Bikes and ferries – Less Car, More Life

Mayday on Les Boucles de la Seine

So this happens towards the end of any trip, no matter the length. Your mind starts to be drawn to your next adventure, or in this case, drawn back to our new home in Seattle. And on longer trips, travel and moving about can just wear you down, especially when moving about as we like to do cycle touring. Ok, our accommodation is generally pretty nice…but constantly packing, unpacking, and hand washing clothes is still tiring after 5 weeks.

Heading out of Honfleur with a new plan.

But first dodging the public market in old town, bone rattling cobbles, and a swing bridge. These folks were headed out for a leisurely e-bike jaunt. Trade bikes?

So as a travel planner, it’s important to keep this in mind, as maybe you can do things to diminish the “end of vacation” funk. Of course, we are now retired, so this is A LOT less of an issue than thinking about the projects, presentation, and meetings you had when you get back to the office. Or ramping up your work engagement remotely as you near home. Gotta answer 100s of emails; postpone, divert, and remind everyone you’ll be back next week. Uhg. Don’t miss any of that.

This impressive Pont de Normandie cable-stayed bridge was built in 1995 and spans the mouth to Le Havre on the North (River Droit) side of the river. Luckily, we did not need to cross it today.

Described in forums as the “Second scariest bridge crossing in France!” It’s steep and windy with no bike lane and full of trucks. Apparently there is a shuttle bus you can catch, so if you are heading to Le Harve and Normandy coastal points north, take it! BTW, it turns out we have done the scariest crossing at the mouth of the Loire in 2023, ha!

Starting into a moderate headwind. The Seine is huge here.

Cheryl soon decides this 8km exposed section is better in my slipstream as we have a long day ahead. We also hug the wall for added windbreak.

And we were able to load up at a large E. Leclerc grocery outside of Honfleur which had Cheryl’s favorite Normand yogurt. And Poire (pear) is a close second to Citron Vert.

And of course bike touring has its own challenges, including things you can’t control, like the wind, road closures, and mechanical issues. But sometimes you CAN adjust plans for the winds. I had looked at the forecast as we headed up the Normandy coast in cross/head winds and just as we turned up the Seine towards Paris, the winds would be strong and full onto us from the East. Hmmm.

This dramatic part of the lower Seine is mostly in a designated Nature Park which limits development and I imagine funds thatching for the roofs too.

And soon there were lots of thatched roofs.

So with the headwinds, there was no way we were going to make it the 350 kilometers to Paris on the designated Seine à Vélo route as we had a non refundable reservation there starting May 3rd. So our new goal was simply to get to the City of Rouen, where we could spend a couple of nights and then easily catch one of the frequent trains into Paris. Rouen to Paris on the Seine will have to wait.

Horse country just upslope from the historic floodplain of the Seine on an old bend (boucle) in the river

Then a bit of dull forest, but out of the wind!

This bird watching tower next to some extensive wetlands was the only publicly accessible break spot for about 30km…and mostly out of the wind.

A great way to get your veggies…and goes down easily while touring. Mostly.

My name is Rich, and I swear by Alvalle Gazpacho

And even more tidy thatch. Thatching and repairs must be a big business around here!

So it turns out the irises on top of almost every thatched roof here serve to anchor the clay cap with their dense root systems, absorb excess moisture and prevent rotting. And the iris is closely tied to French heritage, historically recognized as the royal flower of France (fleur-de-lis). Cool.

After some serious 30mph afternoon headwinds, we made to our first (and turns out only!) crossing of the Seine by small ferry boat.

We had 20 minutes to wait, so Cheryl relaxed a bit. 8 straight days without a rest day was wearing us down a bit.

Finally here comes the boat for a quick end ramp load and the 5 minute crossing. The boats run every 20 minutes all day, except for “designated breaks”, when the gap is double that.

**Bacs de Seine** are a “network of 8 free, flat-bottomed passenger and vehicle ferries in Normandy. They operate across the lower loops of the River Seine, offering a charming shortcut and a beloved tradition for locals, cyclists, and drivers”

With remote lodging, you always need to figure out dinner, and it appeared all that was (maybe) open in our little village of Jumièges on Wednesday nights was a take out pizza place, so we bought a few back up supplies

Our amazing Suite at the **Domaine le Clos des Fontaines** in Jumièges. They nicely upgraded us after seeing how tall I was as we were slated for a smaller upper floor room with slanted ceilings.

