3D2N Itinerary for Mototorbike Roadtrip in Normandy
Étherat, France
This trip was decided when my travel partner and I were waiting for our train from Rheims to Paris, where we have 4 days to kill before our flight back to Singapore. A conversation led me to say I’ve always wanted to go to Mont St Michel and he says he has never done a motorbike road trip before. And bham, we found the journey that we have to embark on!
We tried booking the tour bikes online whilst on the train but most were not available for confirmation on short notice so we decided to wing it and walked into a rental bike shop the next morning. Lucky stars were shining on us and we got ourselves a BMW GS880 for 3 days.
DAY 1 - Rouen, Étretat, Honfleur
Rouen is 1.5 hours ride away from Paris and we made a quick hour stop to visit the
Old Town for the famous Gros-Horloge, a beautiful astronomical clock dating back to the 14th century
The stunning Gothic architecture of the Rouen Cathedral
The Church of Saint-Ouen
Old Market Square to marvel at the half timbered houses which are unique to Normandy
We continued our journey to Étrerat, a charming seaside village known for its stunning limestone cliffs and natural arches. It took us about an hour, arriving at about 6pm. Since it was summer, the sun sets at 9pm so we had ample of day time. We walked along the coastal pathway during low tide, admiring the rugged cliffs jutting out of the azure waters of the English channel, rock hole formations and the famous "Needle" and "Arch".
After a couple of hours of exploration, we had our dinner at Le Bistretatais. It was one of the few seafood restaurants that were opened till late (service and food were excellent, btw) and we started looking for accommodation for the night on Airbnb. We were contemplating to stay in Étretat or do a night ride to our next town Honfleur and settled with the latter as it would be quicker to reach Honfleur with no traffic at night than in the day. An hour later, we self-checked-in into our Airbnb for the night at SG$120, waking up to a picturesque quayside. Kudos to the owner because the room was ready in extremely short notice and she was very responsive!
DAY 2 - Honfleur, Omaha Beach, Mont St Michel
Since we rode in close to midnight, we didn’t get to see how beautiful this town was. Words can’t describe how happy I was when I woke up and walked round the corner to find Vieux Bassin, the old harbor lined with 16th to 18th-century townhouses, creating a postcard-perfect setting with plenty of seafood restaurants lining it. Being summer, it was filled with tourists soaking in the maritime atmosphere enjoying their champagne and seafood. Afar was an open-air ferris wheel and after taking a walk around the old town, we rode over and had a time of our life on it. The salty sea breeze in my face, looking at the sparkling water on one side and the mesmerising old town on the other when we were at the top of the ferris wheel - priceless.
1.5 hours away is Omaha Beach (D-Day Beach). If you have the time, you can stop by the Omaha Beach Museum and American Cemetery. We walked down the beach where the war memorial monument was and had our lunch at L’Omaha and chatted with fellow riders from The UK. Nothing fancy there, just good summer vibes.
Our final journey for the day would be a 1.5 hours ride to Mont St Michel. As we rode along the country road towards the abbey, breathing in the crisp cool air, with sheeps at the foreground, the grandeur of the abbey towering spires at the background, a sense of peace and excitement envelops me - it was surreal, it was an unforgettable moment. Time stood still.
We arrived about 5pm and parked our bikes. There are frequent shuttle buses that took us on the bridge towards the abbey, and it was low tide so we had the opportunity to walk on the sea bed, around the abbey.
Interesting Fact: The bay of Mont St Michel sees the highest tide difference of up to 15m in Europe.
The entry to the abbey is closed at 6pm so we had to find an accommodation for the night and return the next morning to enter the compound. As the sun hung low in the sky, we rode out to search for affordable accommodation but they were all full. We saw an alfresco restaurant smoking their meat along the road and stopped by Le Ferme Saint-Michel, a stone-walled farmhouse for dinner while we continued our search for accommodation on booking.com. We managed to find an accommodation about 30 minutes away but due to the unstable Wi-Fi network, the room was booked twice. We contacted booking.com who promptly communicated to the owner but he refused to refund us the second room even though we explained it was clearly a mistake. Whilst we appreciated the help from booking.com very much, it was quite a damper that this had to happen.
DAY 3 - Mont St Michel, Paris
As we will have a long ride of about 4 hours back to Paris, we booked our entry tickets + audio guide to Mont St Michel online so we can beat the queue in the morning. This time, we get to witness the tides surrounding the medieval city - my bucket list is checked. When we we done touring the island commune, we rode straight back to Paris to return the bike.