Last Leg.

What a great conclusion to our cycle tour.  The weather was very kind.  We didn't have breakfast at the hotel but we cycled back up to the coast to Blonville-sur-Mer and had a double coffee with pastries.  We sat out in sunshine and I could see a temperature display click over to 18 degrees....very pleasant.

We chose to cycle inland along a cycle route and soon regretted it when we had to get up the longest hill of the trip.  It was good character building stuff though.  Thankfully we managed to keep the pastries down.

We carried on back to the coast to Dives-sur-Mer....the place where William the Conqueror's fleet set off from to attack England.  Our historical knowledge may be a bit sketchy because we had a disagreement about whether William brought his cavalry horses over in ships with him or not.  By the time we finished the discussion we agreed that he must have brought the horses...and...Hannibal joined him with his Elephants and Noah brought the 'Ark Royal' as back up!

The picture below is the harbour at Dives.

We found a pedestrian bridge over the estuary between Dives and Cabourg.  It saved a few kilometres of cycling and was probably more scenic too.  Cabourg has a street plan shaped like a semi circular cart wheel.  Maybe it was an early 'new town'?  It was a favourite holiday destination of Marcel Proust (a French author, not a Formula One car driver!).

We had a nice fish lunch and received complimentary Calvados (apple brandy), probably the only Normandy delight we hadn't tasted on the trip, so all boxes are now ticked.  Those glasses were tiny!

Having completed another 60km we separated with David at Pegasus Bridge.  After an emotional waving of hankies he cycled back to Caen and Peter and I headed back to the Ferry Port at Ouistreham.  Perfect timing for our ferry.  We were picked up by Janice for the long, late journey back north.

Thank you for bearing with my poor proof reading of the blog...I have suffered technical problems with my ipad....it may be given the order of the boot.  It has travelled many miles with me and as far as a tech device goes it has had a long and good life.

Well.....we have covered 463km in 6 days, not bad going for oldish chaps.....I'm glad that I haven't calculated our calorie intake, I suspect it may be in the 50,000's.  We have certainly had some lovely food and drink which is a prime objective of the trip.  The weather has been certainly better than expected, we have stayed dry all week.

The route was perfect with a balance of cycle routes on old train tracks, lanes through beautiful rural countryside and villages.  We have had a bit of history and then headed to the coast for harbours and large sandy beaches.  It is certainly an area that warrants further exploration.

Big thanks to my brothers...we had a fantastic time.  Now, its time to diet!  Thanks also to our wives for holding the fort in our absence and also to the brave people who actually read this twaddle! 

Au Revoir till next year.

Beside the Seaside.

 Unfortunately I forgot to take my cheese out of the fridge at the gite.  The owner will get a 'nice' surprise when he cleans up.

It was a grey and cool start.  We quickly warmed up with a tough climb shortly after starting our journey.  We headed for the coast and cycled up the Seine estuary and under the Pont de Normandie.

Our lunchtime stop was at the delightful harbour of Honfleur.  It is probably the most touristy place of our whole tour but lovely all the same.

We had the sea food experience.  Soupe Poisson, and Moule Mariniere.  We do like to be beside the seaside, so we should eat the food of the sea.  We also had a couple of oysters each.

Onward to Trouville and Deauville, both nice seaside towns on opposite sides of an estuary.

The weather had picked up and we had a superb ice cream, described by Peter as the best he had ever had, so it must be good.  The ice creams were eaten too quickly for the photo!  The beaches were lovely...no sun bathing but there were plenty of people about walking and playing.  

We arrived at Pont L'Eveque and were again a little disappointed by the quality of the bridges, we awarded them 'nil Pont'!  We did go and buy some Pont L'Eveque cheese.  It might be our last cheese of the trip.  The hotel is again out of town so we bought some provisions for the room in case we were caught without a restaurant.  It was a nice hotel, quite large and part of a chain.  David has done a good job with booking the hotels.  65 km today on the bikes but the legs are keeping going ok.

