After check-in at Portsmouth I was waved straight through to security and to the front of the queue along with 2 other motos. There weren't many cars waiting so hopefully this meant a quiet crossing - and it did.
A few cars were boarded first onto the upper deck (5) of the Bretagne, then the motos were first onto Deck 3, parking right by the exit for an easy getaway. I dined in the restaurant which wasn't busy, choosing the beef, then headed for some sleep. Once out in the open channel it felt quite rough but during the night it calmed down, presumably as we rounded the Cotentin peninsula.
After a good sleep I went out on deck then had a buffet breakfast in the restaurant. It was just beginning to get light.
Once off I headed west across the bridge to Dinard, then along the coast to Cap Fréhel - a headland with a lighthouse. From there I turned east, retracing my steps for a while, passing to the South of St Malo and stopping for the view of Mont St Michel. Next stop was Dol de Bretagne with a beautiful cathedral which was worth exploring, then onwards to the northeast, staying off the motorway.
St Hilaire was closed off for a huge market festival and the feeder roads were all full of parked cars. Mortain was also lively with lots of people in the street and some interesting looking market stalls. I was tempted to stop here for lunch but it felt too early so I just grabbed a water and kept going.
I hoped Vire would be equally pleasant but it turned out to be a large and soulless ghost-town. The church was open but deserted and there were no markets, just chain-type stores with garish signs and nobody apparently in them.
The D55 across country to Aunay-sur-Odon was a great riding road and I enjoyed some 'exuberant' riding here. Third gear on the FJR gets you from quite slow to very illegal in a most enjoyably short time! I stopped in Aunay to catch my breath and have a quick sandwich. Villers-Bocage was next, scene of some extremely heavy fighting in 1944 and as a result most buildings are new. Then into Caen and out to Ouistreham. I was first on the ferry, the Normandie, and as I write am just coming into reach of a UK phone signal and the possibility of uploading to the blog.
Photos etc in the next post once I'm home.
Sounds like you had a good day. Hope it left you feeling refreshed. Richard's Riding Rambles may start with my trip to the NEC if I can work out how to do it on the iPhone!!
ReplyDeleteReally good thanks. I used an app called Blogger which seems to work well, though you can't mix text and photos - the photos are automatically placed at the bottom of the text.
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