Day 62: Sunday, 10 July 1983

Start: Campground, Caudebec, France

End: Campground, Ouistreham, France

Out of campground around 9:00 or 9:30. Immediately over a big highway bridge across the Seine with no problem.

Jeez! It's a steaming Sunday and half the population of France is trying to get to or from the beaches along here. Heavy traffic along every route. I eat lunch hunkered by the road. Later stop for a beer to cool off. Really hot. Not much shoulder anywhere. I'm feeling strong, riding hard, coping well. For one especially long gridlocked stretch around Deauville I weave through stalled traffic and make pretty good forward progress while all the tourists with internal combustion engines sit motionless. One driver leans out the window of his car and applauds as I go by.

Reached the Orne River and Caen Canal around 4:00 PM. This is the entrance into what has turned out to be kind of the Holy Grail for me, the Normandy invasion beaches. Keep your castles and art galleries. I'm a WWII kind of guy. The first D-Day museum appeared right there by Pegasus Bridge. Time to pull over. Cool stuff. In the museum I talk to an interesting guide from England named Brian Greenhalgh, a graying WWII veteran of 4th Indian Division, although he wasn't with them until after the early days at Sidi Barrani, Keren, etc. We hit it off right away when I'm able to tell him all about his own division. [2010 Note: Omitting more WWII chatter, and lots more omissions on the way.]

I restrained myself and emerged from the museum without buying every book in stock. Found a suitable campground just up the canal. Ended up having an overpriced meal in a nearby restaurant that wouldn't take credit cards. While sitting alone at a table at dinner, reading, and minding my own business, a boy of about eight at the next table asked me if I spoke English. It was clearly his first language. He was sitting with his younger sister (?) and mother but insisted on twisting around in his chair and chattering away with me, which was okay. He was pretty funny. Eventually he turned to his mother and said "Mum, I think this one might make you a good husband," at which point the lady turned red. An opportune moment for me to skedaddle back to the mildewed June Bug.

Now hiding out in the tent with flashlight and maps. Lots of cool stuff to see in Normandy.

Conditions 

Distance: 106 km 

Weather: Very hot and humid 

Road: Okay, but bad stretches around Deauville 

Traffic: Jammed with beach-going holiday-makers 

Terrain: Mostly flat 

Mechanical: All is well 

Physical: Feeling very strong