Here is sample of our feast for this evening.  Note the cheeky Chateau David wine.

Cheesy joke of the Day

What do you call a smelly cheese in a a church?  Stinking Bishop.

Plague of Locusts!

I am likening the Vernons tour of Normandy to a plague of locusts who scour the land for food and eat everything that is available.  This mornings breakfast included cereals, yoghurts, fruit purée, cured ham, cheese, croissant, breads, jam, honey and Nutella.  We cleared the decks and swiped apples for later in the day.  I must admit to being rather stuffed.  I'm sure word is getting around Normandy that we are here, so much so that today was a public holiday and many food establishments were closed...just so we couldn't clear them out.  We did manage to forage for supplies....see later in the blog.

The cycling was superb again.  Fairly flat compared to other days and we visited smaller villages rather than chateau and towns.  An early visit was to Marolles, pronounced 'marlwa'.  It is the location for another cheese!  Again a small place without much sign of cheese production, maybe they make it elsewhere?

We did make a purchase......it was this unidentified cheese.  We had some of it with bread and late at lunchtime and it went into my pannier (in a plastic bag), however, I think it needed triple bagging to keep the smell in.  It is the kind of smell that grabs your nostrils and won't let go.  I have brought it to tonights accommodation and slammed it into the fridge.  I may accidentally leave it tomorrow!

The whole of France seemed closed for the public holiday.  No-one was around with the exception of a small town that had a table top sale.

We called in at Pont Audamer, we needed a quick beer.  The town has lots of half timbered buildings but is a bit short of a decent bridge.  We carried on to find our overnight accommodation in a village about 7 km away.  We expected a small hotel but the area was really quiet and we couldn't find the place even with the help of Google Maps.  It turned out to be a gite in the grounds of a larger house behind a locked gate...with no signs.  We managed to see a man in the garden. He confirmed he was expecting us.  The gite is a nice modernised cottage.  The man later explained that he didn't think there was any restaurants open in the area tonight.  We were completely panicked!! We had a quick shower and cycled the 7km back to Pont Audemer and found a pizza restaurant....phew, panic over!

Our cycling total today was 98 km...not bad for old guys.

I missed the joke yesterday so you get two today.

What kind of cheese does a dinosaur eat?...Gorgonzilla!

What does an alcoholic cheese call for?....Morbier!

Happy Anniversary.

Happy 2nd Anniversary Janice.  For us it is the best weather day so far.  Sunshine from the start to the end of the day.  We had a little walk round town before having a breakfast at a street boulangerie.  We had a look in the Cathedral and David found some new transport!

It was lovely to reunite Noddy with Big Ears!

We started our days ride with a short trip across town to St Therese's Basilica, as part of our religious pilgrimage.

The place was massive and stunning.  Well worth the visit.  There were already two coach loads of Spanish pilgrims.  They must have been religious because they queued up for the souvenir coin machines to get a token reminder of their visit.  Maybe if you collect enough you are entitled to a miracle?  We think Teresa May could come here.....she needs a miracle if any one does and the Basilica is named for her!

We started the proper cycling out of town and back into the countryside.  Owe had a Tuna based lunch of a sandwich, a flat bread and a quiche that were all tuna....we hadn't realised when we bought them.  They were shared between us, followed by some cakes.

Next was the Versailles of Normandy...Beaumesnil Chateau.

It was Classic French Chateau in lovely surroundings.  The funniest bit was me going into the Chambre of Mystery and getting locked in!  It was, Unknown to me, an Escape Room where the door locked and the clues to a key pad were in clues in the room.  It didn't help much that all the clues were in French. Fortunately David was on the outside and could read some instructions to eventually let me out.....reluctantly I think!

The final destination was Beaumont le Roger.  It reminds me of two people....Billy Beaumont, who was England Rugby Captain and Roger the Cabin Boy from Captain Pugwash!  Well, without going into detail, it did start some interesting (silly) conversation between the brothers.

