Discovering Cycling in France
1993-1995
Week-end Jaunts
We did a series of bank holiday week-end trips over to France that typically involved a train from London and a ferry across the English Channel. On the return journeys, we'd fill our panniers with cheap French wine as Britain allowed unlimited wine imports for personal consumption.
Cycling with a jean jacket on a week-end in Cherbourg.
Seaside riding
Cyclist at Hotel de la Gare, Cherbourg.
A main square
Provincial town
Coffee break
Riding with the cows
Summer warmth
We paid our respect to Canadian soldiers of WWI
At the local market in Boulogne-sur-Mer
Boulogne-sur-Mer aquarium where longer arms reached out to the rays in the petting pool
10 Day Cycle trip to Brittany & Normandy
Our trip coincided with the other Tour de France
Cheering on the peloton. Miguel Indurain was the man to beat (he won his 5th consecutive Tour de France).
We took a ferry to St Malo and rode straight onto Dinan
Mont St-Michel
Inside the impressive Mont St-Michel tourist trap
Returning from grocery shopping
We ate "out" a great deal
Typical Normandy town
Haras national du Pin is the oldest of the French studs
French landscapers are kept fully employed
We always had time to peer at chateaus
Château d'Harcourt is one France's best preserved medieval castles
Château de Conches-en-Ouche was first built a thousand years ago but demolished in the 16th century.
We avoided roads with painted lines down the middle
Warm sunny weather was conducive to cyclo-camping.
Another Normandy town
Out for an afternoon look-around
Towns without postcards were more the rule than the exception
Riding across the 2km long Pont de Normandie over the Seine
Honfleur
Seafood was popular with visitors
The beautiful people spend time at the beach at Deauville.
Sheila's tire finally wore out that day. She rode almost 10,000km on that tire.
Our experiences led to later, more extensive bike trips to France and Europe
