Day 28. 47km (84619kms 8yrs)
Overnight my clothes dried and my knee swelled. It was stiff as I pedalled away, but loosened up as the day progressed. I only had a smallish day planned; 50kms along the coast and through the city of Caen.
Annoyingly (for me at least) many of the promenades around here are bike-free so the Eurovelo route is relegated to a suburban road a block back from the beach. But around Ouistreham the bike path turned inland to follow a canal to Bénouville. Here I passed a bridge that had clearly been strategic during WWII, but without paying to go in the museum I didn’t have much more information than that.
Continuing along the canal I reached Caen with its Abbeys and castle. I later learned from my host that William the Conquerer was permitted by the Pope to marry his cousin Matilda if he build two abbeys for the city. And so at the Abbaye-aux-Dames I saw the grave of Mathilde, and correspondingly that of Guillaume le Conqueror at L’Abbaye-aux-Hommes.
After a good bit of searching I found the way into the fort but again it was really too cold to hang about so I continued on to my hosts’ Gilles & Christine who sat me by the fire with a mug of tea to warm up.
Many thanks to Angie who’s become a YouTube page member! 🌟 If, like Angie, you enjoy my vlogs, blogs, and photogs please consider becoming a page member! or joining me on Patreon 😃
https://www.patreon.com/helsonwheels?fan_landing=true
#normandy #france #travelvlog
4 Comments
Certainly a safer bridge to cross than the last one !!
Oh I bet that fire was an inviting sight! 🔥
I always gave Caen a miss when cycling because I assumed, as in the UK, it would be full of ghastly 60s brutilist architecture following the rebuilding of the city after its complete destruction in June '44. Clearly some parts survived or have been faithfully rebuilt to their original state. I am always grateful to you for pointing me in the direction of interesting places I would otherwise avoid.
Good ❤