Our hotel was an old Auberge and very traditional, we did get a bed each for a change.  Friends Sian and Ger joined us for a meal, with Sians's sister Sarah coming too.  They probably live about 45 minutes drive away so it was great to meet up with them.  We must have chosen the accommodation well because the food was great and the company even better.

Nearly a perfect day, just needed Janice too.

Big Cheese Day.

We had a good night sleep.  We had a double and single bed in the same room.  David and I cuddled up in the double.  Thankfully the windy day didn't continue to be a windy night and their was no discernable snoring.

The morning breakfast was plentiful, so we boosted our carbs for the day.  We have already been accused of doing more eating than cycling but for the record we did 75 km today.

We moved off at 9.30am, the day seemed warmer and stiller than yesterday, perfect for cycling.  We knew it was a big cheese day, cycling through the heartland of Normandy cheeses with Calvados and Cider the main products.

The Daddy of all French cheeses!  The village is tiny and seems to have fallen on hard times.  They no longer produce cheese is the village and the two cheese museums were closed.  We carried on to Vimoutier and homed in on the restaurant in the square for our first 'menu de jour'.  A substantial, help yourself, buffet starter, main course and sweet.  Here is David tucking in to our sweets.  We ordered two puddings and a cheese course.  I think the staff panicked when they saw all of us tucking into the cheese board.  The man quickly came to collect it...but....we had already put a dent in it!

The countryside and route of our cycling was through some lovely rolling landscape.  The cycling was a pleasure.  Our next cheese was Livarot.  We have already polished off a full round of Livarot last night.  The small town was pleasant enough but we only stopped and had a look around the church.

The Cathedral at Lisieux is just across the road from our hotel.  We fully expect to be woken at hourly intervals through the night by the bells.  The Cathedral is famous for not being the place where Henry Plantagenet married Elenor of Aquitaine!  It might be famous for lots of other things that didn't happen here as well!  The town also has a Basilica of St Terese and it is the second most important place of pilgrimage in France behind Lourdes.  Apparently, a woman lived in the house of St Terese, she became ill....and then miraculously she was healed.  It could have been a script from the Life of Brian! 

The Cheesy Joke of the Day

What did the cheese say to the Therapist? 

I Camembert it any longer!

Cheesy Joke of the Day

Don't trust the Cheesemonger.  There is one Roule for him and one Roule for everyone else.

William the Conquerer knew my Great Great Great Great Great Grandad!

We are returning to reclaim the Vernon heritage by cycling the Norman strongholds of northern France.  I have probably bored you before with the fact that Richard de Vernon came over within William the Conquerer in 1066.

Peter and I arrived in Ouistreham at 6.45am local time and cycled south to meet David at Caen.  We passed Pegasus Bridge, a strategic point for the Allied Forces in June 1944.

We met up with big brother......it was such an emotional moment......honest. He has lived in France too long, he even gave me a kiss!

We moved on to a Sunday Market and perused the local produce.  We even bought Livarot cheese on the recommendation of the Cheesemonger saying it was the smelliest cheese she had on offer.  Seemed sensible at the time.

We checked out the Cathedral where Wiiliam the Conqueror is buried.  Supposedly he promised to build the church if he conquered England and he kept his promise.

We thought we should maybe do a bit of proper cycling.  We cycled down the River Orney which was lovely and flat and had lunch at Thury-Harcourt.

Our Normande Bruschetta was creamy and cheesy with ham and potato....mmm!  We cycled to Clecy and then across country to Falaise.  The terrain changed and we did plenty of hills to make us work.  The countryside was typical Rural Normandy, apple trees, dairy cows, timbered farmhouses and rolling hills. 

Falaise was the town of William the Conqueror.  He had his main castle here and whilst much of it is ruined, it is a substantial ruin and very imposing.  The statue is quite iconic too.

Our total distance for the day was 90km.  A little further than planned but enjoyable.  Those panniers are heavier as we get older!

We found our hotel and had showers before having a few bees and then a cordon blue meal in the room, consisting of a rotisserie chicken, Livarot cheese, baguette,, then the piece de resistance....

