate tourists (Remember kids hypocrisy isn’t just a good idea it’s a way of life)! The loaded up the bus from the parking area to the island like a Japanese subway train. It pretty much sucked until all the French school kids started singing a song about being sardines in a can. I stuck with it though and am glad I did because it’s a very impressive fortification/village/abbey.

After Mont St. Michel I started to make my way west until fatigue and hunger made me look for a place to stay for the night and picked out the Chateau de Colmbier as a likely spot. I never stayed at a chateau before.

The bike is still running and with my earplugs in I can barely hear 4th gear. I’m alternating between babying it and riding it like I stole it. The French countryside is quite nice and I set my GPS to avoid all major roads and to take me on the shortest path to my destination which gets me on lots of secondary and tertiary roads. It’s certainly not the way to make time but it is the way to see the countryside which is the whole point. These are also the kinds of roads where 4th gear would come in very handy.

Tomorrow I hope to make my way to Douai where my grandparents and Mother used to live and then it’s on to Belgium and Holland.

I’m trying to setup and appointment with a Guzzi dealer in Amsterdam to look at the bike. I figure if I’m going to be holed up for a few days while the bike is worked on then Amsterdam would be an ideal place for it. I probably wouldn’t even notice the time passing. Whatever happens I hope to get the trans torn into before I head north of Oslo. I figure once I head north it’s going to be a whole lot of nothing for a long while.

WARNING to HEATHENS & HERETICS ! Much Catholic content follows. Don’t worry though it’ll be good for your eternal soul. Unless you’re a ginger then you’re just screwed, so party on.

 

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