And yes, dinner was two delicious take out pizzas and some red wine on the patio. Cycle tourists dream.

Jumièges is a lovely little village, especially in the fragrant Spring.

The big attraction in Jumièges is the stunning and atmospheric Abbey ruins.

The Benedictine Monastery dates back to AD 654. After being burnt down and pillaged by the Vikings, it was rebuilt in the 10th and 11th century, expanded in the 16th century and was renowned for its charity to the poor.

It was partially deconstructed for quarry stone after the French Revolution before being a recognized as an important historic site.

But I imagine there have always been Abbey cats.

There is a 500 year old Yew tree in the Cloister and these Scots pines surround the area.

Nice chairs to soak in the gardens and history.

After the abbey, it was nice to have a room fridge and a patio to enjoy, protected from the East winds And then a brisk swim in the pool was a perfect afternoon refresher.

Our second night in Jumièges we were able to enjoy a lovely country dinner at Le Petite Auberge

Packed up and ready to head to Rouen. Very refreshed.

And surprisingly, the little épicerie in Jumièges was open Mayday morning, so we grabbed a few things for lunch.

So May Day is a HUGE holiday in France and we’ve been caught out by it a few times in the past. How huge is this workers holiday? Well the Bacs de la Seine run 364 days a year, so are are only closed on one day. And yup, you guessed it, it’s May Day. I had been thinking about food and restaurants on the holiday, but it did not occur to me that the ferries wouldn’t run at all. We needed two crossings to follow the river route from Jumièges to Rouen, so this way would not be possible.

Since the Bacs were not running on May Day, we had to take an alternate route only on the North bank instead of the planned 55km River route to Rouen. The planner was as a bit frustrated by this, but c’est la vie.

The alternate route did include some nice new rail-trail, and was only an easy 40km.

The Voie Verte Claude Lemesle eventually turned from paved into a dirt track with the rails still in place. Ok, but not ideal as too narrow to pass others without a small diversion.

Turn right before the old rail viaduct and head up the ridge.

After climbing over a big ridge, we descended into one of the older industrial valleys near Rouen. It felt a bit like an English or Welsh coal valley. But we did manage to find the one shady quiet bench for our lunch on this quiet May Day.
(Hint: always try near the Town Hall or Marie)

We opted for a new Hyatt Place up the hill from central Rouen. It was not your suburban USA Hyatt Place, and instead a 2024 green renovation of a 19th century women’s teaching school. Very nice.

And a fantastic secured bike room nicely located and with proper U racks! Nice -:)

The French cities take a while to wake up on the weekends, so still pretty quiet at 9 am as we crossed into the vast old city center of Rouen.

Cheryl actually impressed by Rouen’s famous and ornate cathedral. In her defense we have seen a lot of cathedrals, so it takes some doing to impress her now.

The Rouen Cathedral is magnificent and “famous for its asymmetrical Gothic facade, the 151-meter cast-iron spire (the tallest in France), and as the subject of Claude Monet’s iconic Impressionist paintings”

Rouen was scene to fierce fighting at the end of World War 2.

Franco-German artist Jan Vormann has “repaired” sections of the old courthouse by filling its war scars with colorful Lego bricks.

The legos are a playful but effective illustration of darker times in the heavily bombed industrial areas around Rouen.

The interior courtyard of Musée des Beaux-Arts de Rouen with the umbrellas of the city exhibition, which was featuring the role of rain in art.

“Horizontal” by Alexander Calder fronts the museum and peaceful adjacent park.

Painting of the Sons of Clovis in Rouen. We had just read about the 12th century legend of the vanquished brothers at the Jumièges Abbey. Tendons cut, they were cast adrift by Queen Mathilde to float down the Seine, yet taken in and looked after for the rest of their days by the Abbey. Cheryl thinks this story and art work are too creepy for words. If it’s true?

And 2 days in larger city like Rouen meant more diverse food, like these delicious momos at Bhumtso, a Tiebetan restaurant.

The Mussée Les Secq Tournelles houses pre-industrial cast iron works in an old cathedral.

Thousands of metal works here, but I was particularly impressed with the amazing lock mechanisms and bespoke keys.

And then tasty Malaysian food for dinner at **Kopitiam**.

