In Bath

Lovely French commentary on the golden arches!





Helen and Harry reunited - 45 years since grade 7!




I have gained status over here quite quickly!




Love those Cornish names, even if they are horozontally challenged




A windy day with big waves at Bude, Cornwall




Along the Nantes-Brest canal in Brittany







Pontivy, Brittany










Railway viaduct in Morlaix, Brittany






Steve, this sure looked like a Brent boat to me?!! in Morlaix







Breton dancers, Morlaix.












Canadian war cemetery at Benys sur mer, Normandy







A fall morning somewhere in Normandy







Mont St. Michel, Normandy






Weekly market at Dinan, Normandy








National Stud in Lamballe - unfortunately, being Canadian, I didn't qualify to be in the National Stud, but they said I was built like a horse!











Since the last entry I've visited an old friend on the Lizard peninsula in Cornwall, and then cycled through that county via Falmouth, St.Austell, Bodmin, Bude and Barnstaple, and hence by train to Bath for a couple of days prior to linking up with family in Evesham, Worcs.


Some of the paths in Cornwall made me wonder if I might not meet hobbits or goblins around the next vale or moor, such was the detached feeling along some of its more isolated stretches. In the bigger centres it seemed as if a good portion of the UKs seniors were still on summer vacation, and the weather was quite pleasant but cooler until later this week when I was confronted with wind and rain! Quite a combination if you are crossing Bodmin moor on bicycle!

Now that I have uploaded pictures I realise they are in quite a jumble timewise, but hope you enjoy anyway.
HL


















!!

Normandy et Brittany

Normandy and Brittany
Well a rainy day in Pontivy, central Brittany, and free internet access gives me time to update this blog. Up to now the weather has been great for the past couple of weeks, in fact ever since leaving Ireland a month ago!

Started on the beaches of Normandy visiting the sites and cemeteries of the DDay landing, and looking over the geography fought for those days 60 years ago. There are still mant who visit these sites, and I've talked to Brits, Americans and Canadians, many with personal stories to draw them here on 'pilgrimage'. Remarkably the artificial harbour, Port Winston, created by the allies at Arromanches, is still quite visible and obvious, on a rather bland shoreline, that only begins to rise more distinctly from the sea further west on the 'American' beaches of Omaha and Utah.

Rode into Bayeux for the day to see the famous tapestry and check out the cathedral. This town was captured so quickly after DDay that it survived intact, unlike Caen, St Malo and Brest that were largely reduced to rubble. Similarly Portsmouth, Plymouth and other s. Eng cities suffered the same pounding during the war, and then suffered from post war architectural reneawal!!

I've discovered that rural France largely wraps up and goes to sleep on Sundays! Last Sunday I arrived in St. Lo, a decent sized town, and you could have shelled the city centre without fear of hurting anyone! Then in the next town that I was considering a spot in, the hotel was actually closed on sundays! Which caused me inadvertantly to ride over 100km that day, but also taught me to beware of Sundays in rural France. Yesterday, Sunday, I stayed put in Pontivy and had a lovely ride along the towpath of the Nantes-Brest canal - lesson learned!

I have to admit I do like the sidewalk cafe scene. Its a ritual each day to sit down with a cqfe au lait and update journal while watching France go by. It also seems that many French make time for this acitivity too, sans journal. the coffee is good and the patisseries are tres bon aussi!

Other sites along the way have been the famous abbey of Mt St Michel, around which the tidal waters rise each day, almost cutting it off from the mainland but for the recently installed causeway (1870 recently that is)
It rises dramatically from the flatness of the bay and is visible for miles along the coast. It's also a hive of tourist activity, even in Sept, so although I was glad to visit, I was relieved to get away to the relative quiet of Dol de Bretagne, an equally impressive ancient site not far away. The old city of Rennes is not far from here by train, also worth a visit for the older medieval quarters since extant, a really good museum, a food market, and all this while my broken spoke is being fixed back in Dol by Romè Cycle.
(Sorry there are no photos to accompany this entry - that will have to wait until another day and another place)

Visited St Malo, the port from which Jacques Cartier sailed to Canada. While his star fell dramatically when all he returned with was 'fools gold', he's still a hero in his home town. The old city of St Malo was completely rebuild after the war to the same plan as its ruined original. But it lost something in the process, and I found it a bit sterile compared to other towns in the region which still house the original buildings eg Rennes, Moncouture, Dinan, Lamballe.

The other thing that may have clouded the experience in St Malo was hostelling again! A night in the company of 3 other peers who displayed prodigious snoring and farting capacity (not me! mon dieu!) I survived the night but only after poking and prodding my bedfellows into temporary periods of quiet!

