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!