Today was an interesting day that did not go quite according to plan. It started off fine. We enjoyed our breakfast and catch up with Christophe who insisted on taking our photo in front of Patricia’s house (his multi-talented Tasmanian friend).

We also both like the song Caberet (Liza Minnelli) and enjoyed remembering the words…..I used to gave this girlfriend known as Elsie, with whom I shared a flat in Chelsea….that song was to play in my mind a lot of the ride 😊. We both said we’d felt like we’d known each other for year, so a lovely holiday memory.

Hugs and goodbyes and we went around the corner to grab these photos of the chateau. Check out how thick the walls are.

We descended down the hill and crossed the river, climbing up and down. About 15 km in, I heard a loud noise on one climb like a gear drilling back and missing cleanly. Thought it might be a cyclist behind me, but no.

A little further on I noticed Tony’s rear wheel seemed a bit off. He was discovering the same thing and stopped knowing what it was. A rear spoke had broken.

Not an easy fix being the rear wheel with the cassette. What to do. We googled bike shops and the nearest was 15 km away in Dol de Bretagne. There were more at St Malo. Could maybe grab a taxi there?

We rode a bit slower and carefully, then I took Tony’s rear panniers, and he took mine so that we could minimise what weight was being borne by the rear wheel.

It was worrying for sure. Stressful thinking of the ‘if, then, but’ options. The downside to touring alone but we would figure it out.

The first two bike shops both advertised as electric bikes but we thought worth a shot. The first involved a hairy goat track so we gave up on that as it was the last surface we wanted a weakened wheel on and headed for the second.

The internet said the second one was open now, but there was a FERME sign (meaning closed) on the house gate. However I did find out that there was a third bike shop in centreville named Cycles Rome. We dashed around there and certainly the front was more promising.

We walked in the door and there was a guy with a wheel on the wheel truing frame. He had been fixing a broken spike on another bike.

We knew we had found our man. He spoke no English, but with my minimal French and some charades we got by.

He finished the wheel he was working on and then got cracking with ours. He is over the back in the picture. Obviously a cyclist as he had the smoothest looking calf muscles ever!

He was fastidious making some adjustments to the brake caliper when the tyre went back in. He was able to close the shop door at 12 noon for lunch and off we went, very thankful and happy and relieved.

We decided to grab some lunch. A fresh baguette from the boulangerie, bananas from a small fruit store and we sat down at the Tabac ordering coffee.

A peculiar rule is Tony could not consume the drink from the takeaway cabinet in the tabac at the table as I drank my coffee, but it is ok to eat food purchased elsewhere. We’ve often availed ourselves of the latter.

Dol de Bretagne was founded in the 6th century and like many other villages, long occupied by the Vikings! Some lovely old buildings.

The town is also the reputed origins of the royal House of Stewart, who became monarchs of Scotland, England and Ireland.

If we had to have the problem we did, it was the right day. We had a shorter day planned on the bike as we wanted to be at our accomodation right on check in.

We cruised through multiple small villages. Some putting effort into their quirky welcomes.

The last 10 km or so into Mont St Michel was on a shared pathway. Gravel for the most, then sealed. There was a super strong headwind, and the closer we got, the more people there were.

The Mont was clearly in view.

Passing by buildings with nice artwork.

We got to our hotel at 2.40 pm. Check in was 3 pm and not a minute earlier per the man at reception so we sat and waited. Right on 3 pm the man at reception nodded and he gave us the key. 🤣

A quick shower and we walked to the Mont, 3 km along the boardwalks. There are free buses continually ferrying people back and forwards and they were packed.

Mont St Michel “Merveille de l’Occident” (Wonder of the West) is an important pilgrimage site since the Middle Ages, and now a famous UNESCO World Heritage site.

Dedicated to Saint-Michel in 708, it is one of France’s most visited sites with around 2.5 million visitors and pilgrims. Think they were all there today!

It rises in the middle of a beautiful bay, with the abbey perched on top of a rocky island, the medieval town by ramparts.

We headed straight to the abbey which costs 11 euro each. There is lots of climbing. Lots of steps! There were lots of people ahead of us and behind us. Conga line. One seagull.

The view from the top across the bay was astounding. Right to the cape the tide is out. There are multiple groups walking across the sand including one nearer the little island. It would be interesting to watch the tide coming in.

This view is looking back along the boardwalks. Our accomodation is down in the darker green area adjacent to the river. It is 6 km return trip plus walking around the Mont.

The Mont is interesting. The abbey is super old and nice to visit. Incredible structures inside but we did not take photos as quoted ark plus the constant human surge.

