Christmas in Teich

The next day we headed out onto the D3. Although it too is long, straight and windy you pass through towns every now and again, which broke up the monotony. The towns around the Arcachon basin are quite nice looking places and must be heaving in the summer. Got to our destination after about 8hrs cycling. We have a little self-catered apartment with a dishwasher and cooker and a toaster and everything! Cooked a Christmas dinner to be proud of and drank fizzy stuff. Kit maintenance and prep today heading out tomorrow morning. Merry Christmas!

La Rochelle

After leaving John and Ros we spent 2 days getting to La Rochelle and 2 nights in it. We mooched about the old town and the market, explored the marina and visited the aquarium which was awesome.

Workaway in Saint-Germier

We have a workaway.org placement in a place called Saint-Germier near St. Maxient-L'Ecole. We have been here about a month so far waiting for our wheel to be fixed and trying to sort out bits and pieces. Lots of pictures!

The continuation AND BEYOND!!!

September 11th.We did not move on the next day!(Villedieu-des-poels) Still pretty tired so stayed another day. Just chilled out really. From there we geared up for a drizzly cycle to Avranches. A normal road suddenly became a motorway and we found ourselves halfway up the sliproad! A little navigating later we found ourselves at the foot of the mountain that is Avranches. Campsite was basically somebody's garden. A crazy hippy farm garden. With composting toilets and a pig. Met a veteran cycle tourist called Frank who was really interesting amd told us about the towpaths. A mug of wine with Frank and we called it a night. Liz got bitten by a bug and had a big swollen eye! The initial plan was to head to Mont Saint Michel, but a few people telling us how crowded and busy it was was enough to dissuade us. A few photos from afar and we pressed on toward St Malo. Lost our legs toward the end of the bay and stopped in a convenient farm campsite. The next day we actually got to St Malo. Managed to get ourselves thoroughly confused in the one way system inside the walled town and had to navigate our way through the crowds. Hung around for the tourist office to open then went to our campsite on the headland. Got chatting to a motorcycle tourist on the campsite so we ended up having a very late lunch and felt pretty grim until we discovered an incredible patisserie! A giant raspberry macaroon and salted caramel choux bun later and we perked up a bit. We wandered about the town walls and treated ourselves to dinner out, slept soundly despite the noise from the port. September 14th

Bayeux to Villedieu-des-poels

We made our way out of Bayeux feeling quite rested, stuck to the d road and made good time to arrive in St Lo 37km later. However, the municipal campsite we found on the internet didn't exist and the nearest one was another 20km away. So fuelled by a fruit tartlet we powered on to Tessy sur Vire to arrive at a campsite  which was closed for a festival. Feeling pretty tired at this point but had to carry on for a few more km to the next site in Domjean, which was an aire naturelle, and of course the owner was away but pitched up anyway and hoped we wouldn't get turfed out. Luckily nobody seemed to notice and we saved a few euros! Nice hot showers in the morning. Headed out to Villedieu d/p and realized there was a river side cycle path all the way from the coast, past Bayeux, St lo and a fair way down to Villedieu d/p! We got on the tail end of it down to Pont Farcy. Most of it was standard towpath clay and fine gravel, but at points it got a bit more 'naturelle' and turned into single track at points. The tandem and trailer coped really well and we made good time. What followed was a succession of long steep climbs followed by long descents. Tired we pitched up in V d/p and decided to stay 2 nights. Just chilled out really. Watched a local ?petanque? Tournament. Really impressive and quite hypnotic. Moving on tomorrow.

Bayeux on a Sunday

We decided to stay an extra night in Bayeux to do a bit of exploring as most of yesterday was spent sorting out the bike. Got up to another sunny but cool day and wandered to the public gardens. We had the place pretty much to ourselves and saw one of France's trees of note which is a weeping beech that spans 40 metres and has to be supported by a network of cables. Enjoyed a peaceful picnic in the park and made our way to Bayeux's museum and then onto the military cemetries, via a patisserie. Bike reassembled and ready to roll. Back on the road tomorrow.

Arromanches to Bayeux. 9 km!

Very short cycle in the wet to Bayeux. We need a rest from cycling. So hope to stay a couple of nights. Municipal campsite is immaculate. Wandered round town. Had some sweets, explored the Cathedral and soaked up the atmosphere.