Wednesday 16.05.2018

Poole - Negreville.

We crept out of our b and b at six thirty and loaded our bags while watching the build up of traffic even at that early hour. Where do all the folks come from? The ride to the ferry port was completely without incident. We found all the right roads and arrived in good time. We had not long to wait before we were called onward and then some spotty teenager decided that we should be searched! Goodness knows what we were supposed to be smuggling. I was aghast at the thought of having to unpack, but a nice lady just asked to look in one bag and then frisked me. Al had the same treatment only by a chap. Convinced that we were harmless, we proceeded to join the big bikers and shortly after boarded the boat pretty much before everyone else - great. Dumped our bags in the cabin and grabbed coffee and croissants before the rush.  After such an early start, we kipped in our cabin for a couple of hours by which time France was hovering on the horizon. There were three bikes tied to the rail for transportation. The third belonged to a very courageous chap, who was off to the south of France; this being his first venture into long distance cycling and was finding life with weighty panniers something of a challenge - aren’t we all! He had already managed to fall on his bottom right outside a pub. We wished him well on his way and disembarked.

You may well imagine what happened next. Yup, no signs and we got thoroughly lost. After some fruitless tooing and froing, Garmin finally came up trumps (of rather Al’s interpretation of Garmin ) and we headed off and up and up and up. In mitigation, the weather was fab and the wind, although strong was a whizzy wind. Several hours later, and after much consultation with techy bits, we found our overnight accommodation.

We received a very amiable reception and, having stowed the bikes and our gear in our room, we were informed that dinner would be served in the 'pub’! Yes, our host has replicated an English pub in the old pigsty. We passed a very pleasant evening and enjoyed a good meal and congenial company. Should you find yourself in Negreville in need of accommodation 'Les Perroquets’ can be recommended.

So ended day one in France.

Thursday 17.05.2018

Negreville - Carentan

It is quite difficult to find anything interesting or amusing to say about a day spent almost entirely on an old railway line, but I’ll give it my best shot! We shared a puplic road with traffic for less than five kms and up popped an unexpected 'voie verte’ (that’s French for green lane). It crossed numerous roads along its length and at one such junction was situated a boulangerie from whence we purchased lunch. What can I tell you about the scenery? It was very green! For the most part tall trees on either side obscured any interesting views or activities but, as ever, the banks were lush with spring flowers and provided much needed shelter from a very strong side wind. It was a ride to be enjoyed for its own sake and one which allowed us a restored confidence in our ability.

So, after 60 plus kms of pedalling, we erupted into a town with roads and traffic lights and vehicles! In our usual fashion of stopping to consult various maps, a young lady who spoke excellent English advised us that the accommodation we sought was just up the hill.( Always end on a positive!) Tomorrow doesn’t look quite so tranquil but, possibly that is no bad thing.