Nice guys

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Geo: 48.636, -1.51208

After mulling it over during breakfast, we decided that – as much as we really wanted to explore the area – or maybe catch some of the stage going up to Saint Malo – we probably needed to get the water tank sorted out before we headed up into the Alps, where the toilet in our van might be our only option. So, we headed back down to Nantes, to another McRent affiliate, to seek their help. This is about a 2-hour drive each way, so it wasn't a short trip. Though we had the street address, we still had some challenges in finding the place. 316 Rue de Nantes. Oh, there's 315, we should be right across the street.

Well, if we were in North America, perhaps.

In France, the numbers on one side of the street apparently have no relation to what's on the other side. Because 316 was a good mile away from 315.

But we did find it, and lucked into having a truly lovely man, Yann Hardy, help us with communicating our issue to the mechanic. They slotted us in right away, and the mechanic took no time in finding the issue, and setting about fixing it. We were there only about an hour total, which was SO much quicker than we were anticipating / prepared for. And they were going to bill the Lyon location directly, so it was no cost out of our pockets. We couldn't be more grateful, and tried our best to express that.

A couple of hours later, we were back in Beauvoir, where we stopped into a bar/restaurant that had a TV set to the Tour, to watch the remainder of that day's stage. We spent way more than felt reasonable on a late lunch, but we hadn't done too much of that, so didn't stress too much over it.

We grabbed a quick nap before getting on the bikes to go to Mont St. Michel. The roads were closed north of the town we were staying in, so the road out to the abbey was pretty much just bikes & pedestrians (with a few Tour vehicles thrown in for good measure). It's just surreal, biking out and seeing this island and the town/abbey built upon it, growing larger and larger as you approach. It was evening, but being mid-summer, there was light until 9:30 or 10 pm, so we had some time. We walked up and round, turning this way & that, exploring nooks & crannies, until we'd gotten as far up as the abbey itself. Besides being past closing time, this was day 25 or so of a strike by the abbey workers, over the local bus system stopping an employee-only shuttle or some such. So we weren't going to get to see the abbey, even if we'd been there during opening hours. But the town was fun to explore anyway, though we needed to think about heading back down – and maybe grabbing a quick bite in one of the open bars or restaurants.

As we rounded a corner, there was a little terrace with a lovely view, and I heard Dejo say something about a celebrity. I looked (half expecting to see Emma Stone again), and noticed Phil Liggett standing there. He's one of the announcers who covers the Tour de France for NCB Sports in the US, so when we watch the Tour, he and Paul Sherwen are the 2 voices we hear. We said hello, and told him that we enjoy his coverage when we're home. Really nice guy. He noticed Dejo's RoadID bracelet (who is a pretty big sponsor of the US coverage of most bike races), so that was cool. We wished him a good evening, and he headed into the restaurant whose doorway we were standing near.

Since we were looking for a bite anyway, and their menu looked as good as any, we followed suit. Phil had joined Paul at their dinner table. It shouldn't surprise me that they dine together – they seem like they get on pretty well. While we were waiting for our order of smoked salmon & cream cheese galette (which was really tasty) to arrive, I worked up the nerve to go ask them if I could get a picture of them with Gnorm.

For those who don't know about Gnorm, here's a loose string of the logic behind him: Dejo collects Lego mini figures. He has a Lego mini figure of a gnome. Travelocity's mascot is a gnome. Travelocity sponsors "The Amazing Race." We aspire to be on “The Amazing Race.” Sometimes, teams on “The Amazing Race” have tasks that require them to take the Travelocity gnome with them to a location, and sometimes get a picture. We have a gnome that we take on our travels, and sometimes take pictures of, just for fun. We call him Gnorm. Gnorm the Gnome.

And now Gnorm has met Phil Liggett and Paul Sherwen, and has the picture to prove it.

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Photos

Our bedroom, torn apart for the water fix
Okay, "torn apart" is a little drastic...it was cool to see how this stuff actually works.

Biking toward Mont St. Michel
A little surreal, truthfully

Narrow little streets of Mont St. Michel
Fun to explore

A rare team picture
Since we heard American voices, we seized the opportunity to ask easily

Phil, Gnorm and Paul
Gnorm continues networking

Au revoir, abbaye
It was a beautiful evening, but getting dark, and we were on bikes