Month: June 2019

It is sad to be leaving France. We have really enjoyed the whole experience. Spending the last 6 months studying French, albeit slowly, helped make it all so much richer (and comprehensible). Yesterday M bought 2 ice cream cones…all in what she thought was her best French and the lady very kindly said “It’s all right to speak English if you like”!

Things we like about France:

• Croissants for breakfast
• Baguettes
• Boulangeries in every little town
• Wine
• Calvados
• Friendly people
• Very quiet country roads linking small, picturesque villages
• Like the pirates’ code, rules are really more like guidelines. So cars generally don’t stop at pedestrian crossings, cycle paths signposted as closed for maintenance aren’t really, a No Parking sign is more of a wistful exhortation
• Did I mention croissants for breakfast?

We spent out last couple of days with our friends Rung and Fabrice who came out from Paris! It was so wonderful to see them!

Market day in Caen. Big walnuts.

Rung and Fabrice took us to Honfleur. Houses have a lot of stairs.

More Honfleur.

Just the French wine aisle at the local supermarket!

0 degrees in 35 degrees!

Revived by cold beer

Completely unsystematic assembly of bikes. The benefit of being the last bikes on the ferry – top of the pile!

Last glance back at France!

June 25-26

Cracked 800 km today!

We spent two nights in the beach front town of Houlgate (ooolgat) northwest of the D-Day landing beaches. There was no bombing here and so the structures of the town are intact. The buildings have strange architectures, which are apparently unique to the area – a kind of faux-Tudor style with exposed wooden beams.

Houlgate – very quaint….playground for wealthy Parisiens on holiday.

A big beach. Really big.

Big old hotel – Building is a town treasure.

Boulangerie? Where?! The daily ritual of the morning baguette pick up by SO many French people and one Englishman!

1664.

June 24th

46 km today, but it took almost 7 hours to get to our destination because of all the Normandy landing memorials we stopped to look at along the way, each marking a different event and those units that were engaged.

The rain held off until this evening.

Canada house, Bernieres-sur-mer. See below…

Memorial to Bill Millin, personal piper to Lt-col the Lord Lovat, commander No.4 Commando. Millin landed in the first wave at Sword beach with Lovat, armed only with the pipes, and wearing a kilt. He played Highland Laddie, The Road to the Isles and Blue Bonnets as he went ashore. Amazingly he survived the day, and the war.

Pegasus Bridge from where the assault gliders landed.

Over the 150km or so that spans the beaches, there is a memorial every 50m or so to an individual soldier, like this one. At Omaha Beach, it was US servicemen on the posts, Gold Beach – British, Juno – Canadian, Sword – British again, with occasional recognition of others such as the Polish servicemen and the French resistance.

Beach front properties!

Beestro.

To June 24th

It’s Sunday which in France means that just about everything closes down for the day. In particular, all the grocery shops shut. It’s difficult enough getting fresh fruit and veg, but on a Sunday you’d be more likely to come across the Lochness monster riding a unicorn. (Tricky, as I think about it, because the Lochness monster doesn’t have hands to hold the reins. At least, the one I saw didn’t. Doh, what a giveaway.)

Still cycling along the Normandy landing beaches. Now at Juno Beach, site of the Canadian landings.

M flying her flags from her bike.

Canadian Juno beach museum. Like the others we’ve visited, very well presented.

2nd hand book sale outside the Juno Beach Centre. Very quaint!

Our B&B. (We met an English woman whose father landed on Juno with the Canadians. He was hit by a sniper bullet right through his hand.) This morning our B&B host told us that the place we are staying was occupied by a German sniper, and was cleared out by Canadian troops. Hence the large maple leaf flag.

The speck in the distance is M swimming on Juno beach. Couple more steps and she’ll be on the Isle of Wight.

Cemetery of the Canadian fallen from the Normandy campaign.

Looking down. (M has a long camera arm.)

“Hello in there…in there…in there…”

June 19-21

We stayed in a B&B near Saint Lo run by an English couple. The husband was not unlike Basil Fawlty. An attitude of “Why are you spoiling my quiet afternoon by coming here? Oh well, you’re here now, so I suppose I should find you a room.”

From there to a B&B just inland from Omaha beach run by a wonderfully friendly and generous French woman. She spoke almost no English so we had lots of practice with our dodgy French, and seemed to get by with lots of laughter on both sides.

We visited the Overlord museum, which was excellent – informative, balanced, respectful. Then to Omaha itself.

Yesterday we biked to a B&B just up the hill from Arromanches and Gold beach. We were warned by our friendly host, between long drags on his cigarette, that the hill back up from Arromanches was very steep and tough if on bikes. But in the event it was un morceau de gateau for us, having become used to really steep hills with loaded bikes.

Today we visited the museums and memorials in Arromanches. Again, very well presented and informative. Construction of the Mulberry harbour particularly fascinating.

