Day 13 - Rolling through France
Wednesday 6th September 2017
I leave the busy city of Poitiers and am soon on the back roads through central western France. It is a cloudy morning with the expectation of rain but for now the roads remain dry.
My route takes me through Richelieu where the cardinal hailed from. It is a historic town.
"He created from scratch a walled town on a grid arrangement, and, enclosing within its volumes the modest home of his childhood, an adjacent palace, the Château de Richelieu " - wikipedia.
In the centre there is a square with imposing buildings built around a fountain. I stop for coffee in the square before heading north again.
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| The town gate into Richelieu |
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| Richelieu town square |
My route takes me through Richelieu where the cardinal hailed from. It is a historic town.
"He created from scratch a walled town on a grid arrangement, and, enclosing within its volumes the modest home of his childhood, an adjacent palace, the Château de Richelieu " - wikipedia.
In the centre there is a square with imposing buildings built around a fountain. I stop for coffee in the square before heading north again.
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| Willing'ham ? |
It a pretty place with a main square and some sort of a chateau. The hotel on the square is called The Willingham Pub (with an oddly placed apostrophe).
Onwards north and I am soon entering Normandy. I have never visited here before so it seems like a good opportunity to take a look at the D-Day landing beaches and surrounding area.
My first view of the coast is at Gold Beach where the British forces landed. There is a hotel there so I go in to enquire but it is fully booked so I ride along the coast to the small town of Arramanches Les Bains.
This clifftop road takes me past the beach where one of the two Mulberry harbours was constructed. Mulberry harbours were floating landing stages for military supplies that were constructed to service the allied invasion forces during the Normandy Landings in 1944.
I have a particular inerest because one of the engineering firms involved with the construction project was John Mowlem & Co. for whom I worked for 17 years back in the 1980s and 1990s. The company was inordinately proud of its role in the invasion effort and I remember meeting some old civil engineers who had worked on the project in their youth.
In Arromanches I enquire at a small B&B, the Villa Louis et Marguerite. The owner is Hans, a nice guy with good English. His guest house is full but he has a few rooms around the corner above a small WWII museum that he owns and operates. We go round there and it is ideal. I check in and have dinner in a local restaurant recommended by Hans. Tomorrow I shall explore the area more fully.
My first view of the coast is at Gold Beach where the British forces landed. There is a hotel there so I go in to enquire but it is fully booked so I ride along the coast to the small town of Arramanches Les Bains.
This clifftop road takes me past the beach where one of the two Mulberry harbours was constructed. Mulberry harbours were floating landing stages for military supplies that were constructed to service the allied invasion forces during the Normandy Landings in 1944.
I have a particular inerest because one of the engineering firms involved with the construction project was John Mowlem & Co. for whom I worked for 17 years back in the 1980s and 1990s. The company was inordinately proud of its role in the invasion effort and I remember meeting some old civil engineers who had worked on the project in their youth.
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| Hans and his Liberators Museum |
In Arromanches I enquire at a small B&B, the Villa Louis et Marguerite. The owner is Hans, a nice guy with good English. His guest house is full but he has a few rooms around the corner above a small WWII museum that he owns and operates. We go round there and it is ideal. I check in and have dinner in a local restaurant recommended by Hans. Tomorrow I shall explore the area more fully.
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