Criquetot L'Esneval to Honfleur: Sometimes Travelling is Hard Work
We had been warned that it would be tough riding to Le Havre - gestures suggesting big hills and a big bridge gave us the idea that it could be an interesting day. The other problems were the high temperatures, the fact that it is Monday (and most everything is closed) and that the route was quite confusing. Everyone we asked for help had no idea how to approach Le Havre and the Pont de Normandie (Bridge) by bicycle. When we reached Montivilliers, we were completely lost. We finally chanced upon a group of cyclists who gave us clear instructions. This worked well until we were forced to ride on a freeway with freight trucks to access the bridge. This didn't seem right, so, out of concern, we pulled over to a gas station for assistance. The customers disagreed on whether cyclists were even allowed on the bridge. If true, this would have entailed a 25 km detour to another bridge. Just as we were leaving, a man came up to us to reassure us that cyclists were ok on the Pont de Normandie.
The Abbey in Montivilliers - a cool and peaceful refuge from the difficulties of the ride and the heat of the day. A well known landmark, parts of which originated in 1057.
The start of our ride on the freeway approaching the bridge. The pictures don't show how busy it was as we had put the camera away to keep focussed on the road.
We discovered that construction had closed half of the bridge....plus we learned that there were in fact 2 bridges. You can see the first bridge in the background. As we approached the first bridge, the sign said "no cyclists" summer of 2012. At this point we had ridden several km. on the freeway and were not going back - so we rode on the closed, traffic free side of the bridge, hoping that they wouldn't turn us back at the second bridge. The toll bridge worker said "no bikes" -what she meant was, no riding. So we had to carry our bike up 3 stories, cross over the highway and climb down 3 flights again to walk our bike up the pedestrian path of the 2nd bridge, the Pont de Normandie.
We met John and his wife at the campground in Honfleur. They are from England and ride folding bikes. They were on a cycling trip through Brittany and Normandy. We envy their proximity to Europe.
