From London to Paris
Bruce and Annette on the deck of the ferry from Portsmouth, England to Ouistreham, France. We rode from London south to the coast in a rain storm and spent the night in a youth hostel.We then boarded the ferry the next morning for the channel crossing.
Bruce had met a French sailor in Germany who said to visit him when we got to Normandy. Allen and his family showed incredible hospitality. The made us comfortable in the seaside house in Avranche. They loved Americans and insisted we borrow their gold Mercedes so we could so see all of beautiful Normandy. They were so proud of their region they wouldn't hear of us passing through on our bikes and only seeing a small part. So they planned out a two day trip for us and off we went throughout Normandy and part of Brittany.
When we returned they were having a birthday party for Allen's mother, but we were the guests of honor. Above her house flew the flags of France, Avranche, and America. They pointed out the America flag only had 48 stars because it had flown over the town shortly after D-Day.
Caen city hall.
Allen was obliged to give us a whirlwind tour of his hometown, Caen. He was so proud of the city and how it had been rebuilt after being destroyed in WWII.
Bruce and Annette on the causeway to Mont St Michel.
We reluctantly left Allen and his family. We took the train from Caen to Anger to catch up with our schedule and tour the Loire Valley. The train we took was the famous high-speed TGV. But they didn't take bikes on the TGV so we had to ship our bikes ahead the day before. We were told our bikes would be waiting for us in Anger. Unfortunately, when we arrived in Anger our bikes weren't there. I had to call on my college French to discuss the problem with the unconcerned baggage clerk. All I could get out of the clerk is that we would have to wait until the next day's train.
When I explained the situation to Bruce and Annette they were extremely disappointed that we would lose a day of touring waiting for our bikes. After a brief snack for lunch, it was decided I should go back and see if anything could be done. Luckily, there was a helpful woman sitting in for the baggage clerk who was at lunch. I had more success communicating with her and she made some phone calls. She discovered that our bikes were on a train arriving in the next hour. Our tour was saved!
Bruce greeting the morning at one of our campgrounds.
