Friday 5th September 2014 - Sometime in the early morning. It's dark and quiet. I'm fast asleep, tucked up in my sleeping bag, in my little tent.
Bam! Then wide awake.
What was that that just ran past my head??!! Lie still. Listen. Don't breathe too loud. Don't move.
Thunder thunder thunder. An actual elephant is stomping round my tent. Its actually inside, running around outside the inner tent part that I'm securely zipped into.
Ok, so everything that happens in the dark, at night, is always grossly exaggerated! It was only a little mouse I reckon, looking for more pizza. I listened to it biz round for a while and tapped the tent where I heard it stop, it squeaked and ran off. I went to sleep. It came back a few times again, but I let it do its mousey thing and caught up on my zzzzzzs.
So anyway, morning came, time to get back on le velo. Eventually left about 12.30pm! It was a hazy cloudy morning and I was thinking it'd be perfect cycling weather, not too hot.
As soon as I cycled away from the campsite, what do ya know, the sun came out, full on!
Was lovely cycle for first few hours, quiet country flat roads, sea breeze, beautiful. A thought that had occurred to me last night, as I lay in bed, came into my mind again this morning....I wonder how many dead bodies are in the fields I'm sleeping on/passing by?
Along the route today there were loadsa museums of WW history. They also had massive banner sized photos of buildings then, what they looked like when destroyed, and they were hung in front of the buildings now they are rebuilt. Thought it was quite a good visual way of seeing the past, there was one particularly good one of a church.
Stopped at Utah Beach, one of the landing sites of the Americans. Saw a few tanks and guns and stuff. Quite busy. Didn't go into museum, although it looked pretty new.
On down the road for a while longer. Onto a busier road. There are lots and lots of motorbikers. Usually a group of 6-10 come past on their big Harleys or fast racing type bikes. They're pretty good as I can hear them well before they come past me, especially the blupblupblupblup of the Harleys. The first biker will usually do swerves and then the last one will do them too. Happened a few times, so not sure if its some sort of secret biker signal I'm not in the know about?
Shortish day. Got to campsite at Omaha Beach at 4.30pm. There was a place at the end of the road that had all the old guns and boats and stuff as well.
A guy came up to me when I arrived and in the few words of English he had, I made out I could camp anywhere and reception wasn't open until 5pm. He also wanted my passport. As I went to cycle off he was a like 'Non non non!' I stopped and laughed and he tried to explain he needed my passport. I knew what he was meaning, but he was getting very annoyed with himself that he couldn't find the right English words. It was quite funny. I gave him my passport and said, 'now you run off with it?!' and laughed. He laughed and said it'd be in reception at 5pm (in French of course).
Weirdness continued. Strange campsite. Pretty big. Hedges round each pitch. Quite empty. Some mobile homes. Heard of miniature goats grazing in a pitch and their pen seemed to be an old bunker. Clouds came back and was really really eerily calm and quiet.
Anyway got sorted. Listened to a French couple in their 60's have a domestic, hehe. Then later listened to my old next door neighbours French TV game show, at top volume!
Went to shop and first night I cooked dinner. 3 minute pasta and a tin of tuna with mayo and vegetables. Lovely!
Was also able to charge my power pack, put it in dry bag and left it out all night, worked grand and stayed dry even with the sea mist.
Its working out really well. Can charge my phone about 5 times and my Garmin a couple of times from it, before it needs recharged.
At about 10pm it was so very quiet. I had a great nights sleep.
Day 7 - 05.09.14
Saint Hubert to Omaha Beach
12.30pm to 4.30pm
3hrs 20min cycling
57.7km
1539calories
469 metres asc
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