I think my sleeping mat is leaking quicker and quicker each time I use it, just like how a slow puncture in a bike tyre, which you keep pumping up to defer having to fix, seems to leak faster as you go on, until you finally give in and repair it.
I blew the mat up three times during the night and it was going flat pretty quickly. I'll have to find a camping store ASAP, but it may be difficult to find what I'm after in France since I can't speak French, we'll see.
On top of the mat going flat (get it?), there were two inconsiderate French blokes that kept talking well into the night, and again early in the morning when there were half a dozen other people lying on the floor clearly sleeping, or at least trying to. This made for a poor night's sleep, which probably explained why I still felt so tired in the morning, despite getting almost nine hours sleep.
 |
| Looking out to the ocean from the ferry, somewhere between Rosslare and Cherbourg, in the Celtic Sea I imagine. |
 |
| Folks enjoying the view from inside the ferry to Cherbourg. |
Then I read information on how to use this new app I used yesterday (MotionX-GPS), then did some blogging. Before I knew it, the boat was docking at Cherbourg. I'd thought the time on the ferry would go really slowly, but it went quick, I hadn't even caught up on my blog, or learnt any French words, I'd wanted to go through some common phrases and start on a French lesson with an app I got on my iPhone (the first lesson is free then you have to buy the app if you want the rest). But like I say I didn't get time, so I knew very minimal French when we docked at Cherbourg.
 |
| The ferry pulling into the dock at Cherbourg, France. |
I was in the line with all the cars to get passports checked. The woman in France said "Bonjour", one of about three French words I do know the meaning of. So, in my best French accent, I responded "bonjour".
She stamped the passport and said something I didn't understand, followed by "au re voir", which is one of the other three French words/phrases I know the meaning of. I already had in mind what I was going to say: "merci" I said, which is the third French word I know, which means "thank-you" as you probably know.
And with that I was out on my own, in a foreign country that I couldn't speak the language of, where I didn't know anyone, without had no plans, knowing not where I was going, I didn't even have a map! I felt quite underprepared, as though I'd been thrown in the deep end of a swimming pool with no swimming apparatus.
But really, I'd jumped in the deep end and assumed I'd float, and hoped I'd learn how to swim.
It was about 6 pm so there wasn't time to get much cycling in before dark. My first priority was to find some Wi-Fi so I could look at Google Maps. "Okay, remember to ride on the right hand side," I told myself. It felt really strange riding on the right hand side, wow, it'll take some getting used to. I have to remember to look the right way at intersections and roundabouts.
I saw a sign to McDonalds and rode there, knowing they had free Wi-Fi. There I checked email and looked at Google Maps, and decided I might as well ride along the coast. I felt I couldn't just ask a local which were the good/scenic/safe roads to ride along because I can't speak French. I've heard that many French people won't help you if you just start speaking in English. They think that since it's their country, visitors should have to speak their language. So you should always start with "bonjour" and not "hello", and at least try to speak some French, and they will appreciate that and be more likely to help you. That's what I'm told anyway, it makes sense. So that's why I want to learn some French.
I hopped on my bike and started riding; this would enable me to think about my situation and options as I leisurely peddled along.
The roads were busy at first, coming out of Cherbourg, but a lot had had separated bike lanes running alongside them.
Further out I was on a narrow road but it wasn't too busy, and drivers seem to give you plenty of space when over-taking.
The riding was quite pleasant, and I thought about what to do as it gradually got darker. I thought I'd stop at a pub for a meal, stop at a shop for milk, then keep riding until I found a suitable camp site. There weren't many pubs along the way, or maybe I just missed them because I don't understand French. There weren't any shops either, but every now and again there were little picnic tables on the side if the road, signposted with a picture sign that I understood. I stopped at a few of these until I found one that was suitable enough and set up camp there.
I'd pretty much devoured my food supply, all I had left was one banana and the iced fruit cake from London, so I ate a bit of that and banana for tea, blogged and went to sleep.
Ride stats:
Distance: 30.62 km
Average: 17.2 km/h
Maximum: 52.2 km/h
Time: 1:46:34
No comments:
Post a Comment