Biking the Normandy and Brittany Coasts … An Overview

Mrs Bear and I had done bike trips in New England a couple decades ago. We were originally going to do a hiking trip through these areas of Northern France, but after my health issues of the past three years, we thought I would tolerate the rigors of a bicycle trip better. My rebuilt hip, complicated by an earlier stroke, feels more comfortable with the circular movement of pedaling than the motion of walking.

Prior to joining our group in Caen, we spent a day on our own walking around this beautiful city. It is located 120 miles northwest of Paris and is famous for the Château of Caen, built by William the Conqueror in 1060. It became his official residence. The pic above was taken from its walls and looks out over the ramparts to the Caen Cathedral. It is a massive structure.

After our day of sightseeing in Caen, we met up with our bike group of two guides and 13 bikers, and the fun began. Each of our six days seemed to surpass the previous ones. Each day usually started with a bike ride through the countryside, followed by lunch at a local bistro. Then we either had a tour, or hit the road for more bike options. I’ll be more specific about the sights in the next couple blogs. But I usually ended up biking about 20 miles each day which was a good fit for me.

Bike companies provide you with the bicycles and an option of what type. I opted for a titanium e-bike … the extra boost while pedaling makes biking fun again for the senior-age participants. Mrs Bear opted for a touring bike because she still can !! The company also provides water bottles, snacks, and gps maps of the predetermined routes. I became infamous for missing turns, but being able to right myself rather quickly. Mrs Bear loved to ride solo rather than tagging along with the group. The guides keep watch to troubleshoot along the way if needed, or to simply pick us up and drop us early at the hotels. Overall, it is biking made easy.

The rides were predominately on very narrow country roads through farmland. It reminded me of Ireland’s lanes but the farms were cows instead of sheep and the terrain was less hilly. And then we would reach the city of our hotel, dismount, and in my case, limp to our room.

A few comments about France and the French people. France is a beautiful country. It has one of the greatest cities in the world, and the lure of seeing the D Day beaches and the American Cemetery brought us here. We haven’t yet seen the Loire Valley or the French Alps, so we’ll be back. The food and drink are as good as anywhere we have been. Finally, despite their rather gruff reputation, the people were very nice to us, and it was interesting working though the language barriers. We didn’t speak French and most of the locals here didn’t speak English. But somehow it worked out just fine.