They might have been 3 different training regimes, 2 weeks in the Albanian Alps, 3 days in the UK's rain and mizzle and 1 day on a train drinking beer and eating pizza but they all resulted in bringing us together (the stupendous six) for our much waited for "Le Med France" adventure today in Brevands near Carentan France.
Our day started early in Poole when Kev and I cycled down to the port (ably guided by Pommie Kev) to board our cross channel ferry (after H had nearly to run back to Poole when his boarding pass took off in the wind) and meet up with our Aussie partners in crime Rick & Noel who'd endured three rain filled days cycling down from the Cotswolds in the UK to meet us on board.
Backslaps completed and stories told we sat back and endured our 5 hour crossing in windswept swells significant enough to lay flat numerous passengers and cause us to warily walk around the ship to avoid falling over !
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| Noel, just about to be swept away ! |
Finally we pulled into Cherbourg where our fears of the conditions were soon realised when Noel indicated that it wasn't the ships speed to cause his hair to go sideways but in fact the force 9 gale wind !
We departed the ship saying goodbye to a fellow adventurer from Bournemouth UK who was planning to cycle to Kenya with a heavy steel framed bike, 1/3 of the luggage we had and no maps or set plans. Despite looking like the least equipped adventurer you'd ever seen he reckoned that he'd put in the hard yards completing a local 140 mile race with said bike and a pile of bananas on the back much to the amazement of his lycra clad rivals. "I was that stuffed" he said "I had to have the next day off work but I did at least finish 95th out of 150"... an amazing effort !
Leaving Cherbourg in convoy we had collective heart failure when a 200 metre section took us directly into the force 9 gale ! Thankfully a change of direction from our tech aided guides Rick & Noel soon took us in the opposite direction (with the wind) allowing us to set our sails and fly !
The steepish climb out of Cherbourg was soon forgotten as we flew along County lanes. With both Rick and Noel setting the pace we soon found ourselves averaging nearly 30 km/hr !
This was the France we remembered well, quiet well paved country lanes, lovely green fields, beautiful french houses and only the smallest amount of rain from passing showers.
This was the France we remembered well, quiet well paved country lanes, lovely green fields, beautiful french houses and only the smallest amount of rain from passing showers.
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| Normandy and its WW History ! |
We soon reached Carentan after only 2 &1/2 hours taking time to have a quick refreshment at the local boulangerie before cycling the final 6kms to Brevands and our amazing Chateaux accommodation "Le Coulombier".
Here we were warmly met by our great friends Viv and Linton who despite having endured a horror filled 50 hour journey to reach Brevands from OZ the day before, had gone out and loaded up food and supplies to cook us a fabulous pasta dinner for our arrival !
After so much collective journeying we can now all sit back and take it easy tomorrow checking out the local haunts before doing some structured touring of Normand on bike.
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