Postcard

It rained a lot overnight but had stopped by morning so it was dry when I set off, but after an hour or so it started again and then rained for the majority of the day.

The day was spent either cycling up hills or down them – Normandy, from what I’ve seen, does not have any flat bits.

I travelled along Liberty Road for a couple of hours, and my destination for the day was just a few km inland of Omaha Beach.

The thousands that lost their lives and impact of the Normandy landings and invasion are remembered well in Normandy.

There were plenty of shops open and I stopped off a couple of times for bites to eat along the way.

My no. 1 gripe with cycling in the rain is the bike gets super mucky.

My last night’s accommodation in France is in a converted farm, and my room is huge. The bike is garaged where they used to use horses to run the apple press:

After checking in I cycled to the local port town of Port-en-Bessin-Huppain. It’s a small fishing town and there were some boats coming in and out whilst I was there.

I had some dinner there, then headed the 10 km back inland to the farmhouse along the very dark country roads. I’m glad I don’t believe in ghosts as there would be many around here. And I’m really happy to have decent bike lighting and my satnav to show me the way back.

Avranches to Mosles, 116 km. Total so far = 3,897 km.

One of the old barns at the farmhouse I am staying out now houses a heated swimming pool, so I was up early to take advantage of that. Then breakfast was at a large table with the other guests – an American couple and three French couples. After the Americans had left I managed to comprehend a large part of the French conversation and also contributed a little (in French!).  No doubt I’ll still continue to be saying ‘pardon’ after bumping into people when I get back to the UK.

After checking out I headed to Bayeux. I thought the cathedral was impressive.

The organ sounded really good. I have a video clip it didn’t record well on my phone: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o8naTQmgfzQ (A decent digital sound recorder was on my list of things to take that didn’t make the final cut).

I then popped to see the bayeux tapestry. No photos allowed, sorry! I think you have seen the pics before though..

Afterwards I went to the British war cemetery.

I then cycled up to the coast and cycled along the area of the D-Day landings and invasion. History becomes realistically imaginable when you are in situ.

 

Seeing the geography of the region and the distances involved from the beaches to the defences brings everything to life.

I  spent the afternoon cycling along the coast, visiting the various invasion sights. The following house came as a bit of a surprise though. It had a poem by Rabalais on the front of the house. There were lots of dragons on the side. Steer clear I reckon!

I reached the port about 3 hours before my ferry was due. A man I had met at the British military cemetery had recommended I visit Pegasus Bridge, a key part of the D-day invasion so I cycled along the canal to Caen and back.

The canal is a nice cycle path. And it was a pleasant sunset. There was even a chunk of rainbow. A good omen?

Here’s Pegasus Bridge (or rather a more recent replica):

And here’s the café by the bridge which was possibly the first French house liberated on D-day. The owner of the café now was living as a small boy in the house on D-day.

I saw two kingfishers, which are amazing to see in real life because of their vibrant colouring. I also saw a cormorant catch an eel and eat it. Not pleasant, as the eel was eaten alive and refused to give up quietly. The cormorant is just about to swallow the eel in the pic below:

Then a nice sunset to conclude the holiday!

And as I neared the ferry port, I passed this auspiciously named boat.

I boarded the ferry as a foot passenger to avoid having to queue up with the cars. I’d booked a berth so was able to drop off my bike and bags and then head to the bar for a quick drink.

À tout à l’heure France!

Mosles to Ouisteham, 95 km. Total so far = 3,992 km.

I went to bed around 1am on the ferry, and wasn’t looking forward to getting up at 5.45am to have breakfast and get ready, but then in a Phileas Fogg moment I realised I had the extra hour from going from France to the UK.

Today’s navigation was a bit of an issue. I had found a route online that someone had posted of a nice way to get from Portsmouth to London by bike, but I had no way of getting it onto my Garmin satnav, so it remained on my phone. However once I’d got into the countryside, I couldn’t use my phone as I had no reception, so I stumbled my way towards London just generally heading East and North.

The UK countryside between Portsmouth and London is very picturesque, and I saw many nice villages on the way.

I took a few breaks to have sandwiches, but millions of breaks trying to figure out which direction I should be heading.

And lots of hills in West Sussex and Surrey too. Nothing major, and a few other cyclists out enjoying the morning.

My geography knowledge of Surrey and South London is completely lacking, and by pure chance I found myself going past the foot of Box Hill which is much used by cyclists. I’d never been here before so thought I’d have a go at going up it. It’s not actually steep at any point along it’s route, it’s just persistent, so I found it easily manageable after all the hills I’ve been doing for the past 6 weeks. I might try it again soon without all the touring gear. The toilets at the top were out of action with a note saying ‘sorry for the inconvenience’ – not sure if this was an intended pun.

It was nice to pass over the M25 – now officially back in London.

After bumbling my way across South London, I eventually found myself on Cycle Superhighway 7 – this is a painted blue lane which meant I didn’t have to worry about navigation any more as it would guide me into central London. I’m not sure what the ‘super’ refers to – I think it is the number of obstacles in the bike lane such as parked cars, people and broken glass.

Once I got close to the river I made my way across it, glad to be in an area I was more familiar with.

I headed East along Millbank to Westminster.

Then North up through Camden towards Enfield.

Traffic was awful across the whole of London as it was Saturday evening. It was only when I reacheded Palmers Green that the traffic petered out and I could cycle without interruption.

I had a nice welcome home, with champagne celebration and dinner with tasty veg from the allotment. Cycling adventure over! What next?..

Portsmouth to London, 160 km. Total distance cycled = 4,152 km.