Every Sunday, Vanessa Zha and Marion Sauveur take us on a gourmet weekend and deliver their favorite addresses. 

This Sunday, you are taking us to Normandy, to get some fresh air from the English Channel. Vanessa Zha, it's by bike that you follow the coast by taking the Vélomaritime. 

It is the French route of EuroVelo 4, the European cycle route which links Roscoff to Kiev, in Ukraine, over 4,000 kilometers. And this velomaritime, which was approved just a year ago, rolls out a red carpet for you to pedal from Roscoff to Dunkirk, along the coast. But it is much more than cycling, it is a route of discovery. On its 1,500 km of tracks, you have an appointment with four national monuments, three of the most beautiful villages in France, five major sites in France, and three sites classified as World Heritage by Unesco, including the bay of Mont Saint- Michael.

An abbey of Mont Saint-Michel which also reopened a few days ago.

Exactly, and don't forget to book above all. So did you know that in this bay, there was not just one mountain? In fact there are two! Mont Saint-Michel has a little brother, Mont Tombelaine, which also attracted pilgrims in the Middle Ages, with its fortified town, its church (which have since disappeared). Today we are in another world, nature has taken over.

But where does the name Tombelaine come from? And long before being Christianized, Mont Saint-Michel was called Mont tomb. Tombelaine would come from Tombelane which means small tomb. And to pass from one to the other was to pass from life to death, we came from elsewhere on a pilgrimage to gain paradise. So you too cross the bay passing from one to the other but never alone, always with a licensed guide please!

Who to turn to for the crossings?

The essential Bay Ways which are based in Genets and which offer all types of crossing: barefoot, at night… And then there is also a new one: Birding. Sébastien, he takes you on an itinerant and meditative stroll, with binoculars and an eye mask, just to discover the birds of the bay at the same time. It is a true awakening of the senses, magical when you listen to the black-headed warbler, blindfolded. It is very rejuvenating, very joyful. 

And where do we put our suitcases and binoculars?

At the Ferme de la Motte in Mesnil-Gilbert, in the heart of the bocage, not far from Sourdeval. The hostess, Anne, is super warm, she gives cooking lessons, teaches you how to make your bread, and she also cooks organic meals. For information, the Manche has launched a good plan: for any accommodation booked, you receive up to 100 euros of escape check for activities or restaurants.

Marion Sauveur, what gourmet specialty did you taste near Mont Saint-Michel? 

A wild herb found in berries on the shore, at the level of salt meadows regularly covered by the tide. It is the samphire, which is also called the sea bean and which has a good little iodized taste. It's just the season. We find it at the right size, for a fortnight.

It is not clear when the samphire appeared. According to a  Review of Applied Botany and Colonial Agriculture  of 1922, it is likely to have been used in Antiquity by the Greeks and the Romans. One thing is certain: during the Middle Ages, in North Africa, it was used to make soda. The first trace written on the samphire dates from the middle of the 16th century, in a work on botany. And the first mention of samphire as a food is found in 1855 in the  Annals of public health and forensic medicine , signed by Lassaigne. He explains that the samphire presents "the characters of a vegetable as fresh and as good as the green beans that are served on the tables".

Today, the collection of samphire is regulated.

Yes, you need a picker permit! If you don't have a permit, you can still pick one, but the quantity is limited to a handful. It is important not to uproot the plant, otherwise it will not grow back. It must be cut cleanly with a knife or scissors. Besides, only the stems are tender and can be eaten. And you have until September 15 to pick it in the Manche. 

Once you have your samphire stalks, you should not wait to cook it, otherwise it will lose their good taste of iodine. Besides, to keep this flavor and their crunchiness, they should not be cooked. Prepare them in a vinaigrette or add them at the last moment in a white butter for example. 

Marion, do you have a good place to taste samphire? 

The L'Obione restaurant in Avranches. Chef Sébastien Godefroy highlights local products. He loves these wild herbs such as samphire, obione or beta maritima. This summer, it offers a camembert stuffed with samphire and other herbs from the bay.