My first love was a 10 speed racing bike

A late afternoon ferry from Newhaven crossed the English Channel to the old port city of Dieppe . No serious customs or immigration queues , just passports noted and bonjours aplenty . Barbs fairly confident in school girl French so she has the talking rolls now .

We only had to negotiate about 2 km on the last meagre twilight rays as we cycled into town at about 10.30 pm . A nice hotel for 2 nights as we elected to have a day off to get a chance to see this famous old town and let muscles and sit bones and sore bum tissues to settle down

Been a treat walking the streets here , buying our first fresh pastries at the local Patisserie and taking coffees on the promenade.

Dieppe has some sobering WW2 history , being the sad place where nearly 1000 young Canadian men were killed in an aborted raid by the Allies in 1942 that failed spectacularly . It is now a Mecca for Canadians much like Gallipoli is to kiwis / Aussies. The locals buried over 700 in the local Dieppe cemetery .

The route goes thru magnificent rural farming landscapes with poppy fields in full bloom , farmers cutting hay. All the small villages have an obligatory Catholic Church . So many ancient buildings on route

The first chateau seen on day one on our route

So many beautiful very old churches just dot the landscape , testament to the power that the old Catholic Church held over the common folk in days past . Lots of very serious generational God bothering happened here in France .

I stopped to watch this family group of cattle all at ease , stomachs full so a perfect time to sit down awhile. So often do you see this scene in NZ . Very rarely I think , yet common in places like France . Why ? Suspect that our cows are not as well fed . Not sure .

Day 3 from Dieppe and we finally arrived on the outskirts of Paris . Camped at Maisons- Lafitte , only about 10 km from the city centre of Paris. Was a long hot day and we were both very tired and relieved to finally arrive at this large campsite .