Creamy cheese and pickles

Apple blossom falls -
white petals across roadway.
We cycle over.

Well, it's been an interesting week. We are currently relaxing in our camp at Genêts on the Baie Mont-St-Michel after a decent day's ride of 48km in lovely warm sun. It was always our intention to travel slowly so we could see, smell and hear the countryside around us - but we've been going even slower than our slow intentions since having a few problems with Neil's bike.

Starting back in Cherbourg, after our glorious (or should I say, stunning) entry into the town we decided to treat ourselves to an hotel and a meal. The Hotel Moderne, a nice little hotel just off the main quai allowed us to lock our bikes in the courtyard while we stayed which was a big plus. A fantastic three course meal at the Hotel Regence completed our splurge - we had to start the trip with some proper Norman cuisine !

We left Cherbourg on a marked cycle route on small roads, it wasn't long before the sun came out and we changed into shorts ! After a few digressions, including a picnic lunch on the Mont-St-Michel pilgrim path, we came to the start of the Voies Vertes - the green ways.

Picnic lunch on the pilgrim path.

The Voies Vertes are specifically for non-motorised transport, bicycles, pedestrians and horses. They cut through the countryside, often along disused rail routes, but can consist of a variety of surfaces. We were riding mostly on firm sandy gravel, which is fine for our mountain bikes but would not be suitable for bikes with thinner tyres (well, not loaded up like we are).

In our mission to taste as many types of cheeses as possible we had to start with a Normandy favourite - lovely creamy Camembert.

Lots of lovely flowers by the road sides, especially these and a sodium yellow primula.

Unfortunately, not even mountain bike tyres are exempt from punctures. Neil had three separate punctures over three days - all on his front tyre, mercifully. Whether from sharp pieces of gravel or blackberry thorns by the side of the road, we aren't sure. Neil is using Schwalbe Land Cruiser tyres and I am using Schwalbe Hurricanes, which have kevlar protection - which may have made the difference.

Neil just loves fixing punctures, especially at the end of a day's ride.

A nice spot for camping sauvage, just off the Voie Verte.

Sign posts at every junction of the Voie Verte.

After our first hot day of riding, the shorts got packed up again for a few days as we were treated to a few days of cooler, wetter weather. Low grey skies and foggy mornings which made it really hard to get going but made for some gorgeous sunsets.

Lots of birdlife around from sparrows to pheasants, even the occasional merlin.

Spring blossoms everywhere.

The things you see...and no, we didn't try it.

Old stone stable by the way.

Bridge bombed by the Allies in 1944.

 ...And then it all went pear shaped.

Leaving our campsite in Montmartin-sur-Mer (where we had stopped to check out a climbing area mentioned by a friendly camper in Coutances), a steep uphill grind back to the road, Neil calls out to me "My bike is stuffed".

Actually he didn't, but there may be children reading and for those of you who know Neil, you can fill in the appropriate versatile word. Or two.

This is not what a crank set should look like !

The pressure on the lowest gear had bent the gear so far the pedal could not go around. Time to push. We pushed into the village, made some enquiries and found someone in the next village who may be able to help.

So I rode and Neil pushed and freewheeled the couple of kilometres to Hauteville-sur-Mer, a lovely little seaside holiday spot (mostly deserted at this time of year) and waited around until the local man who hired bikes in summer could return to help us out. He managed to bend the plate back with a few judicious smacks of the hammer and repair the chain so we could at least ride on to a larger town to get a replacement.

Also giving us advice on what roads in the area were more bicycle friendly (there being no Voies Vertes on this part of the Cotentin Peninsula). He even complimented us on our French (??). Neil thinks he was being sarcastic, but I think of it as more of an encouragement.

La pêche à pied - fishing on foot for molluscs on the beach at Hauteville-sur-Mer.

Trotters training on the beach, Hauteville-sur-Mer.

So now, we are on the way to Avranches to find a bike mechanic to fix Neil's bike. Failing that, the parts so we can do it ourselves. A mechanic will be much quicker, but we'll see what happens...

Le Mont-St-Michel, our first glimpse.

* words by Gabby & images by Neil and Gabby