THREE SAINT'S WAY - DAY NINE

RAIDS TO COUTANCES 16.4 MILES

Summary :-  Hotels do not always crop up when you want them and this was one of those days. By the end my legs were aching and I was glad to finish. The route to Periers was along a vehicular track running parallel with the main road to the west. After stopping at a Carrefour to buy Jim a replacement charger it was into the town for a beer. Pressing on it was west to pick up a Roman Road which took us south again. We left where a wayside cross was located in the middle of a pond and took bridle roads to Vaudrimesnil. We briefly crossed the D971, and after crossing over and then back under again a disused railway that had been converted to a cycle route, we went back across the D971. After 9.5 miles we arrived in St-Sauveur-Lendelin where there was a splendid little restaurant for lunch. Feeling much better we followed more tracks and minor roads. We then started to encounter some hills After passing through Rousserie we descended into a valley and climbed up to Monthuchon in a gulley that would probably be a stream if it rained. A descent down another path that could be a watercourse and we reached Vaurecent. Weary we went under the Coutances bypass and descending towards the town we got our first view of the cathedral which dominates it. We checked into the Hotel Pocatiere and immediately had a beer. There was an excellent restaurant in the street behind it. After dinner there I did not stay awake long.

Route description :- We left Le Clos Castel crossed the D971 and went down the track opposite. After 0.07 miles we went right at a T-junction onto an ancient road that kept more or less parallel to the D971 but to the east of it. It varied in nature, sometimes an enclosed track, sometimes a wide grassy path but always clearly identifiable. The section in the photo below was typical. It was straight on at every junction. After one mile and our boots wet with the morning dew we passed to the right of a massive electricity distribution point. At 2.93 miles and nearing the town of Periers the track goes right and at 2.99 miles the route comes out onto the D971.

Here it is left down the D971 to a roundabout at the end of the straight at 3.17 miles. We went off to the right to the Carrefour supermarket to get some supplies for the day. Jim also got a replacement Apple charger as his had failed the previous evening - more than a minor inconvenience when starting a long trek. The supermarket fronts onto the Rue de Carentan and we went right west along it. It bent left through the town heading for the centre with narrow footways and terraced houses on both sides. At 3.49 miles the road took us to the central commercial area a long rectangular Place du General Leclerc, with a church at the other end. We went to a bar on the left for liquid refreshment. (See picture below).

On reaching the church it was right down the Rue du Pont l'Abbe which took us passed more shops and out of town. At 3.80 miles the route forks left onto the D94 heading to La Feuillie - the Rue du Clos Thorel. At 3.86 miles the road crossed a disused railway now converted to a cycleway and then at 4.01 the route forks right down a minor narrow road. At 4.42 miles and once out in the countryside a cross roads with a wider road is reached. This is a Roman Road and here the route is left down it heading south. The road runs down the centre of a wide route between hedges and ditches dead straight. At 4.74 miles with a junction with the D94 again it is straight across and there is a long straight ahead. (See photo below).

After passing several farms and with the road surface deteriorating, at Les Bitouzes this attractive wood framed house is reached on the right after 5.46 miles although the front portion seems to encroach onto the Roman Road. 

The surface of the road is now tarmac again and it continues passed the more substantial farm Le Haut Bosq on the right (5.62 miles) and then there is a cross roads with the D68 a main road (5.84 miles)  Again it is straight across onto the D535 signposted to La Rondehaye and Vaudrimesnil. The dead straight road is followed until at 6.16 miles the pond with a cross in it featured in the picture below is reached. 

Six routes meet at this pond and unexpectedly it is 150 degrees left (or first on the left) down a unsurfaced vehicular track. At 6.30 miles it is fork right down another track which at 6.81 miles ends at a minor road called Rue de la Blotterie. Here the route is left, then another road on the right is ignored and the road leads after a right hand bend to the main road between Periers and Coutances at 7.02 miles. Here it is right down the main road but only as far as the next road on the left the D101 signposted to St Sebastien de Raids, At 7.22 miles there is a crucifix on the left with two adoring statues one on either side. At 7.27 miles and just before a wash house next to a stream called the Taute on the right the route goes right down an unsurfaced vehicular track over the stream and up the other side. At 7.48 miles the cycleway on the former railway that was encountered in Periers is crossed and at 7.54 miles a road is reached in the small hamlet of La Champagne. Here it is right along the road until at 7.80 miles at a T-junction with the D391 it is right under the former railway bridge. On the other side it is bear left onto an unsurfaced vehicular track going gradually uphill (no entry sign). This track becomes a tarmac road as you enter the village of le Pestils at 8.18 miles. At 8.35 miles the road comes out onto the main road between Periers and Coutances again. It is straight across down a no-through road opposite. At a right hand bend at 8.43 miles go straight on along an unsurfaced vehicular track into the countryside. At 8.90 miles a road is reached with a wayside cross on the right. Here it is left and then immediately fork right down another  minor road which becomes an unsurfaced track.  Ignore a road on the right and continue to a cross roads at 9.13 miles. Turn left and follow the road into St-Sauveur-Lendelin until you reach the D971 again. (9.34 miles). Here turn right and at 9.42 miles you are in the centre of the town with the view below of the church.

