For the second day in a row we’re plagued by key problems. Rachael was unable to lock the door to our shoebox so I took the keys from her when we left, confident that it was a matter of finding the hidden technique; but I failed too. We left they keys in the lockbox but the door unlocked, left a text message to the host, and biked off.
The first part of today’s ride is pure gold as we circle the Baie du Somme for ten miles until we reach the town on the north shore of the bay, Le Cortoy. It’s an astonishing bit of road today presenting us with one wonderful sight after another - as fine a ten mile stretch of road as we’ve experienced in the entire tour.
Crossing the Somme at the mouth of the bay, we take a last look back at Saint-Valery.
Finally leaving the bay after taking nearly two hours on the first ten miles of the ride it feels like we’re going to start putting down some miles; but not just yet. First we have another mile or two along a thin strip of land with water on either side, the water filled with and raucous with the sounds of gulls and frogs. In a brief lull I see a swan coming in for a landing with a splash audible from a few hundred yards away, harassed by a pair of black headed gulls. A ways ahead, Rachael is stopped waiting for me, startled and a little unnerved by a black headed gull that strafed her as well, perhaps to drive her away from its nest. I don’t remember ever seeing gull behavior like this before. Are black headed gulls unusually aggressive, or is Europe developing its own menacing species that hates bicyclists like the notorious magpies in Australia?
Finally away from the bay itself, we’re sure we’ll finally start making good time - but we don’t just yet. This pond or lagoon is noisy with gulls, swans, ducks and frogs.
Finally, twelve miles into the road we move away from the wetlands and the rest of the ride is fine enough but just a little humdrum. And a good thing too, or we’d never make it to our room and this post would grow to be impossibly long. We stop once for a quick snack and once more to put on the pannier covers when showers briefly break out, but otherwise the next thirty miles are uneventful and produce few photos.
We arrive at our hotel at around four. I more or less loaf until dinner, while Rachael goes on a shopping spree after discovering that there’s a Decatholong store within easy walking distance. Her walkers are wearing thin and she’s hoping to find a replacement for them and has seen that Decathalon is a possible vendor. She returns happy a half hour later, and not long afterwards we’re stepping out for dinner.
Away from the bay and wetlands, we finally run out of non-stop attractions and start making good time. And a good thing too - the first twelve miles took us over two hours, and showers lie ahead of us.
We stopped for a quick lunch at a trailside bench, but then discovered that two of the three slats from its seat were missing and the third seemed unlikely to bear our weight so we sat on the grass anyway. While we were there this ghostly creature flew in and tried to disappear in the grass. (And thanks to Andrea’s research we know it’s a white plume moth.)
Video sound track: Bodus de Oro, by Ry Cooder and Manuel Galban
New shoes! Rachael’s walkers are starting to wear through so she walked over to the nearby Decathalon and came home with these beauts - a bargain at 60 euros.
Suzanne GibsonNice! Decathlon has great shoes, and at reasonable prices, too. I get all my walking shoes there. Reply to this comment 2 years ago
Rachael AndersonTo Suzanne GibsonYes they do. I’ve also bought warmer cycling gear when I’ve forgotten stuff or need something warmer. Reply to this comment 2 years ago
Saint-Valery sits on the south side of Le Baie du Somme about three miles inland from the coast, so our stay in Le Touquet is our first real coastal stay of the tour. It’s a modest tourist town that sits at the base of a sort of peninsula, sitting in a wedge between the English Channel and the mouth of the Cachne River.
Much of the peninsula north of town is covered by a slender park that protects the sand dunes and headland. After dinner we ended the day with a slow four mile hike, walking on the beach from the town to the point at the mouth of the bay and then doubling back to town on the streets.
Stepping out to dinner, Le Touquet. The threat of showers has passed and the sky is lightening up.
After dinner we pick up ice cream cones and walk the few blocks to the beach and sit to enjoy them and the view, choosing a less precarious perch than this however. Amazingly, the sky has almost completely cleared while we ate our meal.
There’s plenty of light left in the day so we walked the beach out to the point at the mouth of the bay before doubling back along city streets. It’s about a mile and a half along the sandy beach, and pretty slow going.
It’s not all sand though. The shoreline was thick with tiny clamshells, leaving you with the choice of walking across them and hearing them crunch under your feet or slogging higher up the beach in the softer sand.
Along the way we’re accompanied by a flock of about twenty sandpipers, repeatedly dashing toward the surf and then quickly retreating before then next wave washes in.
The walk goes slowly because of the footing, but also because there’s plenty to see. What’s this? I’ve known this in the past but forgotten. About the size of a razor clam, but single shelled.
We’ve been looking mostly at the shoreline, but on the inland side of the beach is a mile-long park, its sand dunes fenced off for their protection and erosion control.
