12 intrepid Hampshire cyclists, of varying abilities, met at the Ship & Castle in Portsmouth Docks (it's actually becoming my "local") on Thursday evening.
After a couple of beers we boarded the 23:30 to Le Havre ...... and continued the socialising in the Ferry Bar.
After negotiating the mahoosive sprawling mess that is Le Havre (it's seriously bloody huge) ...
..we approached Pont du Normandie (which, to the inexperienced, can seem more daunting than it actuall is).
There's a cycle lane but, as we did, you can cycle the pedestrian walkway for a bit more separation from traffic.
Honfleur is the immediate reward for crossing the bridge. Once you exit the bridge it's as if someone threw a big switch that turns the traffic off.
Friday was spent eating and drinking our way to Arromanche les Bains (D-Day central)
The amount of bikes seemed to send the Hotel manager into panic but we managed to find space on the roof and in medieval passageways
On Saturday we ate and drank our way up to St Vaast le Houge via memorials to the failure of politicians.
Sunday was a lumpy (but very lovely and quiet) 20 miles cross-country to a lunchtime ferry in Cherbourg.
The days were split 70 miles / 70 miles / 20 miles and worked out perfectly to allow for lots of stops and still arrive in town around 6:30pm.
It's a wonderful way to spend a long weekend. The roads are generally quiet, with decent surfaces.
On my return to the UK I cycled back home and reverted back to the traditional British Audax lunch of a "Double Decker" & Milkshake by the solid fuel display. The French don't seem to have an equivalent.
