Thu 12 Jun 2014 Cumulative distance 1823km
Another glorious day - sunny and bright but with a light cooling breeze as we headed eastwards across gently undulating countryside with wide fields of crops. Easy riding - just rolling along.
We reached Louviers by late morning and stopped for coffee/tea in the centre of the old town. Louviers is located on one of the many bends in the Seine river as it meanders towards the sea. Navigating across the town, crossing several tributaries of the Seine along the way, looked tricky but, with the help of our iPhone and PocketEarth, we soon found the right roads and were on our way towards Les Andelys.
Les Andelys is a delightful town, on a very beautiful section of the Seine, and is famous for its ruined medieval castle, Château Gaillard. The castle is located 90 m above the town with superb views of the Seine.
Construction began in 1196 under the auspices of Richard the Lionheart, who was simultaneously King of England and feudal Duke of Normandy. The castle was expensive to build, but the majority of the work was done in an unusually short time. It took just two years, and at the same time the town of Petit Andely was constructed. Château Gaillard had a complex and advanced design, and used early principles of concentric fortification. The castle consists of three enclosures separated by dry moats, with a keep in the inner enclosure. (Wikipedia)
After finding a hotel we took our bikes and rode the short distance to the base of the hill where the castle is located. With the bikes locked to a railing we trudged up the steep path to the castle to enjoy the panoramic views and we could well appreciate the strategic significance of this medieval stronghold.
Le Neubourg to Les Andelys
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Les Andelys
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Le Neubourg
Wed 11 Jun 2014 Cumulative distance 1769km
We were all glad to be back on the bikes as the weather was perfect for riding. While we had enjoyed our visit to the Normandy landing sites, the trip reminded us again why we so like cycle touring. In a car the countryside zips by and the glass, steel and plastic create a barrier between the occupant and surroundings. With the pressure of traffic (and the rules of the road) there is little or no opportunity to slow to savour the scene or stop without warning for a photograph. In a car the focus seems to be more on the destination - location to location, attraction to attraction, whereas (for us) cycle touring is much more about the journey.
The countryside enroute to Le Neubourg was undulating and there was little traffic as we worked our way eastwards, stopping for morning coffee and pastries in Bernay. The old town is fascinating and we looped around to explore it more thoroughly before continuing on our way. While pushing our bikes along one of the stone paved streets, Beth's bike suddenly decided to lay down on the job, taking her with it. A grazed elbow and nicked ankle were the result, together with puzzlement as to how it happened. After picking herself up and inspecting the damage we were all amazed when a young woman, a local bar owner, hurried out to Beth with some disinfectant and surgical patches for her wounds! Totally unexpected. We thanked her fulsomely for her assistance and later hypothesized that perhaps she really had a secret desire to be a nurse and so was ever-ready to spring into action with disinfectant and bandages when needed. Such happenings stick in the memory.
We continued on to Le Neubourg, encoutering one very steep climb (15%) when we thought to avoid another that was marked on the map. We pushed our bikes up the worst section and were glad to have a breather at the top. With the benefit of hindsight we realised that, in all likelihood, the climb on the more major road (the one marked on the map) would have been less severe than the one we encountered on the tertiary road we chose - a lesson for the future!
We arrived in Le Neubourg around 3pm and soon found a small hotel overlooking the main square. After a shower we ventured out and Marianne and David arranged to have haircuts - after over 5 weeks on the road, things were starting to look a little shaggy.
Lisieux to Le Neubourg
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Bernay
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Le Neubourg
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