The ride towards Troyes was everything we had hoped for: fast, sweeping roads, no traffic, some beautiful villages and good (but chilly) weather. R and I had various discussions about the next part of our route. I was particularly unhelpful, I think, as, after improvising my way to and from Turkey and making split-second decisions, I was finding it difficult suddenly to have to consider somebody else. Fortunately, R had quite solid ideas of his own and seemed unperturbed by my dithering. He followed me into Paris, about one hour behind, having stayed back to check on Sunday's overnight ferry from Caen to Portsmouth. I was quite keen to push on and catch this - the benefits of arriving back in London a couple of days early in the quiet early morning of a bank holiday and being able to park without charge outweighed the draw of staying in northern France for another night or two. I was happy to rough it on the ferry, as there were no cabins, but R (understandably) wanted to get a good night's sleep in a cabin or hotel room, not having had the same conditioning as I'd had over the last 4 weeks. Eventually we decided to split after Paris - I would go to Caen to get the night ferry and R to Calais, but stopping off in a hotel enroute, then crossing the Channel and riding back to Wales in the morning.
It was great to catch up with Angela and the family: Steph, Gabriel, Tara and Tante Tatin (!) were all there. Stupidly I forgot to take any photos. I headed off at about 6.30, swung round the north of the perepherique (an exciting experience, both for the traffic and for the views of Paris itself) then out under La Défense on the A13/14 following the Seine valley towards Le Havre before turning south-west for Caen. I arrived just in time to buy a ticket and join the queue of motos which were first to board the Normandie. I've slept on this ferry before and have a favourite quiet corner, away from the lounges which are crammed full of families, and got a great night's sleep.
