A Trip to Sarthe with Frank and Françoise

A TRIP TO SARTHE IN THE FOOTSTEPS OF WILLIAM THE CONQUEROR

(28^th August to 8^th September 2012)

Sixteen Francophile cyclists who enjoy French culture and cuisine crossed the Channel via Portsmouth, on the evening of Tuesday 28th August 2012 to be met by Frank, Francoise, Marcel (Francoise's brother) and Brigitte in Ouistreham, Normandy, in the early hours of Wednesday morning.

Following a flat route, Marcel led the group through the port along a cycle path besides River Orne. After a few miles we stopped to view the famous Pegasus Bridge, and the house (now a cafe) that was the first building in France to be liberated by the allies during the Second World War. We continued on the "voie verte" crossing the city of Caen.  From there we travelled through the plains of Normandy, against a strong headwind, to reach our first destination - Falaise - by lunchtime. We lunched in a small brasserie on a typical Menu du Jour or "Menu ouvrier". After lunch we visited the Falaise Castle where William the Conqueror was born. We then continued our way to our overnight stay at the "Hotel du Faisan Doré", in Fontenai-sur-Orne. In our quest for gastronomy, Mme Coiffard, the lady-chef at La Table de Catherine, had prepared our first group dinner.

Next morning we set off early as we had to ride 40 miles in the morning to reach one of the highlights of the tour: Le Musée du Vélo at La Fresnaye-sur-Chedouet in Sarthe. A few hills had to be climbed to reach some 375 m. The dense Forêt d’Ecouves crossed on the way was a sharp and agreeable contrast to the flat and windy roads of Day One. "Musée du Vélo", also known as "Musée de la Grande Echapée" (ie. Tour de France) retraces the history of the Tour from its inception. Bikes used from the first Tour de France to the latest one are exhibited. We were lead through the Museum by its enthusiastic and knowledgeable owner who showed us his entire collection of bikes and artefacts. Cycling through the Forest of Perseigne, we circumnavigated Alencon to reach les "Alpes Mancelles" where some challenging hills had to be climbed. These were soon forgotten when we reached the charming village of Saint-Léonard-des-Bois where everyone enjoyed a beer in "La Cave à Bière", an unusual beer kellar for France, with views on a mini canyon. Liz, who could not join us on Day One had no difficulty in finding “La Cave” and was waving to us as she spotted the group descending fast into Saint-Léonard.  Half a mile away, a restored mansion - Le Domaine du Gasseau - was our exclusive abode for the night. The group elegantly filled the smart dining hall where the only clue to Le Gasseau initial purpose was represented on the impressive fireplace by the engravings of two shapely-naked ladies. Next morning, the owner of the hotel revealed that Le Gasseau had been built in 1941 by the Germans and during the last war, it was used as a b..., in other words a house of ill-repute.

After a typical French breakfast of croissants and bread just coming out of the local baker’s oven, we set off through the Forest of Sillé to the village of Loué where Françoise and Marcel were brought up. The village and rural area around Loué is now famous all over France for its free range organic chickens. Most of the group stayed in wooden chalets by River Vègre for five nights whilst a few chose to stay at Hotel Ricordeau, a 19^th century coach-house. Dinner on the first evening was at Hotel Ricordeau which has continuously offered fine cuisine through the years; the group had an aperitif in the garden sampling "Rillettes", (a local potted pork which used to be the staple diet in all the surrounding farms) before sitting down in the Empire private room, to an excellent gourmet dinner, the main course being "Poulet de Loué"!

The following afternoon, a group of five riders was led by Marcel to Malicorne, a pleasant village situated by the Sarthe River. Frank, Brian, Terry, Tim enjoyed a fast ride and a well-deserved beer at a local cafe. The rest of the group had a more relaxing time visiting the garden of Manoir de la Massonière, just a two miles’ ride from Loué where a version of "English Tea" was served as a reminder that the restorer of the Manoir is English born. Then it was time for an “al-fresco aperitif” offered by Gerald and Marcel and served on the banks of River Vègre which flows at the bottom of Brigitte & Marcel’s garden. This was followed by a barbecue dinner at the chalets.

Sunday saw the group riding through the Forest of Charnie to Sainte-Suzanne in Mayenne, a fortified village that William the Conqueror - supposedly - was unable to capture. For lunch, we rode a short distance to a reconstructed medieval fort at La Ferté-Clairbois where, dressed in costumes, we were served a medieval style lunch whilst listening to period songs and lute playing. We were then entertained with an excellent show of jousting, sword fighting, archery and horsemanship.

