Mont Saint-Michel, France

The route from Mont Saint-Michel to Le Mans offers coastal rides, country roads, history, culture, and 24-hour motor racing, all in the same trip. Mont Saint-Michel has been a strategic point holding fortifications since ancient times, and since the 8th century AD it became the seat of the Saint-Michel monastery, from which it draws the name. It is located approximately one kilometre off the north coast of France, at the mouth of the Couesnon River near Avranches. The tides in the area change quickly, and have been described by Victor Hugo as "à la vitesse d'un cheval au galop" or "as swiftly as a galloping horse". The tides can vary greatly, with roughly 14 metres between high and low water marks.