Mt biggest takeaway from the visit was the view of the bay at low tide.

The rest of the visit? Totally over commercialised. Tourists like I’ve never witnessed before maybe bar Venice. To be honest, that part was horrid.

It was like trying to get out of an Escape Room experience, or maybe the IKEA stores where you are trapped in a vortex and need to go with the flow to find the exit that seems to never appear.

There are shops as you descend down the very narrow, cobbled alleyway, and I am super thankful I did not end up booking accomodation on the island like I initially planned. it would have been a nightmare pushing our bikes up through the mass of people( many having brought their dogs).

Nice to look at from a distance, but not for me. The people part was overwhelming.

So I’m going to chill in the sun. Rain and thunderstorms forecast in a few days so soaking it up.

No map today as could not upload our data using the hotel wifi.

Thanks for reading 😊❣️

We followed the Seine upstream to Tourville-la-Riviere and Pont de-l’Arche. The river keeps winding its way into Paris, but we are heading in a north easterly direction, then north.

We follow this bike path for quite a few kilometres through fields of corn.

We say farewell to the Sene at this navigation dam located in the Eure. It is the largest on the Seine, 300 metres from bank to bank, including two locks that allow 8,000 boats a year to pass through.

The roundabout award today goes to the town of Andelle. The Tour de France passing through in 2012.

They had a nice bakery too!

It was technically an easy ride today. Our legs are quite strong now after all 25 days and lots of vertical metres. Our fitness scores according to strava keep improving, although I am a a tad cynical as to the methods it employs to determine that.

Most of our climbing today is mid ride, and we look over forests and farmland.

Nice chateau with a sign that says entry only upon invitation. I searched for our invitation must have lost it.

An interesting church spire.

We rode through a number of forests in the area. We did yesterday too as we approached Rouen.

Lyons-la-Floret is a classified beautiful village, in a forested setting. The village was founded on the site of a castle that once stood here in the 12th century.

The covered marketplace dates from the 17th century. Numerous half timbered buildings.

Today the town was super busy with motor bike riders stopping by.

The last section of ride today was along Avenue Verte, a 40 km shared pathway between Dieppe and Forges-Les-Eaux, where we hopped onto it.

Ultimately it will go all the way to Paris, almost entirely on traffic free routes. It is a joint Anglo-French initiative with England having mu,tip,e sections.

We rode the French length in 2016 en route London to Venice. Tomorrow we will complete the reverse route as we head to Dieppe, our final port of call in France this trip.

Neufchatel-en-Bray is our overnight stay. A bit of a nondescript town, but a handy transit point. We are starving and restaurants do not open until 7 pm.

I’m being a bit tough on the town I guess. It is famous for the cheese of the same name. It was heavily bombarded during WWII and has since been rebuilt, hence the lack of character compared to other villages and towns in the region.

A wedding was held this afternoon. The church bells tolled and then the bridal party and guests came down the street tooting their horns. Looking out the window, the bridesmaids hang out of the car, literally!!

They came through town twice! My ‘that is not safe’ hat was well and truly on, being the total party pooper I am!

Well we have had dinner now, next door at a small Italian restaurant.

We will be up early tomorrow, so early that staff will not be here to set up for breakfast. The owner has shown me where the master keys are, and which one will open the garage. That trust is super.

Thanks for reading. Off to bed I go.

😊❣️

Leaving Honfleur we followed the mouth of the Seine along the Reserve naturelle de l’estuaire de la Seine.

You can see the English Channel in the background as well as the port of Le Havre, the second largest port in France, situated on 10,000 hectares of land.

Spanning the mouth of the River Seine estuary, the Pont de Normandie bridge is a prominent landmark. At the time of construction, it was the longest cable stayed bridge in the world. It remains the longest in France still.

You cannot see the cable stays given the light as we rode this morning.

A French snail slimed it’s way across the road. Closer examination, looks the same as Australian snails we thought. 😊

We followed the river for around 10 km before heading inland. This boat rested on grass as we turned right.

There was a section of muddy sludge that went for about a km. When you walk your bike it feels a lot further 🤣😳

Back on the sealed surface was this lovely Mairie (town hall). There are around 36,000 Mairie’s in France. In larger towns they are called Hotel de Ville.

Very annoyingly Tony’s rear wheel broke a second spoke. He was super pissed off.

To have this happen in the middle of nowhere is concerning. I took extra weight onto my bike and we soldiered in to the next major town some 16 km away, Pont Audemer.

When you tour you need reliability.

Pont Audemer narrowly missed being razed to the ground during World War 2. Bombers had been sent to bomb the town but thick fog prevented them from flying in formation, and instead the bombs were dropped randomly, and the historic centre escaped the raid.