Rouen is a lively city and has an extensive grid of old streets and half-timbered buildings, and we enjoyed our 2 nights there. The riverfront was a little disappointing as the city still dedicates it to cars. Hopefully someday they’ll take back some of the space and make some of the dramatic livability improvements that Paris and Lyon have embraced.

Easy ride between rain bursts to Gare de Rouen and a casual clothes day.

Loved the oversized elevators to the platforms.

And then the skies opened up after we were on the platform. Thank you!

No problem loading at the beginning of this TER train run as it started it Rouen, but it was packed by the time we got to its terminus in Paris. Luckily, they were holding the passengers waiting to board from accessing the full platform. This was the end of the two week spring school holidays!

So we made it to Paris, making sure to pick a local train TER that started in Rouen, not a longer distance Nomad train. We also splurged a tad for first class on this short trip as these fancy bi-level train sets have bike access for both 1st and 2nd class. We knew the trains would be very crowded as this was last Sunday heading into Paris at the end of the 2 week school holiday period for the region. And it WAS crowded, but first class less so and a very spacious and nice ride skirting the edges of the last bends of the Seine.

Clear of the busy Gare de Saint Lazare in Paris and ready to ride across one of our favorite cities -:)

Cheryl will finally take us home to Seattle in the next post. Keep riding!

Wales to Brittany by bike. With a Stena Lines ferry boost.

The approach to the Fishguard Ferry terminal.

One of the only riddles I can always remember is “How do you get two whales in a Mini?” Answer: Over the Severn Bridge. Doesn’t work written down (to Wales in a Mini), and rarely works for an American audience- the Severn Bridge? Wales? What?

Our riddle was how to get us and two bikes quickly and efficiently from Wales to France. Big touring bikes that do not fit easily in the bike closets provided on many UK trains. We could have ridden all the way to Portsmouth or another southern England port, but to be honest bike touring in a lot of the UK is not fantastic. And we wanted to get back to France to tour while the weather was still good, not spend more time crossing Britain. The answer to our riddle? Stena Lines Ferry.

For the first leg of our trip our friends in Tenby generously drove us and our bikes to Fishguard, Wales, for our 24 hour fun journey to France.

Rich waiting with our ferry behind him. This ferry will take us to Ireland.

Let’s get this show on the road! Lunch and snacks in the bag.

I love traveling by ferry. It’s a fantastic way to get between the continent and the UK or Ireland without flying. Flying not only has a bigger carbon footprint than the ferry, but it’s also a pain with bicycles. Ferries and bikes are quite easy. At Fishguard the bikes wait with foot passengers, who are driven onto the ferry by a bus, but we bikes get to wheel on with our own escort.

Rich in the bike nook, cars loading on behind him.

The bikes are secured with a rope, provided by the helpful staff person you see securing a motorcycle behind Rich. The motos are strapped down to recessed hooks in the floor.

Secure and ready to go. For this 3 hour journey we leave the bags on the bikes.

I always snap a photo of our deck number and stairwell color. Just in case we both forget.

Then it’s a cup of tea, a coconut macaroon from Loafly Bakery in Tenby, and a sheltered spot on the sun deck.

We were the only two people with bikes on this ferry trip, but there were quite a few motorcycles. We all wait to unload together.

I’m still fascinated by the huge car and truck decks on these ferries. It’s a bit intimidating to be a little cyclist surrounded by trucks and cars as you exit.

I don’t take pictures while disembarking, I’m too busy trying to keep up with the flow and not skid on the steel plates of the ramp. It looks more dodgy than it is, but I prefer both hands on my handlebars for this part of the trip.

Our next ferry, from Rosslare Harbour, County Wexford, would take us to Cherbourg, France. This was a long ferry ride, 16 hours. You have to purchase a cabin, no sleeping in the chairs. While in line for this ferry we chatted with a nice Irish cyclist named David, headed to France for a Rugby World Cup game and to meet up with his brother. Also traveling by bike.

Motorcycles and bikes loading from lane 12.

The bikes on this ferry were stashed next to a conveyor belt, and lashed to it by a staff person.

We were a bit mystified and annoyed by the fact that this ferry seemed to allow only four bikes on. When Rich was making reservations the website told him at first that there was only 1 bike space left. He was able to get both bikes on the next day, it seems that when his initial attempt to reserve and pay hung up in the payment phase, it locked down the 2 bike spots and they needed some time to reset and release. David agreed with us that it was ridiculous to allow only four bikes on a massive ferry loaded with cars and trucks, he said he would probably just show up and talk his way on, if he had been denied a bike reservation. We’re not that confident in our gift of gab, not being Irish, but we all agreed to send sternly worded emails to the Stena Line Ferry company. (We otherwise really like this ferry company.)

