We left the Mont in the dark hours of the morning. The bus that we had specially asked for, was waiting for us at 7am just as requested. After the short trip to the mainland, we collected our equipment from the lockers and began riding the short 6km to Pontorson, stopping for a quick coffee on the way.
We have ourselves one hour of extra time just in case we had a flat tyre or two on the way to Pontorson! We couldn't miss this train because we needed to get to the airport for our flight tonight. Still we managed to stop to see the last Of horses up close.
Then it was a proper breakfast and waiting for the RER train from Pontorsson to Rennes.
The short ride on the local train went smoothly. The passengers waiting for train were wondering what we were doing with our bikes, then gawked as we folded them up into suitcase size! We arrived at Rennes and unfolded the bikes on the platform as it was easier to carry our luggage this way, reminding ourselves that this was allowed since we weren't the on the Singapore MRT.
Rennes was much bigger than other stations and we were immediately reminded that we were back in a city once again.
Our next mission was to find the Guedaed Cycles bike shop near the station, get some boxes and prepare to pack our bikes for the airport.
As it turns out, the plan would have been perfect except that it was Monday all all bike shops are closed the entire Monday or open too late in the afternoon. We cycled around the city, looking at other bike shops but all were closed. The backup plan was to buy the Air France bike box at the airport but why pay 20 euro per box? Eventually we found boxes by the side of one closed bike shop and a large LCD TV box that would do just fine! I cut these down to size with the knife and measuring tape I had brought along and we brought them back to Rennes station for our 14.08 TGV to the airport. The TGV was nice but we've been spoilt by Shinkansens, which are faster, smoother, and more comfortable as the TGV doesn't bank during turns!
At the airport Ivan finished assembling the boxes and packing the bikes, then we checked in and had our final dinner.
After one stopover in Dubai we finally arrived home to this wonderful welcome home sign the kids had made! We did it!
What a fantastic and worthwhile journey this has been, and an extremely meaningful 10th anniversary trip. Much more than just a holiday, the challenge, teamwork required, and going beyond our comfort zones together has certainly strengthened our love and marriage!
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