Just before I start day 4 i would like to get in a thought from day 1 which I forgot to add in. And that was a stop off at a McDs in the first morning, I was asked by a motorbiker if I was doing the Coast to Coast ? And I said no, I'm cycling to Gibraltar..... He nearly passed out :-)
Ok here we are in Abbeville waiting to cycle on into the day ahead.. the sun is out once again (Lucky me!) I'm spending too much time checking out the sights in Abbeville, instead I need to crack on with today's daily mileage.
Trying to find my way out of town in the mornings is becoming a challenge, trying to get on the right roads is proving a task in itself, with my iphone I manage to find my way onto the correct roads via the Map application. I find the road and its lift off... the D928 all the roads so far are brilliant well maintained and flat ish...
Looking at the roads and places to go through I reckon my target town on the map today would ideally be Alencon if I was really pushing it. I'm heading along the roads very well when I see a city come into view wow there's is a stunning building in the distance its spires dominate the centre (Looks like a Cathedral) its a long decent into the main centre, passing lots of shops along the was and nice shaped buildings... I've cycled through the city, and I am looking for the road out to take me south again, but its a really nice place. I'm heading on the right road when the road number just disappears and I'm left checking what now? the road if i recall was the D3. The iphone again comes in for the rescue and tells me I have to go around a residential area with back streets to get back onto my road I had originally come into the city on (It was a stretch of Motorway that stopped the link for my D3 road) Now I'm back on the road out of this great place, the road takes a route up a steep ascent for about a mile.. Phew! That was unexpected! But now I seem to be back on a high level and the roads are flat once again.
The afternoon flies by and its late afternoon. Somehow Alencon is looking too far for today! I may have to stop at another place before, but I will crack on.. I'm on the correct road again the D438 heading to Brionne then Bernay. It is late afternoon and I'm looking at potential places where I will stop over.. after so many more miles I'm hit by some hills/climbs.. The scenery is still very nice to pass through, but I do see a place on the map where I have decided to stay for tonight and that's Gace (Cracking Sunset at Gace too). More or less after entering Gace there was a nice Chambre D' Hote on the left side of the road.. that is my stop over if I can get a room for the night, I head off the road down a lane to where I think I can get access to the hotel, but I hear a shout out! I turn back around onto the main road and make my way back a few metres to see a chap at the front door of the hotel, I'm getting ready to ask in French do you have any rooms for the night..
As I'm about to ask, he says "Do you want a room mate"? I'm amazed! Its a Brit that owns the hotel hes called Graeme. Nice guy, welcomes me in and gets my bike in a garage for the evening. After telling him my trip to date and where I'm off too, hes Impressed :-) I ask where I can get food from, he informs that there is a Pizza place just on the main street in the village. So after a shower and quick change I'm off for a stroll into the village for food. After a checkout of the main street the Pizza place looks closed, but there is a hotel that has a bar/restaurant... I head into there, I see the Menu and I'm lead away to a table. There's only me in this big dining area, so I order my meal - Soup first, lovely .. Then afterwards I get another soup ? Oh well I will have it I'm very hungry I thought. After a while I notice a guy waiting for his meal oops! I think they brought his starter out to me ha ha... Oh well it went down very well that extra soup. Now I'm tucking into my Steak ummmmmm VERY nice :-)
Right after the bill is paid its a little stroll back to the hotel, well not really a hotel as such, more like a big mansion. I'm back in and its time for bed. Great day today all in...
Total miles today = 127 miles.
Average speed = 13.6 mph.
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