The old town is dissected with branches of the Risle River and several canals. It is referred to as “Normandy Venice”. However we did not get to explore this as planned.

We needed a bike shop. We stood in the Main Street. We had no wifi left to search for bike shops. I walked down the Main Street looking for inspiration and found none.

I turned left looking for Tourist Information and saw a supermarket. Then I saw him! A cyclist moving at the rate of knots up the street, over the curve, heading to the supermarket.

I called out to him as he locked his bike to railings. He spoke little English but between my little French and his English we got there.

He purchased his bananas and came back with me to our bikes, then we followed him for maybe 2 km, weaving around streets and ending up on the edge of town at a Giant bike shop, and it was a huge shop!

Inside we met Pauline and Martin, who were brilliant. Pauline made us coffee and Martin fixed the wheel.

In their opinion, the wheel is defective and we need to go back to the vendor, which we have since done, but not yet received a response so unsure of what they are prepared to do on our return.

The wheels are rated for touring with a far greater weight load than we are carrying.

Back on the road we made away towards Rouen. We were thankful that this annoying issue happened on a technically easier day (92 km and less climbing day) but have concerns moving forward and just hope this wheel lasts until we finish.

Little villages, farms, forests, animals marked our route,

We descended back down to the Seine. The foreshore homes here were flash.

We needed to cross the river before Rouen and it is fine via this free ferry service.

Once on the ferry we followed an excellent shared pathway. The closer we got to Rouen the port and industrial structures increased.

In Rouen we passed under this interesting bridge. The centre panel can be lifted by the hoists.

Our accomodation is in the street adjacent to the amazing cathedral. We pushed the bikes past, and would be back visiting soon enough.

Checked in, stored the bikes, showered, laundered clothes and off we went to walk around the historical heart.

Rouen is the ancient Normandy capital and was founded at the lowest point where the Seine could be bridged.

The town is classified as a City of Art and History and has more than 200 protected sites. Unfortunately a great deal of Rouen was badly damaged during World War 2, but extensive reconstruction has taken place to rebuild the mediebal old town.

The cathedral is impressive, and was painted by Monet on numerous occasions. Today’s cathedral is the third in the same location. It was constructed between the 12th and 16th centuries. Nothing of the first exists, and the crypt remains from the second. Close to collapse after World War 2, it has undergone major renovations.

The cathedral spire is 151 metres high and was a world record until 1880.

Inside the cathedral there is an effigy of Richard the Lionheart, that is of particular interest to me – he is the son of ‘my’ Eleanor of Aquitaine.

Richard was a Duke of Normandy and became King Richard II of England. When he died (in France), his heart was removed and buried in this cathedral.

We visited his burial site ( of his body) at Fontvraud last year. Only have his entrails left to visit!

Rollo, the Viking founder of Normandy from the 9th century is also buried here.

We kept walking through the old streets, under the old clock known as Gros Horloge. It was constructed in the 14 th century and installed in a renaissance arch. The mechanism is the oldest in France made in 1389.

We were heading to a other super important historical site, but passed other curios on the way.

La Couronne’s history goes back to 1345 when first established as an Inn, making it the oldest continuously operating French auberge, and one of the oldest in France.

It is located in the Place Du Vieux Marche, a very famous square.

A few doors up is this curious building also operating as a restaurant.

The reason this square is famous is due to Joan of Arc.

This is the square where Joan of Arc was burned to death for heresy. The large cross stands on the exact spot. The church adjacent, with its shaped slate tiled roof, represents the flames.

Joan is now the patron saint of France and honoured as a defender of the French nation for her role in the siege of Orleans, supporting the coronation of Charles VII of France during the Hundred Year War. She c,aimed to be acting under divine guidance and visions.

Sadly it did not end well for her. She stood by her convictions and was killed by the English. Some 20 years later she was exonerated. She was only 19 when killed.

Just 50 metres from our accomodation is this church, Saint Maclou. It is named after Saint Malo and considered one of the finest examples of the flamboyant style of gothic architecture in France. Construction started in 1435.

The church was closed so we in,y viewed from the outside.

It is hard to photograph these churches due to so many buildings nearby. You can’t get far enough back for some shots.

Some of the timbered buildings.

Another day done and dusted. Stressful in part, but thankful to our angels we met in Marc, Martin and Pauline.

Thanks for reading 😊❣️

We awoke to thunder and lightning, and checking the radar it was hanging around for a few hours. We decided to wait it out and leave later.

We had a busy day planned. 106 km or so, plus many things to look at as we were in the region of Normandy where all the D-Day activity took place in World War II, commencing June 6, 1944.

