Previous page
Back to the 2022 index page


Normandy


Old houses and barns. This road is stonier than I expected but it's not too bad. I can see the tower of a church in Verneu... The town's full name is Verneuil d'Avre et d'Iton, named after the two rivers which converge here. I... The Grey Tower. Verneuil. I have passed quite a few benches. This town would have been a pleasant place to stop for a rest, ex... ... I've already planned where to stop for lunch. This is the first, and probably only, McDonalds of... Apparently my road goes to the School of Rock, which sounds interesting. That wasn't very helpful. Cows sitting down. The weather forecast has chaged overnight and there is now some reasonably heavy ... It's now half past two and not yet raining but I won't be allowed into tonight's accommodation for a... This is the River Risle, which I crossed on ... Rugles. Rugles. Apparently, Rugles is waiting for me. Well, here I am. You know how yesterday I complained that there weren't real glasses to drink out of in many hotels t... This is where I will be staying tonight. It's a private house really. I don't know how many guest ro... The view from my room. The tap is an unusual shape. It's a beautiful room but is doesn't really have a desk. Tonight is quiz night so I will need to set... The corridor to my room. I think it's strange that this upstairs corridor has a tiled floor whereas ... Near my room. The owner said that after I had settled in, she would show me the communal areas. I'm now trying to ... The grounds of the house. My setup for this week's quiz. I want to show off the view but hotel rooms are often dark so it's qu... This is the key to my room. The owners left and came back during the evening. I saw them from my win... A swimming pool. Rugles. The whole town seems quiet this morning, not just the guesthouse. I know it's Saturday but I... This is what remains after harvesting. Glos-la-Ferriere. Glos-la-Ferriere. There has been an accident here. Hay. Everywhere still seems deserted. A lot more dogs have barked at me today than on previous days but I... Purple flowers. The butterflies seem to like them. In a town called Broglie, the half-way point for today. Broglie. This is pretty. An old waterwheel. Broglie. Broglie. Broglie Castle. What's this? It looks like a marker for the Camino but it's got 14 points and has the convergence on... Old barns. A water tower, probably. There seems to be some sort of car rally going on here. About half of the cars around here have numb... The village of Saint-Germain-la-Campagne. This is probably something to do with the cars. Approaching Lisieux, my destination for today. I had considered booking the Mercure or one of the ot... These little hills are short but steep so I'm walking. Unfortunately, both footpaths are blocked by ... Hmm. Lisieux has some strange buildings. Here's a closer look at one of them. I'm now very close to my hotel but I won't be allowed in for about 40 minutes so I'm going to have a... Lisieux. Lisieux has a cathedral and a basilica, both Catholic. That is the basilica. Lisieux. A shopping street. Mitterrand Square. She must be going to the liberation festival. One way to relax. I has been sitting quietly on this bench for about 10 minutes when suddenly it was besieged by pigeo... I had started to walk away from the square back towards my hotel when a tremendous cacophony of nois... Jeeps. A fancy car. Apparently Lisieux was liberated on 23rd August 1944 so this is the closest Saturday to the annivers... Lisieux. Lisieux. Yes, that's exactly how they probably looked. Lisieux. Lisieux. As well as all the military vehicles, there are motorbikes roaring round the town, and some wedding ... One of the jeeps. Apparently the building with the dome is a monastery. This is where I'm parking. My hotel is the red brick building to the left of the tree. This is a proper classy hotel look: it has real glasses. Mine is bigger though so I will probably us... The classiness of the hotel is let down a little bit by this view. An evening view of Lisieux. The hotel lobby. I stood on that piece of grass over there yesterday to take a photograph but didn't notice the huge ... These vehicles had gone when I came out yesterday evening to get something to eat but they are back ... Mitterand Square. This one has a dog. This isn't the route which ether of the sat nav apps suggested but it looks to me like a pretty dire... A man drying his laundry at a supermarket. I am now back in the Calvados department, where this trip starts and ends. The establishment in this... An imposing cottage half-way up a steep hill. What I thought was amusing about this cottage is that its street address is number 1066, which seems... A closed restaurant which used to specialise in tripe. There will be tripe on my dinner menu later t... Buildings next to the football pitch in Bonnebosq. While I was sitting here having a rest, people ar... In Bonnebosq, they have the correct new dark blue for the French flag but the blue in the Ukrainian ... Horses. Gateposts shaped like some kind of birds. These signs are a bit faded. A war