Distance this section : 253km
Distance completed : 1311km
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| Crossing the Seine. |
From Brionne, I follow a pleasant cycle route as far as Évreux, where I need to detour to Decathlon to buy some gas for cooking - it seems to be the only French stockist for standard threaded canisters. I cross the Seine at Vernon, then ride into Giverny, where there are lots of tourists, day trippers from Paris it seems, drawn by a parade of gardens and art galleries. A little further and I find myself on a familiar route, the Avenue Verte from London to Paris, indeed tonight I am heading back to Dangu, my first campsite in France back in 2016. Good to get there, it has been a long day, sadly this time though there is no peacock.
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| Camping at Dangu again. |
The next morning I ride a little further along the Avenue Verte, then a decent road route for most of day. This seems to be chalk country, I see little quarries, and chunks of flint in the fields, it feels very English. There are lots of other cyclists, generally (even!) older than me, they have better bikes though. Mind you, I don't think their racers would be suited to the last fifteen kilometres or so of my route, the 'Coulée Verte' is another old rail line, but the 'verte' bit is right - much of the surface being grass. Camp is at Loeuilly, not a lot here but it is no problem to ride a couple of kilometres back to Conty for beer and merguez.
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| On the Coulée Verte. |
From Loeuilly, the Coulée Verte continues a little way, then I ride into Amiens, a substantial place which takes a while to get through, though much of it on riverside paths, so nice and flat. Indeed I'm now alongside the 'Somme Navigable', and I am starting to pass World War 1 cemeteries - this will be a theme of the next few days. But a short day today, good as I am tired, need to rest and do some washing. Camp is in a proper town, Albert, so I treat myself to a fine dinner, there is ficelle picarde, it is good.
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| Relics of war in Albert. |
Photos to go with this post can be found here
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