Friday, December 5, 2008

DAY 15 BONJOUR FRANCE







I had a right long cycle today. I generally dont like pushing myself too hard but today I did over 100kms(average day for some touring cyclist but a long day for others).So I arrived into Cherbourg at about 7.30pm local time yesterday evening. I almost always avoid coming into a new country at night fall,but the evening ferry was more than half the price of the morning one and I only had a 30min cycle to my hostel. My hostel was about the best thing in Cherbourg. The town was full of empty bars and kebab shops but the hostel and clean, modern and empty. After a good sized breakfast of bread and jam and coffee out of a soup bowl, I made my way out of Cherbourg in a easterly direction. My plan was to head over to the D-day beaches in Normandy to witness what remains of the largest military operation in history.It was here on the 6th of june 1944 that 135,000 allied troops poured onto the beaches of France in an attempt to stop Hitler's campaign in Europe. I'm presently camped up on a beach which is littered with bombed out bunkers and monuments to that faithful day. Biking through Normandy today has been such a pleasure. I still have that super strong north-western wind at my back and the weather was a beautiful cool day which is ideal and while Wales was quite hilly and also England to a lesser extent, Normandy is almost completely flat. I feel like I've been on the road for more than 15 days. Today I was thinking when will I be back riding on the left hand side on the road or when will I get to a country whose main language is English. Wherever it is,I hope its not Ireland

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