June 28, 2018
Flers to Thury Harcourt
Suisse Normandy in granny gear, activity on the water, brand new piste cyclable and a climb to Clecy meeting.
June 28 Thursday 45kms
Flers to Thury-Harcourt
Suisse Normandy in granny gear, activity on the water, brand new piste cyclable and a climb to Clecy meeting.
Early rising - we eat our muesli in the marquee and greet Madame Le Camp ‘bonjour’. It’s a very misty morning and our washing is still damp.
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Flers is busy but we get directions for La Francette on a D road out of town. In fact we continue on D roads to Pont d’Ouilly. We arrive at Corde sur Noireau before midday, so the market is still trading. Lots of the veg and fruit still available. We buy a bag of cherries at 5euros a kilogram. Missed the Bec de Flers - chausson with rhubarb and apple filling. Next time perhaps.
We are now in the hilly country- serious hills. Granny gear much in use. But we have wonderful vistas of green and gold. Farms are solid houses, not as pretty as in the south, but grey stone with some brick relief and grey roofs. The river is Le Noireau.
Down to the river before Pont d’Ouilly and we stop at a picnic spot. The trees were planted in 1997, not so long ago in our memory, and are now tall and shady. Lunch is still cool this frozen bottle of water we’ve been using when we have freezer access. We have a slice of hard cheese from the market. It has a nice sharp flavour - not quite as strong as cheddar. Pont d’Ouilly has a camp for kayakers and a Municipal campground. It’s a spot for lots of water activity and we’re finally seeing people using the river for activities sportif.
Ann’s phone rings on one of the longer, hillier climbs on the D168. It’s such an unusual occurrence that she’s not sure where the noise is coming from at first. It turns out to be her sister, Pauline, calling from Thury Harcourt - shall we meet? We agree on Clecy at 3:15pm. After a couple more hills we divert onto a new path- straight, level, and with a quaint wooden fence. We speed along to Clecy and turn off. They are up at a cafe while we are down at the river; the climb up is not too bad and perhaps we are encouraged by the promise of a cool drink.
Anyway it’s great to meet and we compare travel notes and cool down with a drink.
Later we are off again; we pick up bread and supplies for dinnner. It’s an easier run to Thury-Harcourt on a brand, spanking new track. We find the Le camping Traspy down beside the river. After a beer and frites to accompany our salad, tomatoes and saucisson we finish our still cool melon, shower and hit the hay.
Today's ride: 43 km (27 miles)
Total: 1,844 km (1,145 miles)
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