What a sugar rush.  Wow.  I don't think it constitutes a balanced diet but it was nice.  The sharing process amongst the brothers was a little tricky but hey!

The Wotsit from a previous blog was an Anzac biscuit made by Wendy (David's wife) .  Well it was an Anzac but smaller!  She has made some more this week ....

Our biscuits were a bit titchy for me but bigger for everyone else. That is so unfair!  Wendy has a lot to answer for.  My Grasmere Gingerbreads were lovely and decent sized...better than the Anzacs!

Early Training.

We have been doing some last minute training.  David has been eating extra Brie and I have been eating creamy Lancashire.  Peter is a bit shocked because he doesn't think that Lancashire cheese counts for a French cycling tour!

Our starting point.

Peter and I travelled down to Portsmouth today and arrived mid afternoon.  Big thanks to Janice for dropping us off.  

David has travelled up from the Vendee and is staying overnight at Caen.  We will meet up in the morning.

Peter and I cycled to the ferry after testing some local hop flavoured energy drinks.  Despite the weather forecast it was quite sunny at Portsmouth.  We found (by chance) a small museum in the house where Charles Dickens was born.  We couldn't resist going in.

I can't say it was the best museum I have ever been in.  I think he only spent the first couple of years here.  There was nothing original in the house from when he was born but it gave us a moment of English Lit history before we embark on the ferry.  Peter found out that Dickens' Tale of Two Cities is the best selling English Language novel of all time, with 200 million copies sold....wow!

We are thoroughly looking forward to starting the cycling tomorrow morning but it may be a little earlier than we would have liked.  The clock goes forward and hour and we arrive in France at 06.45 hrs.  It will be a short night.

The cheesy joke of the day.

What did Shakespeare ask his Cheesemonger?  To Brie or not to Brie!

First Wotsit Competition.

Wot is it.......or Wotsit?

Off again.....and I don't mean the cheese is past its sell by date!

On Sunday morning the Vernon boys are off again on a French cycling adventure.  To be accurate, Richard and Peter are starting on Saturday to travel down to Portsmouth.  We are doing the Channel crossing to Caen and cycling on arrival on the Sunday morning.

David has organised the route as follows:-

Day 1 - Ouistreham to Falaise (about 75 kms)

More kms by riding around Caen, more, if required, by extending south toward Clecy before breaking off towards Falaise.

Day 2 – Falaise to Lisieux (approx. 72 kms)

Includes Camembert, before Vimoutiers, Livrot, then out east to pick up on a valley.

Day 3 – Lisieux to Beaumont le Roger (51 kms)

Limited kms but could do a few more by extending north at Serquignyand back down otherside of river.  There may be a chateau south of Beamont to cycle to and back.

Day 4 – Beaumont le roger to Pont Audemer (72 kms)

Includes Bernay then Marolles on the Lisieux road.

Day 5 – Pont Audemer to Pont L’Eveque (55 kms)

Could have a cycle south of Pont L’Eveque and back to extend.

Day 6 – Pont L’Eveque to Ouistreham (52 kms)

Could deviate from coast for a village of our choice plus a slight detour to a museum before Caen.

You may have noticed that the tour has a cheese theme as we are passing through some famous regions for cheese, notably, Camembert, Brie, Pont L'Eveque and Livrot.  We will do our very best to consume cheese every day and make sure that our calorie intake exceeds the calories we burn off by cycling. We may even supplement our diet with other local specialities like Calvados and Cidre.

I'm sure the trip will be a 'cracker'!  

I really hope that no-one at Walkers Crisps reads the blog, we could be in trouble for Cheesy Wotsit Trademark theft!  I suspect that we will struggle to get any Cheesy Wotsits in France but you never know, they might have Fromage Puffs?  

I also think we should play a daily 'Wotsit' game where we take a photo of something and you have to guess what it is, in other words, Wotsit.

Don't miss the Cheesy Joke of the Day at the very bottom of the blog.

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