I have come across Leffe beer on tap here in France - abbey brewed beer from Belgium - magnifique, highly recommended. Ive been sipping these and also watching some of the Coupe de monde du rugby thats going on here, although the French lost their opening game which caused a national funk as expectant hosts.

Well, I think its time to sign off as I have taken up a lot of time on this free terminal.
Bon chance and see you soon.
Henri

More new pics

Salisbury Cathedral

Beside the R.Avon in Salisbury


West gate into old Salisbury




Canadian D Day memorial in the New Forest




First encounter with New Forest ponies!

Recent pics

Roman dolphin mosiac from villa nr Winchester





Same as above, except dolphins are hard to make out!??



Saxon horn for announcing lunch break, Viking raids and other important events.
Amazingly this horn has a range of 5/6 sounds depending on the skill of the player





The Eclipse Inn, Winchester



The type of thatched cottage you just don't see in Ireland!



Harry and Maggie




Purportedly the Round Table, hanging in the Great Hall, Winchester. Fifteen feet in diameter an several tons weight, as it took me a long time to get it back up there after it fell off.



The Mill Bridge Winchester



Winchester Cathedral



Seamans / fishermans chapel in Winchester Cath




Polo at Windsor Great Park - great sport, which is actually dominated by Argentinians!






The disused chalk pit nr Maggies where a jazz night is held annually as a charity fundraiser.
Everyone brings their picnics and enjoys the event in this unique setting, which is now someone's back garden!

Up and over the Downs!

Well, today is Sept 4th and usually I would be returning to school and going through the rituals of a new year, but here I am in s England and later this week its off to France for 2 weeks cycling in Normandy and Brittany. This would seem to be a preferable way to spend September!

The past week has been spent riding through the very pleasant countryside of Hampshire, which is just about tailor made for this activity. The quiet roads still exist, with picturesque villages and enough attractive pubs to be a major distraction. (thankfully I have been most temperate under these most tempting of circumstances). The cycling has entailed short hops of 20-30miles, and the rolling chalk 'downs' of England do not pose the same level of effort as the s. Wales coastline. Winchester and Salisbury are two ancient cathedral towns which have expelled traffic from their narrow medieval cores and retained enough of the distinctive architecture to make them very pleasant to visit; and of course for those of us interested in history - say no more! I was fortunate enough to visit the cathedrals in each city early in the morning, which seems to be the time for the organist to practice. Nothing quite like a cathedral with the organ at full tilt, but boy are they cold and dank places - not a lot of warmth and coziness attached to medieval Christianity, but soaring architecture in the glory of God.
Surprisingly there is still a lot of thatch used for country houses in this area, and apparently it can last as long as conventional roofs, and does make for some nice pictures (see attached)
Speaking of beers and pubs (weren't we?) here are some of the better pints I've tried recently - Hogsback Summer Ale, Ringwood Big Thumper, Fuller's London Pride, and 'Fursty Ferrett!!
Some pub pictures too I think in next post.
One place I didn't visit was Stonehenge which is reported to be most disappointing as the site is now fenced off, so it is circled at a distance, with hundreds of others, while the traffic noise from a major A road rumbles by. There is another equally impressive stone circle farther west at Avebury that i may try to get to later in the trip.

From Salisbury to the New Forest ( new in the 1500s that is) and still with its own set of rules and privileges for people who live there. but a real mecca for walkers and cyclists, who mix with the large wild horse population which wanders freely, somewhat like the holy cows of India, enjoying the benefits of petting (and inevitable feeding!) by the muggles.
First class pub at the White Buck Inn, Burley.
Stayed at YH in Burley - most people in regular YHs seem to be outdoor types, as opposed to indep hostels which seem to cater to young traveller types. I fit in with the other old farts in the YHA hostels, all of us snoring and farting together!
From there to Frymington and by ferry to the Isle of Wight, just a half hour across the Solent from Southampton and Portsmouth. Again nice ride across the island from Yarmouth to Cowes, Newport to Shanklin. Another splendid pub meal at the Steamer Inn, Franklin.
And so on to Portsmouth by ferry the next day, with its strong maritime historical roots, the HMS Victory sitting not far from modern day British naval war vessels in the harbour.
The papers are announcing today that Br. troops are withdrawing from s. Iraq, as the new PM Gordon Brown begins the inevitable pull out, much to George Dubya's disapproval.
And so to my sisters again by last afternoon train, and in the warm welcome , news that she is virtually retired (at 50 minus two months!!) due to company restructuring - naturally she and John are delighted by the turn of events. Good luck to them.
Off to France on Thursday - talk to you later, and hopefully some more pics will show up later today.
Best to one and all.
H