Behind this door, Premium Class Cabins. That was us! We went Premium Class.

A very comfortable cabin. You can see one of the upper bunks above Rich, this cabin could sleep four.

The cabin had a kettle, tea and coffee, some snacks, outlets with continental plugs – two pin – and a very decent sized bathroom. More later on morning amenities. First, off to the bar!

White wine and Guinness. Rich couldn’t be in Ireland, however briefly, without having a Guinness. Dance floor available, pop music blaring from the sound system.

The view from the Metropolitan Bar. We imagine that during busy summer holidays the dance floor gets some use.

We decided on this trip to just eat from the restaurant instead of bringing on our own dinner or breakfast. You could certainly save money by taking on your own picnic meals, but the food got pretty good reviews so we made our lives easier and went to the buffet restaurant for dinner and breakfast.

The buffet and a guy who gets his money’s worth from a buffet.

My first plate, noodle salad, Greek salad, and veggies. All quite good.

Dinner at the buffet was a success. There was a bar in the restaurant, drinks not included except water and tea/coffee, we opted for water.

We went for an after dinner walk on deck and then it was off to bed in our comfortable cabin.

Another benefit of Premium Class was the morning coffee and milk from the coffee machine in the hallway, and croissants and raisin rolls, and oddly, magazines. Good Housekeeping and Men’s Health, and the duty free magazine.

Coffee, pastries, and water in the fridge.

Yes, I was out in the hallway in my jammies, this was just outside our door.

And then I was tucked up back in bed with tea made with the room kettle, with fresh
milk from the machine, a croissant, and a magazine.

Since we had a ride planned from when the ferry docked at 2pm to our first night in Normandy at Port-Bail-sur-Mer, we went and enjoyed the breakfast buffet to make sure we were fueled for our 46 km hilly ride.

Breakfast buffet was served from 8 to 10 am.

Another walk on the deck, watching for land.

The flag has the silhouette of Cyprus, where this boat is registered.

Lifeboats. Which you hope no one ever has to use. They hold 114 people each.

Finally allowed back to our bikes, we found the trucks were parked right next to our bikes and the floor had puddles of sea water. David, Rich, and a nice nomadic French cyclist whose name I didn’t get. Chatting with other cyclists is a fun bonus of ferry travel.

Ten years nomadic cycling. He said he’s off to the US next. Nice guy.

Traveling with bikes on the Stena Line or Brittany Ferries is becoming our regular way of getting to and from the UK from the continent or Ireland. This was our 12th ferry trip, seventh with bikes, since going nomadic just over two years ago. Eight have been long crossings, and four were shorter hops, Germany to Sweden, Denmark, etc. On this trip our Stena lines reward number got a work out as we bought so many meals – not inexpensive – but now we have points for future discounts. As I mentioned above, you could certainly make this journey less expensive by getting a standard cabin, and either bringing your own picnic meals or opting for a non buffet dinner and breakfast. The premium cabins vary ship to ship, on one from Hook of Holland to Harwich we had a full sized bed in the cabin and no upper bunks. Both were very comfortable and we slept well.

The happy travelers headed from Wales to Ireland.

We’re now in France, cycle touring in Normandy and Brittany. And guess what? That heat wave in Wales may have been our last summer heat, the weather has taken a decidedly autumnal turn.

How to take a vacation from your travels. And on to the next adventure.

It’s been over a year since we’ve been nomading, vagabonding, wandering – whatever it is we’re doing. The transitions can be very challenging, city to county side, country to country, bike touring to backpack travel again. How do we do it without burning out, or driving each other bonkers? Our secret superpower is a home base in France, thanks to wonderful friends who hopefully know how much we appreciate it. There we can swap gear, relax in familiar and comfortable surroundings (Oh, comfy couch, we love you.), and actually be in different rooms from each other! For hours!

Those are the smiles of travelers who get to be somewhere familiar and cozy, and swap out some gear.

