StuAff
Silencing his legs regularly
- Location
- Portsmouth
The Fridays tour - Normandy 15th-22nd June
- Thread starter dellzeqq
- Start date
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CharlieB
Junior Walker and the Allstars
- Location
- Therivermeadowatthepileofstones
What a fandabeedozee week that was!
Amid all the thank you's - my twopenn'orth cents worth:
To the recce team for finding out all there is to know about the area, in, I gather, some far worse weather than we encountered.
To mmmMartin for the entertaining and informative daily essays.
To Olaf for the loan of the panniers.
To Andy and to Jo for sorting the gîte, shopping and the excellent cuisine (especially the steroid-charged veggie chilli
on Friday evening).
To the other co-residents Ian, Gordon and Lonica for the excellent and entertaining evenings.
To everybody else for the company.
To all the lunchtime restaurants for the daily omelettes au fromage.
To the weather gods who smiled upon us nearly all the time.
Above all, to DZ for the unflappable and understated ability for organisation.
Some interesting fauna: a sparrowhawk hovering above the gîte, lots of buzzards, the red squirrel that popped into the garden one morning, and rarest of rare, the pine marten that ran across my path on my way back from a boulangerie run on Friday morning.
TC's phrase 'faffage interdit' was concise and appropriate at times…
Highlights for me were many and varied, but probably the long 84 mile day down the D-Day beaches, to Carentan and back, the shorter day exploring the museums along that route, and the solo trip I made out to Cap Hague along the most fantastic coast road on Saturday. On the way back, propelled by a tailwind, I met Mark on his way out to the Cap - and he'd already been to Barfleur earlier in the day. Just imagine what he'd be like on a Brompton.
Total French mileage for the week - 428 and 5755m of climbing (the recce team never said anything about hills).
My pics are in process of being organised and the crap edited out and maybe, just maybe, I'll be able to share them in the next day or two, if it works from all the advice received from various people, thank you.
Now I must go and self-flagellate like a good convent educated person in due repentance for all the bad language used and heard in the week.
A bientôt, mes amis.
Amid all the thank you's - my two
To the recce team for finding out all there is to know about the area, in, I gather, some far worse weather than we encountered.
To mmmMartin for the entertaining and informative daily essays.
To Olaf for the loan of the panniers.
To Andy and to Jo for sorting the gîte, shopping and the excellent cuisine (especially the steroid-charged veggie chilli
on Friday evening).To the other co-residents Ian, Gordon and Lonica for the excellent and entertaining evenings.
To everybody else for the company.
To all the lunchtime restaurants for the daily omelettes au fromage.
To the weather gods who smiled upon us nearly all the time.
Above all, to DZ for the unflappable and understated ability for organisation.
Some interesting fauna: a sparrowhawk hovering above the gîte, lots of buzzards, the red squirrel that popped into the garden one morning, and rarest of rare, the pine marten that ran across my path on my way back from a boulangerie run on Friday morning.
TC's phrase 'faffage interdit' was concise and appropriate at times…
Highlights for me were many and varied, but probably the long 84 mile day down the D-Day beaches, to Carentan and back, the shorter day exploring the museums along that route, and the solo trip I made out to Cap Hague along the most fantastic coast road on Saturday. On the way back, propelled by a tailwind, I met Mark on his way out to the Cap - and he'd already been to Barfleur earlier in the day. Just imagine what he'd be like on a Brompton.
Total French mileage for the week - 428 and 5755m of climbing (the recce team never said anything about hills).
My pics are in process of being organised and the crap edited out and maybe, just maybe, I'll be able to share them in the next day or two, if it works from all the advice received from various people, thank you.
Now I must go and self-flagellate like a good convent educated person in due repentance for all the bad language used and heard in the week.
A bientôt, mes amis.
What a week and thanks to all those that have been thanked before. Indeed everyone* especially to Rachel/Steve, Marilyn/Clive and Wanda who helped so much with Diana and her bike's repatriation.
