September 17, 2016
Le Havre: A very hard day
When we woke this morning the rain had stopped but the wind was extremely fierce. No matter what we had to move on as everything was 'complet' - it was the annual Mud Race a race that would appeal to our son Peter. It is held at low tide in the river then goes through a 4 degree pool, more mud an other nasties - it doesn't sound much fun to me. The hotel owner is a cyclist and told us that today's ride involved a long hill at the start, a flattish bit in the middle then hills all the way to Honfleur. He was right. The little seaside towns along the way all have similar architecture dating from the lattish 19th century because it was then that the railway got here making it relatively easy to get from Paris for a holiday by the sea. They all seem to have enormous Casinos. The sand in this particular area is golden but to me it is such a contrast between life at the seaside here and life at the beach in New Zealand. In NZ as a small island nation we have an overload of beautiful largely uninhabited beaches to enjoy. We are certainly very, very fortunate
Honfleur when we got there was packed with humanity - no wonder we couldn't get any accommodation . It is beautiful but I think at risk of being loved to death. We had a look at St Catherine the famous wooden church, visited the Office de Tourism to find the best way to approach the Pont de Normandie by bike then on we pressed. The Pont de Normanie is a remarkable and fairly recent engineering feat. It is 4.5km long and spans the Sienne near its mouth and has a cycle/pedestrian path across it. The problem today was the wind and the higher you got the stronger it got until I felt it would blow the cycle helmet off my head. We weren't foolish enough to try and ride in that wind but walked it and it took over an hour. At the end we were rewarded with a bar/brasserie and into the warm we went for a pannine and a large coffee.
From the end of the bridge it was about 15km to Le Havre and the wind was directly head on. As we emerged it had begun to rain a little and it got heavier and heavier. By the time we got to the Nomad Hotel we were soaked.
The room at the Nomad is not 21st century but I think 22nd Century. It tells me it is eco friendly with rain water, organic bed linen, furniture and floor from sustainable Forests, carpets from recycled fishing nets!, solar planets etc etc. But it is so ultra trendy and cool. The shower seem to be designed as a spectator sport - it has 4 water roses all of which can be used at the same time and mood lighting the choice being sunny, romantic, Zen or fruity ambiance. When we came in Ken thought there was no TV but there is a projector which projects the numerous channels to fill most of a wall. All this is controlled by a tablet. Ken is yet to master its mysteries ! I love it it is such fun, Ken certainly not so sure
You would think such a cool room would have fast internet NO I could only load a few photos
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Today's ride: 65 km (40 miles)
Total: 2,283 km (1,418 miles)
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