We are super fortunate to have a private home where we can recharge, but we also have places which are familiar and comfortable that provide the same mental break. Bristol, in the UK. A city we love and have been to three times. Hove/Brighton will be one of those places as well. Both have good public transit, lots to do and see and good for getting around the area. Izmir, Turkey is probably one of the places we’ll go back to again and feel happy knowing our way around, and what we like to do and eat. Our home town of San Francisco, of course. A place where you can navigate without a map and know the bus routes and bike routes. That feels great, wherever it is.

The relief felt when encountering French bike infrastructure again is massive.

But wait, how did we get here? As Rich mentioned in the previous post, Hove to the Haute Savior takes about 13 not always easy steps, with loaded touring bikes. Trains, a ferry, rides to and from hotels, to and from trains, trains to trains, and finally a lift the last few steep miles. We love the UK, but the French have really zoomed ahead of the British with safe, comfortable bike facilities, especially in urban areas and to connect town and cities. From getting off the ferry in the dark and rain, and directly on to a protected cycle way to our hotel, to the next morning riding the riverside path that led us into Caen for our train to Paris, it felt easy and relaxed. We both breathed a sigh of relief. Oh yeah, this is fun! Bike touring with no safe route is so stressful. Bike touring with lovely pathways and signage? A joy.

Headed from Ouistreham where the ferry docks, into Caen.

Arrived at Gare Paris Saint-Lazare via train. Tick off another step.

Rue de Rivoli in Paris at rush hour. Headed to our hotel in the 12 arrondissement.

Let’s take a moment to recognize what an amazing transformation Paris has undergone. 10k at rush hour with loaded touring bikes and it was not at all stressful. Even though we probably caused some near misses as we stopped at red lights and the cyclists behind us kept going – there was no cross traffic so they were being safe, just not expecting the big old loaded American touring bikes to actually stop! We got the hang of it. The quiet of Rue de Rivoli was like a forest bath. The sound of voices and bike tires. No loud engines. No car horns. Just the lovely sound of people. I’ll say it again, cities aren’t loud, internal combustion engines are loud.

Gare de Lyon, waiting for our TGV platform to be announced. One night in Paris is too short a stay, but still fun.

Three trains later, yada yada yada, we made it!

So, now that our legs, backs, and bottoms are totally adapted to bike touring, after four months of travel by and with bikes, let’s mix it up!

Load up that backpack, lace up the boots, and let’s Camino.

While down in town at the weekly market, where we walked with our packs which have scallop shell Camino patches on them, a young man said to us – you have a long way to go. And then after I used my one good French phrase “I’m sorry, I don’t speak French.”, he said it again in English. (Oh, to be bilingual.) Why thank you for thinking we could and would walk all the way from the French border with Switzerland to Santiago de Compostela, Spain, but no. We will actually fly to Bilbao.

We try quite hard to not fly places. This will be our first flight since returning from Turkey in May. Unfortunately, avoiding air travel means you must have time, and more money than the cheap flights cost. But, we do what we can, and sometimes our chosen lifestyle means airplanes.

Lunch break on our first training day out with our packs.

And rain it did. We were grateful to find this shelter by a glider field so we could enjoy our lunch.

With packs on and trekking poles in hands we started walking. And walking some more. Hopefully we’ll be in good enough hiking shape for the long Camino days.

A very helpful and beautiful orientation table at the peak of the climb. It did clear a bit on our way back.

Practicing the Camino picnic. My Cleverhood rain cape doubles as a ground cloth for sitting.

What a place to be able to train for the Camino. The Lower Alps are simply stunning. Varied terrain, nicely signposted routes, amazing views. And beautiful cows. Making all that delicious cheese.

The Happy Travelers on our final training hike. The sun came out to bid us farewell.

By the time you read this we will be headed to Spain. We’re meeting dear friends from California to hike part of the Camino del Norte. Adiós y Buen Camino!

London to Brighton by Bicycle! Hove, actually.

Welcome back and sorry for the delay! After our wonderful 6+ weeks of exploring Ireland, we left Dublin under the threat of rain to catch an early boat to Holyhead, Wales. Our ultimate destination was a house and cat sit stay in Hove, on England’s historic south coast, and part of the lively Brighton and Hove municipality.

Cruising South Downs National Park towards the water and Brighton

Riding to the Port of Dublin, which is really a work in progress.

Luckily the rain managed to hold off while we rode to the massive Dublin port and terminal area, and the Irish Sea was thankfully calmer than predicted. We also decided to try out Irish Ferries instead of Stena Line, but we’ll fill you in on all the nuances of our year of ferry, train and bike travel in an upcoming post. Stay tuned.

