Oct 06, 2011

The morning dawned very grey and before we finished breakfast was pouring rain. Damn! The bulk of the rest of the day's weather was a sample of what our trip could have been and thankfully wasn’t.

So...…wet weather gear on, and off we went. The rain lasted for about the first hour then we had rain on and off and road spray for most of the rest of the day until about an hour out of Calais. The rain was replaced by wind which was fortuitous as it pretty much dried out the wet weather gear before we got to Calais.

We unfortunately didn’t get much of a view from the Normandy Bridge (the big one we saw from the harbour last night) as we came over it this morning as it was pouring and the water was sheeting down the road surface and for good measure the wind was ferocious and threatening to at one minute blow us into another lane or into the edge railing and the next minute tip us right over. Without doubt the scariest wind we have ever ridden in!

Finally loaded onto the train at Calais and 5 minutes after departure time they announced we wouldn’t be departing for another 30 minutes…..got a bit panicky then, I had a hair appointment in Faversham to cover the scary bits! Anyway, finally got to Faversham and literally ripped off the outer layers of bike gear and jogged and power walked to the hairdresser and was only 10 minutes late. Phew! Happy with the hair by the way.

So, hair done, back to the shop to get changed, kiss the bikes goodbye then Gareth dropped us off at our accommodation so we have shared a lovely cuppa with our host and will head down to the local pub for dinner shortly. Tomorrow we head for the station and ultimately to Bruges (Belgium) so will likely keep some sort of blog of that as well….we’ll see.



The view from the conservatory to the garden at tonights accomodation

Bits and Bobs:

Seemed a bit weird not to have Sharen and Ken in our rear vision mirrors once we got to the UK so it will be good to catch up with them again in Bruges (Belgium) on the 7th.

Last nights’ accommodation:

Hotel L’Ecrin
19 Rue Eugene Boudin
Honfleur 14600 France

The Hotel consists of a main building which was just exquisite and better maintained than any of the manor houses and most of the castles and chateaus we had seen as well, ther was also a collection of lovely buildings spreading down the side of the hill towards the village. The room was decorated beautifully and was roomy and comfortable. WIFI worked well (as it has in nearly all our accommodation choices). Our welcome was wonderful and the breakfast was delicious. We were a short walk to the harbour and many eating and shopping options and this would make a lovely base if you were looking at being here for a few days. Even has a billiard room, pool, sauna, spa and many lovely spots in the garden to relax. How good is that if you want to spoil yourself!



The main building - Hotel L’Ecrin