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Normandy


I know that I began my last trip by saying that it would be a short one but this year will be even s... The cycle route out of Ouistreham towards Caen. Ouistreham. The Pegasus Bridge. I came here in ... The bike route along the canal is quite busy. A mini roundabout just for bikes. It's off the side of the main road so cars just ignore it. It's su... I didn't really need to use the mini roundabout though because in the few seconds while I was taking... Crossing the mini roundabout should have put me on ... Descanneville. A house on the beach in Cabourg. Cabourg. The beach at Houlgate. A boat. A monument marking the place from which William the Conqueror set off to conquer England. The monume... There is the ferry from ... A little waterfall in a park in Houlgate. A picture which I took while walking up a steep hill.... A shady road. A bird of prey. A cycle route sign directed me down this alley. It didn't say where it went; it just had a picture o... Pont l'Eveque. Pont l'Eveque. Pont l'Eveque. Pont l'Eveque, with a statue of what looks like a man carrying a large rock. Pont l'Eveque. Another statue in the same style. This one looks like a boy riding a bear. At this point, I should have been only 1 km from my hotel but this tunnel is closed so instead I wil... My hotel's outdoor dining area. The meal here was extremely good and not too expensive. The thing wh... Part of the view from my window. The accompanying sound is the birds who live in the vines which cov... Another park of my view is this bit of motorway. This year, I am using two satellite navigation applications which don't always agree with each other... A view from near the top of the hill. Doesn't it look French? Hay. This is the kind of view that I associate with this part of France. Saint-Georges-du-Vievre. Horses. Today's ride is about 43 km. A few tears ago, I would have considered that an extremely short day an... The river Risle. Cows in the shade. A thatched house. Its garage is similar. Scenery. I think that horse is trying to keep its head in the shade. The village of Le Bec Hellouin, where I will be strying tonight. After sitting under a tree for an hour watching the tourists, I'm now in my hotel room. My rooms for... In this case, the bathroom is large enough that the switches are a long was from the water but that ... My room is the only room on the top floor, which means that I have to go up both these flights of st... The forecast predicts a bit of rain this evening but I couldn't find a good place to park my bike un... You can see my front wheel in the middle of this picture. The hotel is the large yellow building. The entrance to Bec Abbey, which is the main feature of the village. The bell tower. I'm not sure what's going on here. Bec Abbey. Inside the Abbey church. The inscription on the wall dates from 1969 and is to do with the connectio... Inside the Abbey church. One the left is one monk who has got here early for vespers. I think I woul... The grounds of Bec Abbey. Is this some kind of monk stand-off? Bec Hellouin. My last view of Bec Abbey. For the first 20 km today, I will be following this old railway line. It has a lot of little activit... ... and these cones for listening to the sounds of the forest. Way back in 2007, I described ... A station on the old railway. This railway has a constant uphill gradient of about 1 in 200. It doesn't sound like much but I can ... A house. Still on the railway. Acorns. France has been having a long heatwave this summer, which is making autumn come early. The old railway. I don't know what this junction was like when this was still a railway but now the cycle route, whic... The water tower which marks the summit of today's ride. That house looks like it has things growing on top of it. Normandy is basically a plateau with river valleys carved through it. This is the upland part. A hospital in Louviers. A swimming pool. Anglers on the river Eure. I am now on a cycle path along the bank of the Eure. It will take me most of the way to today's dest... A tributary meeting the Eure. Swans on a fast-flowing, shallow bit of river. The same place. The man is about to clean out a drain in thre road. The little boy seems fascinated by it. This looks to be where treated sewage gets returned to the river. This metal bike path is mounted onto the side of a road and hangs over the river. It's only just wid... In this area, where a bike path crosses a road, there are orange studs in the road which flash whene... A low bridge. This quiet road goes straight to... ... my hotel. According to an email which they sent me, the proper place to park a bike is in the basement but I w... Reception. I booked a superior room here. The room itself is nothing special, although it does have a fully wor...