August 2, 2013
Dieppe to St Valery
It was really hot last night so what we felt like for dinner was salad. We ate at the hotel the salads were delicious mine a ’Fisherman’s Salad’ was full of smoked salmon, shrimps and various other sea creatures. The contrast between English and French food is striking.
We were up about 6am so that we could be away by 7am and catch the cool of the morning. It was absolutely lovely in the cool fresh air. The only others around were the dog walkers and their eager dogs. This part of Normandy is in its geography like the mirror image of the South Coast of England. The steep white cliffs are absolutely magnificent and all along them are charming little towns which you zoom down to. This of course means that the cycling is absolutely spectacular but not easy.
A long steep hill takes you out of Dieppe, this goes on for about 5km then plunges down to Pourville. You are now well aware of how the day’s ride will go. The little villages you plunge into are absolutely charming. They are clearly very popular holiday spots but that is not all, they are fishing villages as well. Quiberville was particularly interesting. The fishing boats come into the stony beach and are hauled out of the water by tractors. People were queing up at kiosks to buy the fresh fish. It made me wish we could cook. The boats were beside these kiosks and the fishermen were untangling the fish from their nets. I wondered if they bothered to remove all the seaweed caught in them, it seems much easier to catch seaweed than fish.
Up above the cliffs the countryside is neat, attractive and very productive growing wheat, sugar beet, barley , potatoes, rape seed and linseed. The houses are beautiful. Absolutely outstanding are the hydrangeas, their colours are really striking quite unlike any I have seen before. I saw a place that says it houses the National Hydrangea Collection.
I am still riding extremely badly. I don’t have to push my bike up the hills but I am very very slow. When we got to St Vallery although we had only done a short distance we decided to stop at this lovely little town with its tiny port and the lively market that is going on outside our window.
Today's ride: 50 km (31 miles)
Total: 130 km (81 miles)
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