Cycling in France  - Kids, Atlantic Coast and Pirate Coves
Cycling in France's Normandy and Brittany is excellent for youngsters. The sister regions of Normandy and Brittany join at the heel of the Cotentin Peninsula to create one of the most interesting regions of France.  The Bay of Mont St. Michel has a rich past, heaving with historic towns and seafaring legends, a veritable cycling history lesson.  Steeped in pirate lore, there are quiet bays, wind-swept beaches, and flat Dutch-style polders to cycle on.  Further inland your route takes you along flat, bike-only lanes, canal paths by arched stone bridges and canal houses.   

Take a tour with the kids on the frog-nosed, flat-bottomed, oyster boats which are half-boat, half-truck and wade ankle-deep on the tidal flats looking for baby crabs; watch one of the many leisure boats head through the tiny locks of the Canal du Rance as you cycle on shady lanes and explore ancient towns like quaint Dinan; eat seafood at a beach market and moo at the cows in the fields – these are just some of the highlights that make this such a great trip for families. 

This is also a photographers dream: the monastery island of Mont St. Michel, an architectural marvel and the most sacred religious shrine in France is your companion as you nearly cycle around it. The views are spectacular as it sits on its rocky promontory surrounded by tidal flats, its cathedral spire pointing skyward like a lonely sentinel. The buccaneer’s fort of Saint Malo, woven of tight, tiny streets and surrounded by massive ramparts and festooned with cannons, is great for exploring on foot and great for photo-hounds.

Adults will enjoy the authentic food and unique inns while the kids get a fun-filled history lesson that no book can duplicate.