We sailed up the Thames River into London in the evening. The river was busy with boats of all sizes and there was much waving and helloing from boat to boat. As the evening got darker, the lights of the city were beautiful.
We sailed under the Tower of London bridge and were tied up to a battleship called the Belfast. The HMS Belfast was built in the 1930s for the Royal Navy and is now a museum.
Next came two days of walking tours of London. We walked about nine miles each day, rode “the tube” (subway) and became acquainted with the bus system.
(giant slow moving ferris wheel)
After our two whirlwind days in London, we loaded up our bikes and headed south for a two day ride to Portsmouth where we would take the ferry to France.
But, you know what is said about best laid plans…they often go awry. That’s just what happened at the end of our first day of riding. We hadn’t made a hotel reservation because we didn’t know how far we could ride on the first day and it’s often complicated navigating out of really big cities.
At 5:30 after about 40 miles of riding, we decided to quit for the day and look for a hotel in the small town we were in. There was not a hotel room to be had so we started looking in a larger town about six miles back the way we had come. We still could not find a room. I used the internet and we called several hotels, still no room. So, now what do we do we asked ourselves sitting in a bus stop as it became evening. We ended up riding to the train station to take a train into Portsmouth where we were able to find a hotel. Taking the hour train ride to Portsmouth erased a whole day of cycling. We used our “found” day to do laundry and see some sights.
Portsmouth is the home of England’s Royal Navy. We visited a great navel museum with several historic ships for touring.
The following day it was time to leave Great Britain behind and begin our journey in France. The ferry from England to France was much fancier than we expected. We rode our bikes onto the ferry just like the cars. On the boat there were many different sitting rooms, movie theaters, shopping, and restaurants. The six hour ride passed pretty quickly and we were riding off the ferry for our ten mile ride to Caen, France.
Travel the World Backpacking 
What an adventure you’re having! Stay safe and keep the posts coming. Jan
You got some beautiful photos! Looks amazing! Great adventures include the least expected puzzles! You have some great stories to tell! Thank you for sharing!
This is cool. I’m glad to see that you are still adventurously traveling. I was in London last May with my mother. It was my first time in Europe. Can’t wait to see more…