D-Day involved 156,000 troops landing on the Normandy beaches, with another 23,400 airborne troops. It remains the largest seaborne invasion in history and laid the foundations for the Allied victory on the Western front.

To really see, explore, understand and pay respect you would need many days in this area, given the number of sites, artefacts and museums. We got a taster.

Heading from Bayeux to the coast we arrived at Longues-sur-mer battery, a German defensive position, overlooking Baie-de-Seine.

We then headed towards Arromanches on a narrow, deteriorating track, headed inland looking for bitumen, ending upon a better quality gravel path.

Arromanches is historic. It is where Gold beach invasions occurred, and where a Mulberry Harbour artificial port was installed, built and developed by Allied engineers. the second Mulberry Harbour was installed further west at Omaha Beach.

The Mulberry harbour Allier the disembarkation of 9,000 tons of material per day including heavy equipment, without waiting for the conquest of deep ports further north such as Cherbourg or Le Havre.

Once in the busy town the streets are lined with these banners on light posts remembering names of soldiers who fought and died.

It was a nasty climb out. It got to 19% in the last few hundred metres.

At the top overlooking Gold Beach is a large museum and multiple memorials. Some of the images.

Travelling along the coast we came in and out of many beaches. It was raining again, but not heavily.

No matter where you looked there were things to see.

At Ouistreham traffic was busy as a port operates from there on the canal de Caen mouth, heading to Portsmouth in England.

We followed the canal inland for about five km. The most disturbing site were the Sudanese refugees camped in the area. Part of their camp is adjacent to the shared pathway.

There are little log fires, piles of timber cut for more fires, washing out and I saw a man cleaning his teeth. They are all men and many were on their mobile phones so must have access to some $ and power.

This camp has been tolerated by authorities unlike some around Dieppe and Calais.

They are seeking to hide themselves on trucks crossing the ferry for a supposed better life in England. Maybe the support services are better in England vs France, I am not sure but it is a sad plight of society to see the reality of this situation.

Pegasus Bridge marked the start of the Battle of Normandy. The British 6th Airborne Division landed near the bridge on the night of 5th June 1944, as a spearhead to the Allied Armies of Liberation.

The Pegasus Bridge Cafe is arguably the first French house to be liberated with the arrival of three British paratroopers. The owners had been involved in the French Resistance passing on information about the defences around the bridge to the British through the French underground.

Along the coast there are so many large hotels, houses of various styles.

The weather was hot and humid in the afternoon. Lifeguards were patrolling beaches from their raised areas.

We rode through increasingly larger and busier towns. We aimed just to get through them as traffic was crazy. Cabourg, Deauville and Trouville being the hairiest,.

The last five km before Honfleur were again quieter rural roads, dotted with villages. I liked this old church.

Honfleur was a major defensive port in the 15th century. At the heart of the town is the 17th century Vieux Basin with pictureque tall houses (up to 6-7 storeys).

A series of photos from around Honfleur from our arrival by bike, then walking around. our hotel tonight? No issues!!

Saint Catherine’s is the largest church in France built of wood with a bell tower separated from the rest of the building. Initially built of stone, it was destroyed in the 15th century during the Hundred Years War.

It was rebuilt on the same site using wood as it was cheaper and readily available. It was constructed by maritime workers.

Back in and around town we walked past more buildings and carnivals.

Finishing off with another lovely roundabout statues, views of old and modern behind, it was time to hit the sack.

Honfleur is a very interesting place. We’ve had an educational day just touching on the significant history in the area.

No maps today as we could not upload our bike computers here. Hopefully next hotel we can.

Thanks for reading 😊❣️

An early start after a solid breakfast saw us head east along the bay providing great views across the salty paddocks to the Mont.

My criticism of the Mont is not the structure, history or views, it was aimed purely at the mass commercialisation and unabated push for the tourist $ at any cost.

As the next few photos show, it is an awesome structure, viewed in different lights as we journeyed away.

We could only see three sheep in this area. There are more in the background but these are individuals.

We crossed the nice bridge.

For a few days we have seen many of these road signs. They represent La voie de la liberte, or Liberty Road in English. It is the commemorative marking of the route taken by Allied forces from D-Day in June 1944.

It starts in Sante-Mere-Eglise, in the Manche department in Normandy (Utah Beach) and travels across Northern France to Metz, Bastogne and Belgium. At each of the 1,146 kilometres there is a stone marker such as the one pictured.

Then there are other memorials such as this one at the entrance to a village.

Churches are ubiquitous here and of lovely structure and build quality.

Think of us, take it easy signage.

