Tuesday 12 May 2015

The Fridays Go To Normandy (Again)

I am counting down the days to our mini cycling tour in France at the end of the month -- just 10 days to go! Here's a preview* of our route and hints at the scenery we'll be cycling through.

After a night in Cherbourg with a few other Fridays peeps, we will cycle 5km to Brix to meet up with everyone else - outside the boulangerie of course! Then we set off for Bayeux.

Saturday

Valognes - earmarked as possible mid-morning coffee stop

I understand it's quite important to several in our group that we see Utah Beach

D-Day bunker

Typical Normandy countryside

As well as formal War Memorials, we will see more mundane "relics" like this -


On Sunday we turn our wheels towards Honfleur, mainly along the coast line then inland toward Caen to cross the River on the Pegasus Bridge, then onwards through Cabourg and Deauville

Sunday morning

Pegusus Bridge
Photo: Wikipedia

Sunday afternoon

Cabourg
Photo: Wikipedia


Deauville
Photo: Wikipedia

Our evening get together will be at Au Relais de Cyclistes in the centre of Honfleur.


Monday's ride to Dieppe will take us through the not-very-wooded Brotonne Forest to the River Seine.

Monday - first 20 miles

Not exactly a deep wood, but at least a little hillier.

Meeting the Seine at Quillebeuf-sur-Seine.

I don't have details of the route after the first 20 miles but believe we will be going through the Park naturel regional des Boucles de la Seine Normande. After that....

We will stay overnight in Dieppe and have time for a leisurely breakfast and perhaps have a wander through Dieppe's narrow  streets, take in the 15th century castle or even go to the beach, before we board the ferry to Newhaven.

Dieppe
Photo: Wikipedia

* Simon our ride leader "doesn't do GPS" and (normally) does not publish routes beforehand. He knows the whole region so well (as do a few others in the group) that variations can and no doubt will adopted on the fly. So these itineraries give a general idea but are not "final" enough to constitute A Plan!

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