Off on my bike : London to Paris

Setting off from Stratford.

So, I'm off again, this time on two wheels rather than feet.  Don't know how far I'll get, I do have accommodation booked in the Canary Islands and Rio (!), but I may not manage to cycle all the way there - should be fun trying though.

Rio is of course hosting the Olympics this year, so that's one reason to go there, it also explains why I start from the Olympic park - kind of a symbolic departure from the previous venue for the games.  From there I follow a familiar route through Southeast London and into Sussex - the Downs are as hilly as ever but I manage.  I even do some guiding, another cyclist waves me down and asks if I am going to Newhaven, well funnily enough... His GPS has stopped working, so I lead him as far as Lewes where I have to stop for beer.

Peacock at Dangu camping municipal.

Newhaven is not much further, and once there I get a huge kebab, and then board the ferry to Dieppe.  The overnight crossing departs at 11pm, and takes just five hours, not much sleep in my Pullman seat then... well, 5am local time is certainly an early start, but I am feeling a bit broken after yesterday, and that really was not enough sleep.  Progress is slow, and the rain does not help, can't say this is much fun.

The 'Avenue Verte' from Dieppe towards Paris makes good cycling at least, much of it a tarmac surface on old railway lines.  Eventually it gets late enough for cafes to open, I get a coffee and the rain stops, this is more like it.  I just about get to my campsite at Dangu before it starts again, and the nice lady there shows me to a pitch with a substantial shelter.  I do have to share it with a peacock, but I can live with this.

Chateau de Maisons-Laffitte.

It rains pretty much all night, and is still going the next morning, still, nothing to do but stick the sodden tent on the back of the bike and ride on.  It's a nice route along country lanes, the weather does rather spoil things though... still, always a silver lining, I shelter at a bus stop with some fellow bikers who insist on giving me food.  The rain does ease in the afternoon, but there are sections of the Avenue Verte which are simply impassable, gravel tracks turned into mud baths by the sheer volume of water - I detour around as necessary.

I pedal along the Seine, and into industrial northern Paris, past the Stade de France.  An old lady directs me to follow her, fewer barriers than the official route she says... go on then.  And finally, my hotel, in the Gambetta district, it was cheap of course but I am quite pleased, they let me stick my bike inside, and sell me a phone charger for five euros.  I like the area too, distinctively Parisien, but the bars and restaurants are inexpensive enough.  There is even a cheap, late opening supermarket!

It's the Eiffel Tower!

Photos to go with this post can be found here.