It was a pretty good trip, it wouldn't be enough cycling for most of you, but for anyone wanting a gentle tour on an easy terrain this would be ideal.
Portsmouth to Oustreham, a return ticket with cabin was only £105 each, unfortunately the parking in Portsmouth was £80
There's a 15km cycle track which follows the canal and goes right into the centre of Caen which was great for picking up the ferry for the trip home - even the worst map readers in the world (me and my mate) couldn't get lost on it.
Goodness me! France is expensive. Accommodation for two sharing a room varied between 40 Euros (each) for B&B in chambres d'hotes and up to 100 Euros (each) for 2-3 star hotels, Best Western even charged 3 Euros per night for parking bikes in a open car park. Beer varies between 3 Euros to a staggering 6 Euros for a 25cl glass.
The pleasure of cycling through quiet, rural lanes and roads outweighed the cost. The French certainly know how to treat cyclists, I don't know whether it's because cycling is a national sport, but there is almost a pride in how much space a driver can leave a cyclist, the Brits over there seem to have got the message too. Strangely, the Dutch were the worst offenders when it came to impatient overtaking.
Not one crevaison, neither did I catch crabs (which is always a relief).
We were out of
countenance (the 5th c) on one occasion - this is almost too embarrassing to tell - somehow we found our way on the
periphique, it was only briefly, probably 5 minutes at the most, but I'm in a cold sweat everytime I think about it.