Here we took the opportunity of having an excellent lunch in the Hotel and Restaurant on the corner before heading off again straight on down the Rue Marechal Leclerc (D971) in the direction of Monthuchon and Coutances, At the end of the straight at a roundabout (9.56 miles) the route is left and then immediately right down the road to Rupaley. At 9.78 miles and where the sign indicates the end of St-Sauveur-Lendelin turn right down a minor road signed as a no-through road. The tarmac surface ends at a hamlet called La Croix Bouvet (10.11 miles) here the route continues as an unsurfaced track. Shortly after at 10.23 miles the route takes a smaller track off to the right uphill. At 10.47 miles one is back to the D971 again at a group of houses called Le Grand Chemin. Turn left down the main road and almost immediately bear right down a footpath between hedges. At 10.63 miles the path comes out onto a minor road next to a farmyard. Continue straight on along the road but only to where it goes right at 10.69 miles, here go straight on along an unsurfaced vehicular track. At 10.92 miles there is a tarmac road off to the right into the hamlet of Gabousserie here continue straight on along the unsurfaced track ahead, At 11.02 miles at the dizzy height of 102 metres above sea level the track exits onto the D535 a minor tarmac road. Go left along it between high banks and hedges. At 11.43 miles at the bottom of a gradual descent ignore a road off to the right signposted to La Fouquerie and continue straight on up a hill a definite sign the terrain has changed to undulating. At 11.87 miles and 125 metres above sea level at a cross roads go straight on towards another junction at the end of a short straight at 11.99 miles. Here turn right. The road leads through the village of La Rousserie and out into the countryside on both sides. The next group of houses is called La Gluaiserie and here turn left down a minor road leading to numbers 41-49 (12.55 miles). The minor road bends left and as a farm is approached the route is an unsurfaced track to the right of it which continues down into a valley and then climbs up through woods. It deteriorates and we found it to look like a sunken lane which potentially could be a stream bed in wet weather. It was a steady rough climb up this gulley. A steep set of steps was encountered where we rested before continuing up the track ahead. It exits onto a cul-de-sac near the church and graveyard at Monthuchon, that in turn exited onto a road (Route du Pont de la Rogue) with the Mairie on the right and the bar restaurant Les Chaunilles on the left (13.32 miles). Sadly I could not get Jim to partake of refreshment so we plodded on and turned right. At a refuse and recycling bin area we had the view north in the picture below which showed how much we had climbed up and were now at 165 metres above sea level.  

Immediately after the route is left into Rue du Mont Hugon but then immediately right onto a footpath between hedges and initially between housing developments. (13.42 miles). The footpath soon starts to descend. At 13.78 miles there is a bend to the left (the footpath straight on looks blocked) and then the footpath continues to descend until a road is reached. (13.94 miles).  Turn right along it around a right hand bend and at a fork turn left (14.09 miles). This is the village of Le Vaurecent located in a pleasant sheltered fold in the hills with some nice houses. After a right and then a left hand bend fork left at a junction staying in the valley (14.26 miles). Go straight on where a road goes down left to the neighbouring village of L'Ecauderie. (14.46  miles). The road only leads to a farm and the route is up a vehicular track soon reached on the right. This results in a steady climb out the valley and after going left, right and then left it exits onto a minor tarmac road with a wind turbine visible over the top of some trees. (14.89 miles). After pausing to recover from the climb it was left along the road but only to the end of the straight where the route forks left down a footpath between hedges (15.02 miles). The footpath crosses over another track at 15.16 miles and then at 15.32 miles comes out onto a vehicular track. Turning leftish and then right the track goes immediately under the Coutances Bypass. The other side fork right (GR signposted to the left). After initially climbing the road then starts to descend towards to Coutances. At 16 miles the road joins the larger D2 and the route is left towards the cathedral visible ahead. (See picture below).

 The road descends and then starts to climb into the older part of the town which is on a hill. On reaching a major intersection with the D971 again and the old town ahead under a modern arch we turned right because we had booked into the Hotel La Pocatiere which was just to the right.

Accommodation - We stayed at the Hotel La Pocatiere, 25 Boulevard d'Alsace Lorraine, 50200 Coutances +33 2 33 45 13 77 www.hotelapocatiere.com Email info@hotelapocatiere.com Fax  +33 2 33 45 77 18 (Two Star). Jim and I were given two quiet interconnecting rooms at the rear of the property which was excellent for us but the rooms were showing their age. There was no evening meal in the hotel but we had a good breakfast and gave ithe hotel 8.5 out of 10.  The hotel gave us a map and identified the restaurants, and after today's exercise we chose the nearest. When looking at the front of the hotel there is an alleyway on the right up a series of  steps to the Rue Saint Nicolas above. Just to the left was our restaurant La Fleur de Sarrasin which served an excellent meal that was good value and the restaurant comes highly recommended.