Lots of rolling hills today. We went up, we went down through agricultural land. Lots of sheep and cattle. Many paddocks being harvested. Wheat has been harvested and the corn is growing strong.

There are many wind turbines on the hills, and today we faced a head wind.

We had a later lunch at St Martin but all the fresh baguettes sold. So,it was bananas and a creamed rice. As we ate we looked at this old hotel that has seen happier times.

More churches. The day was nesting up. It was 15c when we started, but now in the high 20’s. Normandy is not suffering from the dreadful heatwaves like other areas of France fortunately. Many areas were declared orange or red zones yesterday. We are in a green zone.

As we got closer to Bayeux we went through a lovely green area providing shade and cool.

This wins the roundabout of the day award. There were four such topiary horseman I presume depicting the central characters mentioned on the Bayeux tapestry. William, Harold, Odo and Edward.

The last 300 metres was riding up a cobbled street adjacent to the magnificent Bayeux Cathedral that we would later visit after sorting out our accomodation.

Bayeux Cathedral is a national monument, and the likely original home of the Bayeux Tapestry. The site is ancient with the current cathedral consecrated in 1077 in the presence of William, Duke of Normandy.

View of the cathedral as we are our scrumptious dinner (I had a fish poutine, then octopus main course, strawberry tiramisu).

The Bayeux tapestry is housed in this building. It was a highlight and a joy to view, and listen to the well constructed and told depiction.

The Bayeux Tapestry tells the story in wool thread embroidered on linen cloth, of William, Duke of Normandy who became King of England in 1066 after the Battle of Hastings.

The tapestry is viewed in a darkened room with only the tapestry lit.

The events surrounding the conquest of England include crossing the sea in longships, long cavalcades on horseback, shields and coats of mail and battlefields.

There are 1500 designs, 600 characters, 500 animals including 200 horses. It is 70 meters long and 50 cm high, made up,of 9 successive linen panels. There are 380 Latin words.

It has been a wonderful highlight of the holiday. Bayeux as a small city is very much worth the visit. Ancient in origin without the mass crowds.

Bayeaux was the first town libe rated by the Allies in 1944 and escaped much damage inflicted on other towns in France.

Now to the unusual part of our day, the accomodation. George, trigger warning… put down your drink!

I had several written conversations with the owner in June. I had a confirmed booking number.

We arrived at 3.45, checkin was from 3 pm. No answer. Eventually his elderly neighbour responded and some ladies walking last helped and rang the owner. He was sitting in a cafe and would be 10 minutes.

He checked us in, showed us through and lovely place. Only weird thing was we would share HIS toilet next his bedroom. Amazing cathedral views from the lounge. 17th century building, beautiful.

We unpacked and I showered including washing my cycle kit. As I showered I heard Tony talking (the shower was adjacent to the sliding door to the owners area) and Tony says ‘my wife is showering’. He came into the shower and told me ‘we have a problem’. Ok, what kind of problem? ‘Apparently we do not have a booking here’……say whaaaaat?

I jumped out of the shower and wrapped a towel around me and walked into the new conference. Tony, the owner and some random younger guy who also had a booking for OUR room. WTF!!!!

I must have looked a sight. Wet hair dripping, only a towel for modesty. I went and grabbed my IPad, opened the booking and showed him the confirmation. The owner stated he’d not used Booking.com for 3 years!

Digging deeper, there was a one liner that said the owner cancelled our booking. When? No message on the booking or notification history.

So what a pickle. I plan meticulously and double check and have received no communications re this situation.

So I threw a dress on, packed our gear including all my wet clothing, grabbed our bikes and were on the street. I was somewhat embarrassed and offered the owner money for the shower (and the chocolates in the room we had eaten very quickly upon arrival 🙈🤣).

I do not make mistakes like this…so I was very confused. Had I stuffed up and just not realised? If so, my bad…

The owner took pity on us ( I was crying by now) and he rang another hotel and walked us around. Very kind. The lady at the refugee hotel was very welcoming and said they get Booking.com errors often.

I have written to Booking.com asking why and when this cancellation happened, why there is no message or notification about it or email.

As for the owner not using Booking.com you can still book with him next week on that platform. So that is 💩

Our best guess is that he is on multiple booking platforms and double booked. Something to be wary of and may lead us to larger hotel chains more in the future.

Anyhow, life goes on, we got a bed in a crappier hotel, but it is clean and functional.

All is well that ends well. We do like Bayeux❣️😊

A 114 km day with 1253 m climbing is a solid touring day. Thunder storms are forecast tomorrow morning so we may leave a little later.

Thanks for reading ❣️😊