Alison and Alison and the art of re-tyrement

Distance 34.0 miles Ascent 276 metres Descent 276 metres A pleasant cycle along the banks of the Loire to Amboise where we looked around the town and visited the market just as it was closing. How many Frenchmen does it take to keep Alison and Alison on the road? We have lost count. We visited…

Distance 40.73 miles Ascent 239 metres. Descent 244 metres A ride along the EV 3 route known as La Scandiberique. Today’s section followed the Loire. A rest day for Christophe. We stopped at the delightful and busy town of Blois. Today I got to use a present that I hoped I would never need. What…

Distance 19.3 miles Ascent 63 metres Descent 78 metres A gentle day today to enjoy the Loire valley. Spent the morning in Orleans where we visited the Cathedral, got our pilgrim passports stamped and looked around the medieval city. We are enjoying setting Christophe tasks to see how he responds. Today was a gentle ride…

Distance 55.9 miles Ascent 233 metres Descent 287 metres Christophe points 220 Alison has renamed Bikemap and he is now known as Christophe. Last night we told Christophe where we wanted to go and waited excitedly to have our route mapped out for us. Christophe led us deftly out of Chartres and then straight onto…

30.4 miles Ascent 395 metres Descent 334 We escaped Dreux without a hitch and would like to think it was due to our superior navigational skills. In truth, we have been gifted the Bikemap app from Chris and Shehla. It is fantastic. Alison had planned our route with the Michelin route planner -a 44 mile…

65.1 miles Ascent 465 metres. Descent 353 metres Reflecting on the first week of the ride we concluded that at times it had been a bit shambolic. We resolved to be more organised this week and with that in mind we booked accommodation for tonight before we left. Hallelujah! We packed up our tent and…

37.7 miles Ascent 208 metres Descent 183 metres Not quite the boring day we had been hoping for. Getting out of any city on a bike is tricky if you are trying to avoid main roads. An old Michelin route map does not contain sufficient detail and even the technology (or the operator) can let…

60.5 miles Ascent 784 metres Descent 715 metres Oops! We made a mistake. It has been pointed out to us that we didn’t cycle through the Battlefields of the Somme as that is too far off our route. But we did of course cycle through the fields of the Baie of the Somme. Another dramatic…

Berck sur mer to Mers les Bains 55.5 miles Ascent 234 metres. Descent 272 metres A challenging start to the day. We woke to dark skies and as soon as the tent was packed away there was a bolt of lightening followed by thunder and then it poured and poured and poured. We cycled across…

Boulogne to Bercke Plage 34.67 miles Gentle ride along the brilliant EV 4 route. Arrived at Etapes where we stopped to look at the military cemetery. A picnic lunch in smart Le Touquet and now at a 5*campsite at Bercke plage where you have to pay to wash your hands.