With no exact plan as to where we will go in France on our way to Mende (we need to be there in 6 days’ time) we stumbled upon Arras. After a self-guided walk around the town the next morning we climbed the belfry overlooking the main marketplace which, with it being Saturday morning, was in full swing.
Once Pete bought a baguette to carry, he felt much more like he blended in with the locals.
Then we made our way to La carrière Wellington. It is 22km of tunnels joining old chalk quarries together made by the Kiwi soldiers to hold 24,000 WWII allied soldiers ready for the Arras attack. Some of the tunnels even came up past the front line and the Germans had no idea of what was happening.
It wouldn’t have made a pleasant place to stay cooped up for 8 days (while they waited for the go ahead by the French) and then the fighting went on for nearly a month but 18km of progress was made. They were tough men / lads!
This was the toilets!
Next Pete thought it would be good to go and see some of the D-day landing beaches and cemeteries so off we headed to Omaha Beach, Normandy, just in time for a gorgeous sunset.
What we didn’t realise was that we were so close to the date of celebration (6th June) meaning there were special events laid on all along the coast and in the villages. We were very lucky in our timing.
Upon arriving at The Normandy US Cemetery and Memorial we were treated to a fly by lots of old military planes and saw many people wearing 1940s style dress.
The memorial was pretty sobering as we read how many allied soldiers died in the D-day landings and following battle. It was the equivalent of 4,000 men per day for a whole month!!!!
Next we cycled to the Overlord Museum in Colville-sur-mer where they had old army vehicles on display and a re-enactment of life in the camps.
Then we decided to get some real exercise and take the mountain bikes about 20 miles to another display in Cruelly passing the British cemetery of Bazenville.
With a stiff coastal head wind it felt like quite a long cycle (or we were back on the Isle of Man) especially when we got there and there were no food stalls or shops about. We had a look round the vehicles and army “camp” while munching a muesli bar each. When we found a little shop open in a village on the way home we had the best pain au chocolat ever! It certainly powered us back to the campsite.
Our reward for the ride was one of the most amazing sunsets we have ever seen. The mark of a very special place where many very brave men changed our history.
Next morning we visited Le Mont-St-Michael which is an amazing abbey in the sea. Alot of work has been done recently to rebuild a causeway and build a reservoir to create a controlled flood every 6 hours to prevent the bay silting up once again. It was great to see.
Next we headed towards Le Mans in the most torrential rain. It made for awful driving conditions with lakes formed on the motorway.
We got to our campsite in Spay to find it closed but suddenly a girl appeared and opened the gate for us. Another thunderstorm and torrential rain meant cooking inside the van – another first. After the storm passed we were entertained by a frog chorus and ducks chasing each other. What a gorgeous lakeside setting. Made for a lovely run the next morning accompanied by rabbits, squirrels and birds, oh and the odd jumping fish.
And then we found Le Mans circuit and museum. The circuit was closed for preparations as the 24 hour race is in 10 day’s time. However in between yet more torrential rain showers we got to see a little bit of testing. We also visited the museum and saw many, many cars.
Next we headed towards Bourges and stayed at a campsite in Preuilly. It was by a lakeside which unfortunately meant mosquitoes and then more torrential rain all through the night (I think it followed us)! No wonder the Loire valley is so green!
