22nd to 28 of July 2024
For this trip I decided to give my son and my grandsons a chance to visit the Cherbourg peninsula. We travelled to Portsmouth on the train with our bicycles and not the overnight ferry to Cherbourg. The ferry arrived at 8:00am the next morning so we took the opportunity to go and have a look at the La Cité de la Mer Is a maritime museum in the former cruise liner massive art-deco transatlantic liner terminal building constructed in 1933. We visited the submariners centre. Well worth a visit.
We had some fantastic rides through the countryside, by the coast and along the river Vire. We had a great stopover on the west coast of the peninsula and dined at a superb restaurant overlooking the sea.
It was William’s birthday, so I treated them to a fine meal and William had fruits de mer which he really enjoyed. During the trip I let the grandsons do the navigation between the towns we were staying at. They did a jolly good job of this. We had great weather for the trip so it was nice to be able to sit on the roadside or near a village centre and have our midday baguette in the sunshine.
Apart from visiting the west coast of the peninsula we went on to Saint-Lô. On the way we passed through a number of towns and villages which still had the exhibits up in the streets commemorating the 80th anniversary of the liberation of this part of France just after the 6th of June 1944. I found these particularly interesting. The devastation at Saint-Lô and these villages was considerable as the battles during the liberation were quite fierce.
From Saint-Lô we travelled on to Bayeaux, firstly via the scenic towpath of the river Vire, where we visited the tapestries. We stayed here two nights in the superb youth hostel right in the centre of the old city.
Great prices and great facilities. I fully recommend this hostel. During a coastal cycle ride William and Edward took time out to do some kayaking in the calm sea and in the lovely sunshine.
Click HERE for photos of the trip
Click HERE for more information about cycling in France
Click HERE for Remembering the D Day Landings
Maps and Stats:
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