memorial. The village of Saint-Samson. The main square in Troarn. My hotel. The bathroom is a bit of a maze... ... and contains the plumbing for the bathroom upstairs. The restaurant is quite smart. Fortunately, one other couple also came for dinner so it wasn't just ... The view from my room, including my bike and a big pile of old chairs. I took this picture just to find out what the towering structure was. The valley of the Orne, which is the river which ends at the ferry port. I started today only about ... Some abandoned structures. I saw that other cyclist two roundabouts ago. The bridge which I had intended to use to cross the Ri... One of those is a road bridge. Buildings in Caen. Caen has trams. Tonight's hotel lets guests check in from midday but, absurdly, I'm too early even for that. I saw a... New buildings. Wow, that sign wasn't joking about the bridge being closed. It has completely gone. This is the inland end of the canal which I followed from the ferry port to the Pegasus Bridge on th... The French for longitude is ... These benches run for about 500 metres along the side of the canal basin so I will make use of them ... Although a couple of people are working on their boats, none of the boats actually went anywhere whi... This flag looked familiar but I couldn't place what it was. I later found out that it's the flag of ... A little electric bus. There has also been a DHL delivery bike with a trailer which has gone past he... You can't see it in this picture but the boat on the left is flying the flag of Brittany upside-down... Central Caen. Next to the harbour are a Mercure and an Ibis hotel, which are owned by the same company and entwine... The view from my window is okay. The window also opens fully, which surprised me since the room has ... My room. Their bikes are almost the same colour as mine. I've seen a lot of touring cyclists here in Caen. I wonder how many of them are on their way to or f... Those deckchairs weren't there earlier. Caen. The tarmac road leads towards the castle, where I am intending to go tomorrow. The church on the right is Saint Peter's. Caen. Like in most French towns, there is a car park under the square. This street sign has a lot of adornments. Caen. The spire is new because the original was destroyed in the Second World War. A view with evening lighting. For about half an hour now there has been the constant noise of dogs barking coming from over by the... It's three hours later and the dog noise is still going on. I've now come outside and found that the... Dogs. Some restaurants. Caen. A delicate-looking church spire. Saint Peter's. I know I said that I was intending to have a relaxed holiday this year but now I'm taking that rathe... Looking out of the castle entrance. Most of the castle is free to visit but there are two museums which you have to pay for. The ticket ... It's a bit strange having a gift shop with graves in it. That is the old church. The cross on the left is dated 1966 and markes the anniversary of the Norman... I came up a long pedestrian ramp to get to the castle so I was surprised to find that that train cou... These models in the museum show the two types of countryside in Normandy: hilly with hedges and flat... The sign says that the tour continues upstairs but there are no stairs and the lift only has a down ... This building was the Exchequer of Normandy. A spiky skyline. The ramparts. This is how you get up onto the ramparts. A view through an arrowslit. Caen. That family have just done what I did earlier: walked all the way up the pink ramp thinking it would... This is where the keep of William the Conqueror's castle was. What? Mauritius isn't part of France. Seen from the ramparts. Ramparts. Two bicycle-towed adverts for blood donation. Caen. Some other visitors. Caen. People here are setting up a stage for something. I don't know whether the sculptures on poles are p... They include a ruined south-pointing chariot. The canal basin outside my hotel. The dog bus is hidden from view but it's still there, and will be ... My back tyre has worn down much more on the left side than the right. That has never happened on any... Caen on a sunny morning. Canoeists. This bike lane will take me straight to the ferry. This is where it turns into the Caen Canal towpath, which I used at the very start of this trip. A big house next to the canal. The Pegasus Bridge again, this time seen from the North. Approaching Ouistreham. The man on the left is carrying a bike on another bike. A pleasure boat cruising. I haven't seen one of those for over a week now. A constriction on the road. There are several pleasure boats loitering here. They must be waiting for the lock to open to let th... Somebody from the market has just dumped two boxes of fish waste here. The seagulls are definitely i... I wonder whether the people on that market stall came in this car. The boat in the middle of this picture is strange. You can see all of it. It looks like the just the... All those boats fitted in the lock easily. After three weeks and 24 minutes, I'm back where I started, and there's the ferry having its little ...