I can report that Lewisham A&E think there is no breakage - just torn/bruised ligaments in her ankle. (For those not there she had an 'off' in the chic gite kitchen. No bicycles or helmets were involved)
* Except our Plebgate boys in blue who as punishment were obviously demoted to the Border Agency, Portsmouth. What were they imagining we were trying to smuggle OUT of the UK- bits of Julian Assange in our panniers? Thankfully its only their day job. Hence our late night return with gratuitous quantities of Bolivian Bicycling Powder cunningly disguised as talcumed tubes entered the country unhindered. Thanks lads!
I can report that Lewisham A&E think there is no breakage - just torn/bruised ligaments in her ankle. (For those not there she had an 'off' in the chic gite kitchen. No bicycles or helmets were involved)
* Except our Plebgate boys in blue who as punishment were obviously demoted to the Border Agency, Portsmouth. What were they imagining we were trying to smuggle OUT of the UK- bits of Julian Assange in our panniers? Thankfully its only their day job. Hence our late night return with gratuitous quantities of Bolivian Bicycling Powder cunningly disguised as talcumed tubes entered the country unhindered. Thanks lads!
CharlieB
Junior Walker and the Allstars
- Location
- Therivermeadowatthepileofstones
Just another wee observation - as TMN alluded to in her verse, yes we did cry 'Car Up' a lot, but the one that was noticeably infrequent was 'HOLE!'
Just saying, like…
Just saying, like…
clivedb
Guru
- Location
- Milton Keynes
Good news, Stuart - please wish Diana a quick recovery - then she can make that new bike decision!
Clive
deptfordmarmoset
Full time tea drinker
- Location
- Armonmy Way
mmmmartin
Random geezer
2517415 said:
Yes, by me, to myself in a cursing sort of way, as I wheeled my bike out of the station in Royal Tunbridge Wells. Just sayin', like.
And in other news this arvo I replaced the front tyre which had an enormous slit in it, down to the kevlar band and right across the tread. Had that gone pop on the final windy and very fast run downhill into Cherbourg it would have been fun, esp after the statutory visit to CriCri's and the three litres of cider, litre of red and the small tiny little miniature Calvados to finish off. Serendipity. It follows the Fridays everywhere.
redfalo
known as Olaf in real life
- Location
- Brexit Boomtown
A slightly delayed backup from team Caen. We had a really grim start in pouring rain and occasionally a strong headwind. My deepest admiration to Eddy, who came with us up to Carentran and acted as a formidable wind breaker down there.
We had lunch in the same slow-service-fantastic-food restaurant across the station and then headed off towards Caen. Over the lunch break, the weather took a complete u turn. The rain stopped, we had a fair bit of sunshine and a terriffic tailwind that blew us the 60 miles to Caen. We flew over fantastic French tarmac (why is it impossible in this country to have road surfaces half as good?) and even took a 10 miles detour via the coast, passing all other D day beaches and the American war cemetery.
Here's our route: http://www.gpsies.com/map.do?fileId=cbjpijuyfidavfyh
In Caen, we had dinner at another slow-service-fantastic-food restaurant and on the ferry we discovered that they sell alcohol. Well, the night was short... I was home at 12, and fell to bed for 3,5 hours. After 518 miles, a fantastic holiday ended.
Thanks to everyone for the fantastic week - especially to DZ for setting the whole thing up. Special thanks to the recce team and the unsung heros: the bread run folks who secured an endless supply of perfect bakery.
van and chef? not necessary from my point of view.
See you guys soon
Olaf
We had lunch in the same slow-service-fantastic-food restaurant across the station and then headed off towards Caen. Over the lunch break, the weather took a complete u turn. The rain stopped, we had a fair bit of sunshine and a terriffic tailwind that blew us the 60 miles to Caen. We flew over fantastic French tarmac (why is it impossible in this country to have road surfaces half as good?) and even took a 10 miles detour via the coast, passing all other D day beaches and the American war cemetery.
Here's our route: http://www.gpsies.com/map.do?fileId=cbjpijuyfidavfyh
In Caen, we had dinner at another slow-service-fantastic-food restaurant and on the ferry we discovered that they sell alcohol. Well, the night was short... I was home at 12, and fell to bed for 3,5 hours. After 518 miles, a fantastic holiday ended.