Posing with our new friend waiting to board the Ferry in Dublin

Successfully off the train at London Euston, at a very quiet spot at the end of a platform and 10 car Avanti West train! One other intrepid cycle tourist with us.

Central London rush hour cycling was a breeze, even in a bit of rain.

Since we didn’t have time to ride all the way from Wales to Hove, we decided to train from Holyhead to London and then spend 3 relatively short days cycling to Hove via scenic back routes and footpaths. So we boarded the train in Holyhead, and after one transfer arrived in London.

Further along the Thames towards Wimbledon the roads got a lot more hectic

But unlike our last ride across London, which was on a quiet Saturday morning, we had 17km of pure evening rush hour riding from Euston Station to Wimbledon. I had found a nice guest house in Wimbledon that was bike friendly, walkable to dinner, and much cheaper than any part of Central London. It also got us a bit on our way towards Hove, and allowed a bit of the stretching of the legs after the ferry and train time.

Loved the Marple Cottage Guest House in Wimbledon

The irony of our ride was that Central London was still easy peasy due to light traffic, great bikeways, and smooth pavement. But as soon as we left the core and headed southwest into SW3, 11, and 18, the roads got a lot busier and the bike accommodation was less. The reimagined cores of global cities are now often ahead of their more suburban car oriented neighbors. Regardless, we made it to Wimbledon just fine, and were pleased to have a long 13-hour travel day over! It was then an easy walk to a great pub (The Alexandra) for dinner and some libations. We liked that the Alexandra had a sports side, non sports area, and upstairs loft, so you could choose your setting based on your mood. (Or passion for Arsenal or Liverpool!)

Finally, a bench atop Farthing Downs to have some lunch!

Unsuitable for trucks means more suitable for bikes!

We had been to Wimbledon a few times when staying in London, as the area is nice, and walking though Richmond Park via Wimbledon Common is lovely. With easy train connections to central London, it’s a good alternative neighborhood to stay in if you want a bit less hubbub and cost than central London too.

The breakfast at the Godstone Inn was fantastic; Gourmet Full English and Avocado Toast with Scrambled Eggs.

There is no single “route” from London to Brighton and no National cycle network route that gets you there directly unless you divert fairly far east or west. You can head west via the NCR4 and 223 (rail trail-flat!) or east via the Avenue Verte, which is a good route to Paris via the Newhaven-Dieppe DFDS Ferry. We still went fairly directly and used Komoot, and a route on the Cycle.Travel site. I then tweaked each daily route to try to avoid busier roads, take in some sights, and hit sections of quiet lanes tagged by Komoot users. The big advantage of cycle touring on a leisurely schedule is that it is always easier to lengthen a journey and day as desired, but not the opposite. If you’re more time pressed, then you often have fewer choices and can be forced to take busier roads and ride through the worst of the weather.

The main roads south of London and in Sussex are all pretty busy, so we were happy to have the time to explore via smaller routes. It was also supposed to be rainy, and rain it did, so our schedule allowed us to duck under cover for showers, and not fret about excessively long days out in the wet. About 40-50k a day, but it did feel much longer on wet hilly roads, muddy paths, and stops at little sights along the way. Slow travel for sure.

Cheryl trying not to shred her legs through the briars…mostly successful.

Heading down into the green abyss near Ardingly via some very steep hollows.

One challenge of routing via Komoot or OS maps is knowing what the real condition of a footpath or bridleway will be. They vary widely! Smooth forest floor, decomposed rock or grass can be easy. Roots, mud, briars, and kissing gates or stiles can be a real challenge….your best bet is to look at notes/markers people have tagged in Komoot and be ready to turn around and divert back to paved roads as needed.

A memorable night at the Ardingly Inn, sharing in the shock of the Queens passing with the locals.

Even with our planning; we inevitably were on some busy stretches of A and B roads to connect up the quiet lanes, but they were not too bad for short stretches, but not recommended for longer distances, with large trucks and often mixed/no shoulders. Some A roads have bike lanes indicated on Google (light green solid lines), but these can consist of 2-3 foot shoulders, and with grit, wet roads, and high speed traffic, are not really anywhere you WANT to be. There is still a lot of work to do in the UK to make safe cycling networks complete and practical for those other than hard core sporty types. Or those with a lot of time (like us-:).

