The best running trails around Le Val-Saint-Père

During very high tides, your wheels may be in the water.

A bridge with a long history! Even the Romans passed along here! And at the end of World War II, American troops passed through here to liberate France. Today, people make pilgrimages past the bridge on their way to Mont St. Michel.

The “Pont de Pontaubault” is a beautiful work of art, the construction of which dates back to the 15th century. It is the first bridge to cross the Sélune, between Saint-Quentin-sur-le-Homme (right bank) and Pontaubault (left bank). It is located on the old road from Avranches to Rennes, via Saint-James. Since the arrival of the A84 motorway it has mainly been used locally. The bridge has eleven arches and is built with stone masonry. There is a picnic area at the bridge, near the railway viaduct of the Caen-Rennes line, not far from the salt meadows where sheep graze. During big tides many spectators and kayakers come to enjoy the spectacle provided by the tide. The bridge has a rich history. It was bombed several times during World War II but withstood these attacks, allowing 100,000 men and 1,500 vehicles to cross. A memorial plaque recalls that "the fate of the war lay on this bridge".

Beautiful road through beautiful, living nature.

Friendly cafe at the entrance of the city next to the bridge

This former fortified castle was built in the 10th century to protect the city from Breton attacks. Located on a rock, it offers beautiful views over the bay of Mont-Saint-Michel and the Sée valley.

The Château d'Avranches was built around 950 by Onfroi Le Dane, on the remains of the old Roman walls. Located on a rock, the fortress could monitor the bay of Mont-Saint-Michel and the various invaders made no mistake and occupied it; Celts with the Abrincates, Romans, Saxons, then Franks. A succession of enclosures and ditches were added to it. The Roman keep unfortunately disappeared in the last century. The top of the curtain forms a platform at the same level as the terrace. A diagram, made by Canon Pigeon, shows how keep and curtain wall were connected. This is also verifiable in a document kept in the Calvados Archives. Another detail should be noted, it is impossible to access the terrace from inside the building. Passages were obstructed after a collapse of the upper level of the building, at an undetermined time. Today, at the top of a crenellated curtain wall, one discovers a panorama over the bay and the valley of the Sée, in the heart of the various Avranchinese districts.

Here the Avranches Pontorson railway crosses the Sélune.