Thanks to everyone for the fantastic week - especially to DZ for setting the whole thing up. Special thanks to the recce team and the unsung heros: the bread run folks who secured an endless supply of perfect bakery.
van and chef? not necessary from my point of view.
See you guys soon
Olaf
srw
It's a bit more complicated than that...
Seeing mention of nuclear power over in the bearpit reminds me that I don't think we've told the story of the world's smallest anti-nuclear demo. On its way to Dielette along the D86, team "we need our sleep" were enjoying the traffic-free road. Eventually we were passed by an outriding van for a convoi exceptionnel and thought it was probably prudent to pull in and let it pass. Whereupon we were passed by a couple of dozen vehicles released onto an unsuspecting world from behind the convoy.
When we realised we were just before our junction and the convoy was not moving we thought we'd carry on, and most of it just made it to the turn before being flagged down by a motorcyclist. There followed a truck carrying a large container. When an identical truck came round the corner from the other direction we realised that "usine de retraitement" on the map outside Beaumont-Hague probably means "nuclear reprocessing plant". Someone said "I suppose we ought to be protesting. Boo."
The plant itself, incidentally, is a blight on the prettiest area of the region. On Saturday we drove along the spectacular north coast road - not the main road that mileage-muncher Mark used, but a smaller D-road that twists and turns and goes up and down without any traffic. After visiting the spectacular bleakness of Cap Hague and waving at Blighty (or at least Alderney) we turned south over the headland - where we were presented with the sight of acres of sheds, masts and chimneys. The site is surrounded by double barbed wire fencing with a sandwich filling of razor wire - which doesn't exactly speak of a safe happy civilian installation. Nestled up against one fence there is a rather incongruous 12th century church.
When we realised we were just before our junction and the convoy was not moving we thought we'd carry on, and most of it just made it to the turn before being flagged down by a motorcyclist. There followed a truck carrying a large container. When an identical truck came round the corner from the other direction we realised that "usine de retraitement" on the map outside Beaumont-Hague probably means "nuclear reprocessing plant". Someone said "I suppose we ought to be protesting. Boo."
The plant itself, incidentally, is a blight on the prettiest area of the region. On Saturday we drove along the spectacular north coast road - not the main road that mileage-muncher Mark used, but a smaller D-road that twists and turns and goes up and down without any traffic. After visiting the spectacular bleakness of Cap Hague and waving at Blighty (or at least Alderney) we turned south over the headland - where we were presented with the sight of acres of sheds, masts and chimneys. The site is surrounded by double barbed wire fencing with a sandwich filling of razor wire - which doesn't exactly speak of a safe happy civilian installation. Nestled up against one fence there is a rather incongruous 12th century church.
ianmac62
Guru
- Location
- Northampton
Official Parisian disdain for an area seen over the centuries as a backwater cut off by marshes perhaps explains why the Cap de la Hague was chosen as the site for the nuclear plant. Dounreay, anyone?
Anyway, it's where the original Rainbow Warrior hit the headlines for the first time in 1980, shadowing a Japanese ship carrying waste.
Not the place to go swimming, even if protected by budgie-smugglers.
Anyway, it's where the original Rainbow Warrior hit the headlines for the first time in 1980, shadowing a Japanese ship carrying waste.
Not the place to go swimming, even if protected by budgie-smugglers.
CharlieB
Junior Walker and the Allstars
- Location
- Therivermeadowatthepileofstones
Please please let some photos magically appear at https://picasaweb.google.com/100793...ToNormandie2013?authkey=Gv1sRgCNbeoeiC6e-ZiwE# thus…
Aperitif
Meme bar
- Location
- ...I don't have much idea - really.
Nice photos, Charlie.
mmmmartin
Random geezer
Off topic, obvs, but the beter way to protest would be to turn off the lights in your house because much of the electricity used in the UK comes from French nuclear plants. Not only if you are a customer of EdF, or Electricite de France. This stuff is bought and sold on international markets. Or you could just voluntarily pay more taxes and hope it went into wind and wave and sun powered generation, which is subsidised even more than nuclear. Coal is the cheapest of all, unfortunately for the climate.
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