The other variable on footpaths is how they are maintained, as clearly some landowners don’t really seem to want to accommodate the rightful access. But don’t get me wrong, the public footpath and bridleway network in the UK is an amazing thing and really allows unfettered and peaceful walking almost anywhere you want to go. We really missed this in Ireland. So as we build our perfect country, we’d take the footpath system from the UK, and the cycling access from the Netherlands.

Ready for our final short day via the Ditchling Beacon from Ardingly

Cheryl’s final assault on the Ditchling Beacon! And about to cross the South Downs Way long distance walking path.

Atop the Ditchling Beacon looking back towards London

Hove’s iconic beach cabins on a Saturday morning as a local triathlon finishes up.

All in all, the three days were very nice despite the rain. Sussex countryside is beautiful and the rains of the past few weeks had regreened the landscape from the late summer drought. (But not enough to fill the reservoirs again!)

The English Channel….France in the far distance!

Brighton’s waterfront quay has been reimagined with eateries and art galleries….but this day required some clean up after much needed rains.

It was a dramatic change from Summer to Fall over our two weeks in Hove

Great old timey rides on the Brighton Pleasure Pier

Steel pilings and railings take a beating on the English Channel

The skeleton frame in the distance is all that remains of the West Pleasure Pier; which hosted up to 2 million people a year in its heyday in the early 1900s.

People were a bit more friendly and laid back in Brighton and Hove

Day hike via the Thameslink to Balcombe…great place to start walking right into the woods.

Another engineering marvel, the 1,500 foot long Ouse Valley Viaduct. Designed by John Rastrick and opened in 1841. It still serves the main Brighton to London line today!

Cheryl with our morning pastries on the Undercliff walk near the Brighton Marina. (The Marina is bit of a 1970s design nightmare)

We arrived a bit early for our house sit, so decided to head to Hove Park, which is a very nice central park with a great cafe. Immediately we were greeted by a friendly cyclist who inquired about our travels and told us that would love Hove. Which we did.

Brighton and Hove have a temperate and pleasant oceanside climate, long established LGBTQ community, art scene, good restaurants , a walkable grid, and connectivity by bus and train. It’s hilly with both broad slopes and steep valleys that frequently reward you with views. It’s also flush with parks and borders the large South Downs National Park. It really reminded me of San Francisco and is a place we would consider staying awhile.

Sunset on the Regent’s Canal during a day trip to London.

The Camden Canal on one of our easy day trips to London. The narrow boaters yelled to us that it was only their second day on their new boat- they were very excited!

The rail connectivity means you can be at Gatwick airport in 30 minutes, and London in less than an hour. And you can even go all the way through London to Cambridge in 2 hours without a transfer. Getting to France is easy via Eurostar (from St. Pancras) and ferries from Portsmouth and Newhaven to the Normandy Coast.

Lots of space on the South Downs for cows and walking.

That’s Cheryl at the bottom of the fascinating formation known as the Devils Dyke

So, with such great connectivity, we met friends from London on the Thameslink to hike, a friend in London for the day, and other friends in Worthing, an easy train ride west. It was also fairly bike friendly, especially along the coast. It was wonderful to get so much social time with friends.

Another engineer bucket list item? Thanks Joe and Justina for the ride!

The great waking and SDNP adjacency came in handy as we mostly parked our bikes and walked and hiked from our house sit in every direction (except the ocean). The comfy double decker bus system, with USB ports at every seat and easy contactless payment via credit card or Apple Pay (capped day fares!), was the most fun, especially along the coast.

Couldn’t miss a ride on Volk’s Railway along the waterfront. Some dedicated folks (ok train nerds!) keep this running.

We loved the extremely walkable streets of Hove and Brighton…Street party around the corner from us in the Wilbury Villas neighborhood.

Independent neighborhood organic store and coffee….dense and car free living means more to discover around each corner.

The two weeks flew by, and we had to pack up, clean the apartment, and say goodbye to the sweet cat we had bonded with over two weeks. So we caught a train to Portsmouth and a ferry to Caen and another 3 day journey via train and bike to the Valleé Verte.

Our sweet house sit cat…mostly blind and deaf, but incredibly affectionate.

Hove Station at night with a huge new high rise neighborhood being built beyond; a great place for housing given walkability, transit, and weather.

But where to next you ask? Let’s just say we’ll need all the walking fitness we can muster. But another update from Cheryl is coming soon. Bon Voyage!