The route from home was pretty straight forward and there were plenty of familiar lanes to get us started. We skirted around Basingstoke as it was quicker than passing through the town. I don’t recall having to push on any of the hills, but there weren’t many flat bits…we were either crawling up or flying down!
We stopped about halfway to the coast at ‘a campsite’Cedar Valley’ campsite. It was very quiet and the only facilities were a small shower/toilet block with solar heated water. We cycled about 5 miles to the pub at West Meon for some food that evening. Just as we were leaving to head back to the campsite, friends turned up to give us a send-off! Of course, that meant more drinks and chat before we finally got onto the bike after saying our goodbyes.
About to leave the West Meon pub for the Cedar Valley Campsite.
Next morning we had to cross the South Downs.Crossing the South Downs Way and looking back at the way we’d come.A similar (if not the same one) ferry. It left Portsmouth late, at about 23:00. We had a pretty restless night in a lounge. Karon ended up sleeping on the floor while I stretched across a row of seats, but small arms were fitted to deter exactly this. We had a coffee on board before disembarkation.
Pegasus Bridge where we left the waterway and started to climb the first of many ridges as we headed across Normandy for the Loire. It was still to early for any cafés but we passed a small supermarket shortly after so stocked up with some snacks for the day.The open fields of Normandy provided very little in the way of shade, and France was enjoying it’s first heat-wave of the summer. Just as we entered Falaise the rear tyre deflated, so we had to unload and upend the bike to replace the tube. I put a patch on the punctured tube once we’d got sorted at the campsite.
The Municipal campsite at Falaise lies below the castle where William the Conqueror was born.
There were only a few camper vans and tents at the site.
We stayed in Falaise for two nights and wandered up into the town for food in the evenings. The campsite facilities had just been completely rebuilt
On our day off we walked up to the castle and wandered the grounds then went into the old part of town where there were a few restaurants to choose from.
Many pitches at Falaise were separated by hedges, for a bit more privacy. Here the bike doubles up as a clothes horse. The solar panel on the hedge was charging our powerbanks.
Not far from Falaise we were defeated by one climb of 13%, so I unhitched the trailer and rode up with Karon, then minus the bags, went back for the trailer on my own. This was the exception across Normandy. Most of the hills, like this one, were long, gradual climbs.
Lunch stop at Argentan. If we spotted a café or restaurant around lunchtime we stopped.
The snacks we carried were the sort of thing that wouldn’t perish too quickly. I like to keep some fruit handy and the peaches and nectarines were always good, if a little messy. Karon was more restricted because of her diabetes but we had the little stove so would buy some eggs and she hard boiled them to have with cured/smoked meats or tinned tuna.
The pitch at Sees. The double-sided tent porch was handy for keeping the bags out of view and for nightime pees, but the tent wasn’t that good for air-flow through the sleeping compartment at night and most nights were very warm – too warm! Karon’s FRIO bag is hanging in the shade on the hedge. This simple gel bag has been brilliant on our long cycle tours – invaluable.
A lunchtime stop in the shade of a church in the village of Pervenchères. Across Normany in particular, many small villages were completely dead. No bakeries, shops or cafés. The further south on our trip, the more choice we had, but often we took a lunchtime picnic.
At La Pèrriere we hit the jackpot. A lovely little bar/restaurant where he baked his own bread.We were ready for a cold beer and light lunch. The climb up to the village was another push! I had planned to descend the far side of the ridge, then run along the bottom into Bêlleme but the landlord recommended staying on the ridge and riding along the forest road then dropping into the town. It proved good advice.
The forest road from Pèrriere to Bêlleme… nice and cool under the trees and relatively flat with a speedy descent into the town.
The view from Bêlleme. The campsite wasn’t bad, but there didn’t seem to be any food to be had, though the pool was popular. We walked up into the town – quite steep from the campsite, and the only place we could find was a bar offering burgers which were pretty dire. Still, better than nothing, though it did prove to be the worst evening meal we bought the whole trip. I checked reception a couple of times to pay but never saw anyone and next morning was the same, so we enjoyed a free night, which kind of made up for the lack of decent food the evening before.
La Theil. There was some kind of festival going on in near the river crossing in the town which was busy, but it meant all the shops were open, so we stocked up on some pastries and quiche then found this little bar in a back street.Hot, hot, hot. Keeping moving on the bike was cooling, but we were very exposed to the sun. If we passed some shade, we would often take advantage and stop to drink and take a five minute break.
The campsite at La Bazoche-Gouet was empty apart from a few occupied permanent cabins at the far end. There was no food outlets in the village, but we had stopped at a supermarket on the way in, so we had plenty of food for the evening. Later the campsite owner turned up and we paid 9 Euro for the night’s stay. Next morning, we were encouraged to break camp early by an old chap cutting the grass. He had the whole, empty site to trim, but decided to do the patch our tent was on first!
A pretty uneventful day. The campsite at Cloyes-sur-Loir was big and fairly busy but set back off the road, we nearly rode past it. I don’t really remember our pitch here, but there was a good bar and restaurant too. Next morning, as we rode through the town, we spotted an open café – breakfast!
A 360°. Flat as a pancake and nada in the way of shade!
More open roads, but these crops seemed to be coping with the heat. So far we had seen nothing but bone-dry corn or parched fields with withering crops. Maybe, because they were closer to the river, there was better irrigation, but we were still up on a plateau, gradually descending towards the Loire.Beaugency and the end of our first leg. From now on we would be following rivers and canals all the way to the Mediterranean.
