clairedavieswriter

We’re finally underway! Jon will ride with me as far as Nantes, stopping with a friend on the way at Damgan, then I’ll continue on my own to stay with friends near Bazens, in the Lot et Garonne. From there, I’ll ride northeast to Lyon and get the train to Geneva to stay with other friends. Mind and body permitting, I’ll then ride northwest towards somewhere in France where I’ll catch a train to the coast. My ferry home is booked for 30 May.

I feel like I’ve been planning for this trip since the moment I finished the last one. Having said that, I was (am) still pretty nervous about it. Will I enjoy it as much as Lejog, or was that just a one-off? I’m banking on the former.

Setting off on the British side of the Channel felt less of a grand départ and more of a petit prélude, given that in my head this is a French (and Swiss) tour, and Jon and I have ridden to Portsmouth a couple of times already. But it’s nice to start from the front door.

Scotland’s wildlife warnings were all about red squirrels, but in Hampshire we have other concerns:

It’s a mostly scenic and peaceful ride:

Apart from the last bit from Havant and a section beside the A3:

Legs and gears were tested by the sharp 10% climb up to the South Downs at Buriton:

But by teatime we were enjoying a hot chocolate on the seafront…

Swiftly followed by fish and chips in a pub with a view of a very large aircraft carrier…

A quick dash through Portsmouth’s early evening traffic found us at the ferry terminal, and an hour later the ship was underway. After a linguistically confusing hour watching Liverpool v Villarreal in the company of some talkative Spanish lorry drivers, we turned off the light in our windowless cabin, looking forward to waking up in French waters.