After we rode away from the ferry we headed for the city of Caen. We wanted to visit this area of Normandy because this is where the WWII D-Day beaches are. We had an excellent all day tour that included going to Omaha and Utah beaches where the American soldiers landed on that fateful day. Our guide was an exceptional story teller. It was so touching learning what the soldiers faced that day as they left the boats and stormed the beaches. Many of those who survived coming onto the beaches were killed later in the day or week by snipers or shelling.
We visited the American Cemetery. After the war American family’s had the option of having their loved one buried in France or brought home for burial. There are 9,388 soldiers buried in the American Cemetery. It is a beautiful and reverent place with a white cross marking the grave of each soldier killed.
Some have asked how we plan our routes. If we were judging by our first few days riding in France we would have to say, “not very well” but we learned a lot and got better as we went along. We start out by picking the main cities we want to see and then create the route to get us there. In this case we wanted to go through Nantes, Bordeaux and Toulouse. We didn’t fully appreciate the beautiful Eurovelo routes of France. They are trails along the rivers and canal tow paths and make for great cycling but we hadn’t learned that yet and planned our routes on the hilly, narrow (no shoulder or bike lane), busy roads. It took us about a half a day to reconsider and move to the velo routes. As we got better at routing we stayed on the velo routes and farm country roads and had much more enjoyable ride days.
Another lesson we learned was about the distance and amount of elevation gain we should plan for. At the beginning we rode some sixty plus mile days with over 2,000 feet of elevation gain while hauling forty pounds. We were exhausted! As we settled in for 30-45 miles per day and 1,000ish feet of elevation gain we were able to have energy to enjoy the towns and villages we were riding through.
We spent most our days riding through the scenic countryside but every few days we stop to do some sightseeing. France is dotted with huge chateaus. The chateaus were the castles of the time for the French nobility. Many of the chateaus have fallen into ruin but some have been restored for other uses or as tourist sites. We chose to tour Chateau de Chenonceau. It was built on the site of a fortified castle and mill house in the fifteenth century. It was occupied by a succession of royalty until the mid 1800s and then bought by the daughter of an industrialist who spent a fortune restoring it to resemble how it looked in it’s early years. During WWI it was used as a hospital for wounded soldiers to recover and rehabilitate from their injuries.
Mont Saint Michel, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, is set in a bay shared by Normandy and Brittany, it was founded as a religious sanctuary in 708. The island lies less than a half mile off France’s coast. It was an important religious site for the Catholic Church, a fortified stronghold and a prison during its history. During WWII it was occupied by the Germans and became a tourist attraction for them until the war ended. The cathedral and other religious buildings, with the village clustered at the base take up the whole island. It is a stunning sight from afar.
These are just a couple of highlights of all of the fascinating places we experienced. As we were traveling we were watching the calendar because we had to be in Nice by July 18th for the final day of the Tour de France.
Travel the World Backpacking 
I am loving your photos and commentary. Keep them coming. Stay safe. Thanks