Previous Chapter
Saturday 16thAugust 2008
Le Harve to La Vieille Lyre
The ferry docked at 8am French time. Again we decided that a lift in the car would not be a bad idea in order to escape the busy roads of Le Harve and the crossing of the Seine on the Pont de Normandie. I should imagine that crossing this bridge would afford some satisfaction to the cyclist as it climbs to a great height over the river. However the cycle track is not completely separated from the main road and the traffic belching out fumes as it climbs is perhaps best avoided. Malcolm dropped us off on the far side of the bridge in the village of La Riviere St Saviour from where we made our way up the long hill onto the plateau on the road to Genneville and Cormeilles. This latter town also had a monastery founded by William Fitz Osbern the founder of the Abbey of Lyre but there are no remains of it now. We stopped for lunch in the centre of the village and watched as large circus trucks and trailers, one carrying camels, made their way noisily through the town.
Onwards again towards Thiberville, with the wind in our faces but fortunately over fairly flat terrain and eventually to Broglie where refreshment was taken. From here we turned the corner to Barre-en-Ouche and on to La Vieille Lyre. This last section was much easier, even though we were tired, as the wind was no longer into our faces, 
and we arrived soon after 4pm. No sign of a band playing “La Marseillaise” but a very warm welcome in the local inn from the Mayor and several members of the council. After downing a drink of beer there followed much whispering and gesticulation as a bottle was produced labelled Perrier. This turned out to be Calvedos, a local brew (which is a great speciality of the region) and the tasting session which followed involved immersing a sugar lump into the spirit, so that we could sample its nose and flavour, without downing 
too much of the precious liquid. Needless to say, as I detest this sort of drink, my sugar lump only just made its way into the spirits – but honour was satisfied. Note that the Abbey at Lyre stood in the area where this building now stands - see the picture on the right.
We had arrived thinking that accommodation was booked for the night – we were to find out that everywhere local was full and accommodation had not yet been found. After several phone calls by the Mayor we were assured that the B&B was now fixed. We were also invited to an evening reception in the one and only restaurant in the village for later that night. The Mayor and Laurent (a local resident and keen historian who Tony had previously made contact with) led the way to the B&B allegedly about 15km away. After 15 miles they were obviously lost and stopped to make a phone call to ascertain the way. Another few miles and we were there – in the midst of nowhere! 
All we had to do was to find our way back to the restaurant for the meal and perhaps even worse find our way to the B&B later that night in the dark through the town of Breteuil with its one way streets which meant that our route could not be the same. (Coming through Breteuil the next day and not being able to let off steam in the normal way we paused to play!)
The meal was excellent and Laurent a very good host. The Mayor unfortunately had other duties to perform. After the meal we were informed that an English couple living in the town would like to meet us – he was previously a professor at Cambridge in Medieval History and Music and had moved at some point to a similar position in Paris. They were now retired and living in La Vieille Lyre. They were very friendly and made us most welcome. They were most concerned about us getting lost in the French countryside in our attempts to retrace our steps to the B&B. If we had had to rely on one of us remembering the route we would never have made it. Using our combined memories and consensus of opinion we fortunately made our way back just before midnight. It had been a long day!
The mileage at the end of the day was 49.4 miles.