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Commentary &
Photos |
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This journey started from Portsmouth. We abandoned the car ini a
local side street, loaded the bikes up and went to join the queues
of traffic for the P&O crossing to Cherbourg. This particular
crossing was ideal - leaving Portsmouth at 7.30 pm and arriving at
9am the following morning. Little did we know but the anticipated
quiet crossing turned out to be the area's hen and stag do venue of
choice. The boat was packed full of nurses, cowboys, seventies disco
divas and blokes with big wigs. There was also the slightly odd combination
of French schoolkids returning from a cultural trip the UK - this
was one of those rare opportunities for them to witness the cream
of British youth at their flamboyant best. It was a lively night.
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The boat docked at 9am and we trundled with the cars, through the
abandoned customs post and straight into the centre of Cherbourg -
less than a kilometre away. The magic of any French town for the cyclotourist
is the ready availability boulangerie's and cafe's. We were spoilt
for choice around the small harbour but settled for cafe au lait and
pain au chocolat.
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We followed the D116 westwards out of Cherbourg. The initial section
was on dual carriageway - normally to be avoided on bicycle - but this
section was brand new and yet to open - as smooth as a babies bum. Perfect
for cruising along and letting the sea air blow away any cobwebs that
had formed during the previous nights festivities. As we left Cherbourg
behind us the road turned to single carriageway with local traffic and
we made pleasnt progress to the far North East corner of the peninsula
- Pointe de Barfleur. At 72 metres high the Gatteville lighthouse used
to be the tallest in France. It is set on a wonderful rocky promomotary
pushing out into the English Channel - and on a fine day is a great
place to sit and relax.
The small town of Barfleur is just along the coast and was our chosen
spot to relax and have some lunch. At 30 celsius it was definitely time
cool off next to the sea and recharge the batteries with baguette, cheese
and fresh cherries |
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From Barfleur the route followed the coast southwards to St Vaast-la-Hougue
- a place renowned for its oyster beds. South of St Vaast the D14
was a little too busy for liking but we soon turned off to Quineville
where we found a small biscuit shop. This baked the most winderful
buttery concoctions - a visit is essential if you in the area - especailly
if your on your bike.
The D421 follows the dunes soutwards in the direction of Utah beach
(this trip was just a week after the 60 year celebrations of the D
Day landings) and the whole area was very busy. There were flags for
every contry represented in the allied forces flying from virtually
every building.
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A walk around the dunes and into the
german bunkers is sobering experience - only exaggerated when one walks
along the beach and see the dominating position of the bunkers and how
exposed each of the soldiers landing on the beach must have been. Even
on a hot summers the day the damp, cold bunkers are not a place to dwell. |
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The D421 road eventually peters out to a lovely little country lane
with views over the Banc du Grand Vey. A huge sand bank where the
vast tidal range brings the tide in a breathless pace. The local natural
reserve make this a great place for bird spotting and the water quality
(as reported on boards in France where shellfish are picked and harvested)
is excellent for oysters and mussels. We thought that this would be
a great place to camp - but the little bar/restaurant was fully booked
that night so we decided to continue to Carentin and camp there.
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That evening in Carentin was extremely lively. The whole town was
out in force to celebrate the 60th anniversary of liberation from
the Germans. A huge fierwork display over the central harbour was
the highlight of the evening.
The following day we headed directly south along beautiful country
lanes with hardly a car to bother us. We were heading for the village
of Canisy to stay with friends for 5 nights (including watching England
get beaten by France in the European Championships). The area around
Canisy is not touristy - the best description is tranquiil. The weather
was absolutely perfect, the gently rolling countryside was ideal for
exploring by bike.
And one must not forget the local tipple - there is cider aplenty,
sweet to dry, scrumpy to refined fizzy stuff - combined with crepes
it's a meal to grace anyone'e table - as long as they don't have bad
memories of cider binges in the local park when they were 14.
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An ideal day trip from Canisy was to
Mont St Michel - well worth the visit if when you've been there before.
The guided walk across the sands and river from Genets is certainly
the best approach. It starts from the small car park and crosses the
open sands towards Mt Saint Michel. The route crosses a couple of small
rivers and is undertaken in bear feet. Care should be taken on the route
as the window of opportunity of walking to Mt Saint Michel and back
again needs to fitted between the ebb and flood tides. This leaves just
1 hour a Mt Saint Michel - so if you want a good look around it's bet
to get picked up from Mt Saint Michel. |
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One of the cycle trips we made went from Canisy to the Vallee de
la Vire. Once again the gentle back roads were devoid of traffic making
for extremely sociable cycling - despite the heat. Some of friends
had some minor mechnical problems when Kev forgot to tighten the rear
wheel of his wifes bike. This led to very slow progreess for his wife
Ann as the wheel dragged against the frame. After about 10 miles of
slow progress the mistake was noticed - and bicycle repair man Kev
raced to his unimpressed wifes assistance.
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Lunch was taken under a tree in next to the river Vire.
A quieter more sedate spot would be very difficult to find. The relaxing
atmosphere was then broken by competietive yoga contortions amongst
the girls - the ringleader being Ann and her strange monkey type rubber
man impression - a particular virulent disease to which men appear to
be immune as the photo below shows.
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The route from Canisy once again followed idyllic country
lanes. A route following an old railway line provided a stretch of traffic
free riding before lunch at Lessay. At the small town of Periers we
had picked up some provisions for lunch - it was market day and the
small square was busy with people - and there was an abundnace of fresh
bread, cheese and fruit and vegeables galore.
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The route up the coast from Lessay proved
to be a little to busy. It's always a compromise cycling alongside the
sea - great views, sea air, plenty of opportunity to stop but always
too much traffic.
The views from the coastline provide vistas over the
bay out towards the channel islands - especially Jersey. The beaches
were long and the sea seemed even further away, but the shoreline was
dotted with locals out to catch crabs and shellfish.
Our route knitted it's way along the coast trying to
find the quietest, least busy lanes such that we crossed the main road
frequent times. Not the quickets route but be for the most picturesque. |
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Our stop that evening was in the charming
little port / beach resort of Barneville Carteret. A campsite near the
centre of town and beautiful blue skies made the town fell far more
meditaranean than Norman. We had a good tour of the town including up
to the lighthouse (as if we hadn't cycled far enough that day) and the
views across to the Channel Islands and up the coast northwards to Nez
de Joberg were outstanding.
We took our meal in a small Creperie near the harbour
- excellent crepes - plenty of cider and a goods night's rest.
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Oh dear - the 8 days of fantastic weather
couldn't last - we were so near to completing 9 days cycling without
even a passing thought to wet weather gear. It strted of grey and drab,
we stopped for breakfast and as soon as we had the crusty baguette in
our hands the heavens opened. Sheltering in a phone box we tried to
book an earlier ferry but to no avail. So we set off into the rain.
The weather turned out to more showery and it was exciting watching
each dark low cloud racing across the sea to engulf us. |
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The route along the coast to Nez de Joberg was varied
and full of great views and points of interest including the famous
nuclear reprocessing carbuncle on the headland of Nez de Joberg, nestled
in a small hollow all thats visible are the innumerable chimneys and
towers that suggest something is trying to climb out of the earth. The
cycle through the dunes at Vauville was interrupted briefly when the
road was closed to install a one way road system for the local minature
aeroplane club and we were sent a lovely diversion right alongside the
sea.
With the weather improving we climbed th headland and
dropped down through Beaumont to the North Coast and followed the winding
coast road back to Cherbourg. In Cherbourg the detour on to the sea
harbour wall is well worth effort.
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