On Monday it was an early start (8:00 am) as we headed for Le Mans and cycled on 7 kms of the smooth tarmac of the famous “24 Hours” motor racing track. We enjoyed a very typical French lunch in the dining hall for elite apprentices (La Maison des Compagnons du Devoir) before visiting, with a lively English-speaking guide, Cité Plantagenêt, Le Mans old medieval quarters, and its famous cathedral. Both are often used as back-drop for films. Henri II (Plantagenet), son of William the Conqueror was born there.

At Brian’s suggestion (yes, we do take note of good suggestions), a picnic dinner was organised by Gerald, Marcel’s Anglophile friend, who loves Fish & Chips and English beer – and possibly the only French man to be stopped by the French Customs whilst returning from England with a large suitcase full of English food. On Monday night though, local charcuterie purchased directly from a local pig farmer/butcher, watered down with a few bottles of Jasnières (white wine from Southern Sarthe) were the order of the day.

Tuesday was an easy day with a ride to Solesmes. We visited the Abbey, built beside River Sarthe, and listened to Gregorian prayers chanted by some of the 55 monks who live in the Abbey.

On Wednesday, we had to leave the quiet rural village of Loué and Sarthe. We were off early - again - for a fairly long and at times arduous stage via Villaine-la-Juhel to the attractive spa town of Bagnoles de l'Orne. The luxury at Hotel du Béryl was a fine contrast to the rustic chalets of Loué and ensured a very comfortable night to all after the extremely good diner served at this hotel which overlooks a lake.

From Bagnoles, we had to face the longest and hardest day of the tour yet to reach Bayeux. The terrain was undulating and we completed 63 hard miles via a “beastly” hill, the top of which being dominated by military radars.

Friday morning, we admired the impressive Bayeux Tapestry that is nearly 1000 years’ old and viewed the events leading up to the Norman invasion of England in 1066. Most of the group would have been happy to spend longer in the Museum but we were scheduled to head for Ouistreham in the afternoon.

The route to Ouistreham was fairly uninteresting and had to be livened up by an ice-cream stop at Arromanches. However from Bernières-sur-Mer, we managed to cycle right along the seafront on a sunny afternoon. Not far from our destination, Françoise spotted a large terraced cafe where we all stopped for afternoon tea/beer - almost basking in the Normandy sun!

After dinner, Frank, Françoise, Brigitte and Marcel (the latter relieved and proud to have led an English group without any problems, to and back from his small country village of Loué) waved “Farewell” at the Ferry terminal to the 17 cyclists who, regardless of the road difficulties, had been such pleasant companions, on 700 kms of French roads for the last ten days (750 kms for the hard riders who went to Malicorne).

The success of any tour depends as much on the organisation as on the participants and we congratulate everyone for making such an excellent group. It has been a pleasure to organise this holiday for you and we have enjoyed your company both on the roads and during the numerous breaks and meals.

F & F

Statistics:

The group:

From the UK: Julian & Avril, on tandem Gill, Lynda, Liz, Pam, Sandy Bernard, Brian, Ian, Robin, Terry, Tim Cliff & Maureen, Dave & Jane

From France: Marcel & Brigitte, Gerald Frank & Francoise

Personal Best:  

1. Marcel - for leading an English group over so many miles of mostly traffic-free roads, at times through lovely forests, getting everyone motivated over the long and arduous hills. Marcel showed us his intimate knowledge of both Normandy and Sarthe small road network. We are grateful for Marcel’s leadership which got us to the right place at the right time! 
2. Sandy and Avril - Longest distance cycled in one day: 63 miles or 108 kms – Bagnoles to Bayeux 
3. Sandy - Highest climb - 375 m in Forêt d’Ecouves (Day 2 – Fontenai-s-Orne to Saint-Leonard):

Highest overall mileage (including the miles on the English side)

Pamela – 948 kms 

Terry – 948 kms plus Malicorne fast run of 54 kms

Maps and Profiles – Courtesy of Tim – Many thanks, Tim, for sorting out the elevation graphs which prove how well we all did and sharing your photos with us.

Punctures: 1

Photos: Tim, Pam, Frank & Francoise. More contributions are expected.

Please click on the following for maps and photos:

• All maps of our routes and, for the hilly days, the altitude profiles
• A selection of photos from various contributors
• Gill's photos - added 19/09/2012
• Pam's photos - added 27/09/2012 
• If it starts to rain click here for more photos

The above maps and photos are displayed in Google+. Unfortunately I haven't found a way to extend the time interval for the slideshow so it is probably best to click the photos or maps to move through them. Captions are displayed in the right hand panel, if the panel is left open. In the side panel, if you click on "Photo details" there should be a little google map for most of the photos to indicate where they were taken. It is possible to download individual photos.