EIGHT IN A GITE

On Monday, 18^th June 2018, in the week before the Dieppe Raid, eight members of the Midweek Wayfarers, Pam, Liz, Maureen & Gill, Tim, Terry, Tony (Hopkins) & Colin, crossed the English Channel & landed in Calais at approx. 12 noon.  Tim had found a gite in the tiny hamlet of Campigneulles-les-Petites near Montreuil which could accommodate all of us.

 Under cloudy skies and with a strong SW headwind, we set off southwards. We stopped in Guines to find some lunch, fortifying ourselves for the long, straight climb of Le Mont Fiennes.  There were other hills too.  We stopped again in Desvres.  After two more hills and now in sunshine, we followed the lovely valley of the R. Course, with the last climb of the day being up a steep hill into the cobbled streets of Montreuil.  It was 7 p.m.  All weary after the hard ride, we stopped and had a meal here, eventually arriving at the gite just on dusk.  It had been a hard (45-mile) ride.

 Day 2 was much easier.  We woke to grey skies with dampness in the air.  Tony was our leader and he had selected a valley route, following the R. Canche, up on one side from Montreuil and back on the other, crossing the river and having lunch in Hesdin. Back in Montreuil, coinciding with a sunny break, a bar was found before returning to the gite.

 Disappointingly, we woke to another cloudy morning the next day but the wind had changed direction and was now a tail-wind as we headed south on a joint Terry & Tim route to the town of Rue for coffee and to Le Crotoy, on the Bay of Somme, for lunch.  People were now able to indulge their passions for seafood – fish soup, moules, whelks (Tony).  The sun was out, we were by the sea - this was the life!  Our return route took us past the station, the starting point of the Chemin de Fer de la Baie de Somme – a little steam engine.  By a sheer stroke of luck, the train steamed in at that very moment.  Train enthusiast, Terry, was delighted!  

A sunny day at last!  On Thursday we headed to the coast at Berck-Plage and had coffee at a cafe on the beach, hunkering down into sun-warmed cushions to find shelter from the wind.  The group split here with four returning to the gite and Montreuil and four pushing on to L’Abbaye de Valloires in the Authie valley.  We had a meal in Montreuil that evening.

Friday morning saw six of us heading off on the ride to Dieppe, keen to have a rest day after the 65-mile ride before doing the 100km ride in the Raid on Sunday, leaving Tim & Terry to follow the next day.  We set off in glorious sunshine, led by Tony who was following Tim’s route.  The coffee stop was in Rue again and after what seemed a very long way through a number of villages on the D63, we eventually reached Eu for lunch.  It was after this that the hills really began.  A welcome tea stop was found and we arrived at La Plage Hotel in Dieppe, approx. 6.30 pm.  The next day was our layday and included visiting the Saturday market and going on a short boat trip, not to mention meeting up with all the other Wayfarers coming to the Raid.  It had been a great week.  (Gill Finlay)