THREE SAINT'S WAY - DAY EIGHT

CARENTAN TO RAIDS 12 MILES

Summary - The previous evening we enjoyed a nice three course meal in a restaurant in Carentan and set off on Day Eight well fed and rested. After photographing the war memorial it was a short walk to the outskirts of town and into the Bocage an area of minor lanes and tracks between fields uses for grazing and maize growing defined by high hedges and banks. One third of the way through the day we stopped at a shop at Meautis and I bought a tin of Coca Cola and drank it on the steps of Mairie.  Two thirds of the way in Sainteny we found a bar and had  couple of beers and a Croque Monsieur. The temperature was now 26C and although it was only 3km by road to Raids the route of the Chemins de Mont St Michel was going to take longer. Arriving in Raids by 1500 we sat on a seat by the church for a break before proceeding to Le Clos Castel a farm house doing B&B where had booked on a half board basis. A nice day well within our capacity.

Detailed Description :-  Before setting off on the Three Saint's Way again we went to have a look at the war memorial near the railway station (picture below). The following cumulative distances are taken from this point and the route is waymarked in blue and with Chemins du Mont St Michel signs..

In the background can be seen the Mairie, Boulevard de Verdun, 50500 Carentan which had a lovely display of flowers in the gardens - see also the picture below.

From there we headed west along the D974, went straight on at the roundabout (0.09 miles) turned left onto the Rue Cent Unieme Airborne (0.25 miles) and over a bridge over the railway and followed the main road around to the right where it became the Rue de la Guinguette. When the housing on the left comes to an end there is a path on the left (0.79 miles) which runs along the back of some houses. At 1.02 miles the path comes out onto a road the D903, where the route is straight across down a minor road called the Route d'Auvers. At the other end on reaching the D443 (1.17 miles) it is right and then immediately left into a grassy track that runs along the back of some houses before emerging onto the D971 a major road (1.43 miles). This road is followed to the left until a roundabout is reached (1.60 miles) and on the right of it is a farm called Le Bras Pendu. The route is along a vehicular track heading south west along the left side of the farm buildings. A picture taken on it is below and is typical of the terrain in this area. 

After 2.19 miles the track comes out onto a tarmac road where it is straight on. Seven herons took off from the marshy area on the right as we joined the road. This area is La Chasse Verte. At 2.55 miles the road bends left where an unsurfaced track merges from the right next to the unusual structure below. It was locked so its contents could not be ascertained.

At 2.74 miles the D903 is crossed onto an unsurfaced vehicular track. When the field on the right ends the route is along another similar track to the right (2.90 miles) which runs along a north westerly alignment almost parallel to the D903. There is for the next half hour a series of educational natural history signs posing questions which you have to answer before lifting a flap to find the answer.  At 3.31 miles it is left down another unsurfaced vehicular track between tall hedgerows. The entertaining signs are part of the Sentier de Decouverte du Bocage route. After 3.97 miles and ignoring tracks to the right and left the track emerges onto a road called Les Tilleuls on the outskirts of the village of Meautis. Here it is right along the road into the centre of town (4.07 miles) - picture below on the route. 

On one corner is the Bar Le Myotis an Alimentation and Depot du Pain (but it did not supply alcohol) so I bought a tin of Coca Cola and went and sat on the steps of the Mairie opposite to consume it. At this side of the junction there was a lovely stone cross. (See picture below).

The route was left south west along a road (Maison de la Croix). At 4.33 miles it is straight on where the D543 goes right to Auvers. At 5.16 miles the D197 is reached with a farm opposite with horses heads on the gate posts. Here it is right and at 5.21 miles it is left down an unsurfaced vehicular track. Keeping straight on along it at 5.87 miles a minor tarmac road is reached and it is straight on. At 6.10 miles at another road junction it is straight on again and after a series of bends and passing the farm at Le Sablonnet the road comes out at 6.28 miles onto the D971 the main road between Carentan and Periers. Here it is straight across (with care) down the minor road opposite. At 6.53 miles it is right at a T-junction with another minor road (D543) at Ventigny. At 7.30 miles the road takes you to the village of Sainteny. At a T-junction it is left and immediately there is a cross roads in the centre with the church ahead and on the far left of the junction we took the opportunity to pop in the Bar Le Due (picture below) for liquid refreshment and a Croque Monsieur which the proprietor cooked in the microwave.

Refreshed it was along the road passing to the right of the church (D297) after which it bent slightly right and continued out of town, it then bent right and then left at 7.61 miles (ignoring another minor road on the right).There was then a long straight, as the road went into a shallow valley and out again, passing a water works and then it turned to the right at 8.11 miles and then into a shallow valley bent right again and there was another long straight ahead, At 8.27 miles it was left off the road onto an unsurfaced vehicular track with a Chemin du Mont St Michel sign. Whilst still a vehicular track its condition deteriorated and at 8.96 miles a crossroads of tracks was reached. Turn right here and at 9.16 miles a road is reached (D297) where it is right again along the road but only to 9.31 miles where you get a glimpse into a rather nice property called Le Chateau on the right - see picture below).

It has a moat around it - see picture below.

The route is then left down the unsurfaced vehicular track opposite the entrance to Le Chateau, This route was churned up by vehicles and muddy despite the dry conditions. At 9.69 miles it was straight across at crossroads of tracks and soon the track became impassable to normal vehicles with deep potholes. We passed a local collecting mushrooms in a large bag and he showed us his collection. At 10.33 miles at the end of the straight the track went right. After ignoring a track on the left* it was left at a cross roads of tracks at 10.55 miles with the farm Maugerie off to the right. We soon reached the farm of Les Quesnots where we encountered some difficulties. There were two large gates across the track. The first was padlocked and we had to climb between the bars and lift the rucksacks through. The two gates were either side of a cattle track into the farm and it was muddy. We could undo the second gate and got through and tied it up again. The track continued passing right and then left around an orchard to a cross roads of tracks at 10.88 miles. (* If we had taken the earlier track and followed it first south west and then northwest we could have avoided the farm and ended up at this point). We turned right north west along a footpath between hedges. At 11.12 miles it was left on a vehicular track at a fork and then around to the right as we entered the hamlet of La Croix Regnault. The crucifix style cross was passed at 11.27 miles where the route goes right and immediately left and becomes a tarmac road. After a number of farms buildings and houses we reached Raids and a car park, and the church at 11.55 miles (see picture below). 

We were going to be to early to check into our overnight accommodation so we sat on a seat here in the sunshine. After a rest it was onto the nearby main D971 once again. The road sign said 3 km to Sainteny and 12 km to Carentan which shows the winding route we had been taking. Our destinations tomorrow Periers 6 km and Coutance 22 km gave us warning of a tough day ahead, Turning left along the main road it was almost immediately off to the left to follow a vehicular track running in the same direction. After passing a farm building it was right along another track at 11.86 miles which took us back onto the D971 where straight across was our B&B.

Accommodation :- We stayed at Le Clos Castel, 50500 Raids +033233172361 booked through Booking.com. Run by an English couple we were looked after by Hazel who cooked us an evening meal which we had ordered in advance, As the picture above indicates it is a large farm house with also a camping site. It is in an isolated position, there are no facilities nearby. We had a large well appointed twin room at first floor looking out on the lawn you can see in the picture. There was a good bathroom. Breakfast was good and we rated it 9 out of 10 and good value for money.