Omaha beach

Soggy bike trail

Further along Omaha

Back on the road

Note the leek.

Bayeux

Arromanches and Gold beach in the background.

Canadian flag with Phoenix pontoons still on the beach in the background.

A 75-year study in contrasts.

Our B&B

M’s favourite photo that she took from our trip so far. Poppies. A touching time of year for this visit.

June 17

Long day – 75 km. We decided to go the long way because it was all on a disused railway. It was indeed flat…until just after we started to go the long way.

June 18

66 km today. Much easier!

Riding through history. Every km has a story to tell. For the 75th anniversary of D-day there are 4×5 ft photos all along the Eurovelo 4 cycle route with stories of the various battles, the towns involved and in what way. This particular region was covered by American troops.

WWII Normandy photos. June 6th to August 12th.

Lunch in Saint Lo

Old viaduct repurposed for bungee jumping

Meet Norman of the Normande breed – Bos Taurus. (His buddies call him Freckles)

I’m sure there was supposed to be a little bolt here… M fixing her bike.

Leaving from a really nice gite in Sourdeval.

Stairway to heaven

Nous sommes arrivés en Normandie. We’ve had some tech problems with accessing the blog, so nothing for the last few days. (Apparently EU electrons are metric, so not compatible with UK electrons – who knew. Another reason to leave/stay in the EU.)

We’re now in Sourdeval, having arrived from Jersey to Saint Malo, then riding along Eurovelo 4 to Cancale, then to Courtils last night, and now to Sourdeval.

Our English readers will be intrigued to learn that Sourdeval is twinned with the UK town of Odiham. Sourdeval has a rich history. It has a lovely church in the centre of this small town. The town centre and much of the church was flattened by the Allies during the push from the Normandy beaches. After the war the centre was rebuilt, as was the church. It’s again a small, very picturesque town, with a population of about 3,000, situated in a lovely wooded valley. Odiham is also a quaint, little village with abundant charm, nestled in quiet woodland place where people live.

Eurovelo 4 is a great cycle route, mostly along a dedicated disused railway line. We love ’em. Plus, it was so quiet today. Hardly saw anyone.

First experience at a creperie, ordering in French. Turned out the waitress was from Birmingham. No wonder we couldn’t understand each other.

Had to buy un tire-bouchon. The one thing we forgot to bring to France.

These busy main roads.

Storms threatened but didn’t materialize.

Fields of the bocage.

Eurovelo 4

Moulin brun

Old railway station

More EV4

Mont Saint Michel (though to me it looks like something out of Gormenghast)

Sourdeval church 1944

As it is today – view from our window.

Inside looks nice.

A roundabout named Odiham. How strange. I bet no one from here has been to Odiham.

Our route (adorned with illuminated text by Sister Margaret of the Blessed Order of Immaculate Fiddlers – they’re always well turned out)

June 12th

We asked a lady we met if she was a local. She said “yes and no. I’ve been here since 1967”. She wasn’t sure that she fully qualified as a local.

They have a fantastic network of cycle routes and, over the last two days, we’ve cycled about 80km on small inland and coastal roads. Not much traffic.

As in Guernsey, lots of evidence of German WW2 fortifications and history. We’ve had some technical problems uploading photos, so here are a few from yesterday.

Horse walks into a bar. Bartender says “Why the long face?” (It never gets old…although M can see it coming now every time we pass a horse!!).

South west coast.

Nice Jaguar fortuitously passed by.

Salt shaker on holiday.

Channel Islands WWII Museum. Canadian Connection

View from the bunker. Beautiful in peacetime.

We’re in Jersey, notable for its cows, sweaters and merchant bankers making rich people richer by means of Jersey’s low taxes. Actually Guernsey has a similar tax regime, but Jersey seems to have more suits and sparkly offices in evidence. At least in Guernsey, the bankers toil away unseen in undistinguished buildings. (Yesterday though we were passed by a Lamborghini – this on an island where the maximum speed limit is 35mph.)

A relaxed day for us that started with torrential rain, which we hoped would clear before we had to make a bee-line down the hill to the ferry. It did but then M discovered her back tire was flat, so we had to do a change in record time and then head off. By the time we arrived in Jersey the sun was out and we had a pleasant afternoon to look around St. Helier.

View from our window this morning.

Fixing the flat.

Storm clouds gathering- and then disappearing.

RBC doing their Canadian bit to make rich people richer.

My kind of pub.

Jersey cow in Jersey field.

German underground military hospital and ammunition stores. 75,000 square feet. Built with labourers brought in from Europe who suffered greatly. It was a sobering start to our second day of cycling this beautiful island.

Dug out of solid rock. One tunnel of many.

Tower to fend off Napoleon’s forces.

5000 years old. The burial site. Not M.