Week 1 - Cycling from Dieppe to Chartres (286km)

Disclosure - this is an unfinished blog post! Unfortunately we have been behind schedule and finished a 90km cycle on Day 7 and have run our of time to do the full story justice, please do check back soon for the updated post! -Lou

Day 1 - 29.15km, 2:30 riding time, 254m elevation, 12.7 km/h average speed, 54.1 km/h top speed

Our journey started catching the 11:30pm ferry from Newhaven in the UK. We had fun meeting 6 other cyclists aboard, all were rather fast cyclists and chuckled at our large bags and lack of itinerary, and impressed by our goals. We temporarily traded our ID's for blankets at the concierge desk, and slept on the floor underneath a couple of tables for The 4 hour ferry ride overnight offloaded us in Dieppe at 4:30am, where we slowly cycled around the city waiting for shops to open, stunned from fatigue and the exhilarated to be in France. We found a bakery that opened at 6am, and in shaky French, bought 2 croissants, espresso and apple pastry. We enjoyed them in a park, the best croissants we had ever eaten - buttery and rich and so beautifully soft but crunchy!

We began our first water mission to the cemetery to refill our empty water bottles - after much searching we found the tap at the back, and Lou had a cry about how big the challenge ahead of us felt, and unsure if we were ready for this undertaking. Joel was amazingly supportive, broke down the journey into steps and helped Lou to understand that this feeling was part of the process and we would try our absolute best, and we could definitely achieve what we have set out to do. With that in mind, we put our feet in the pedals, and began our slow journey south.

Within 10 minutes of cycling in what we felt was the right direction, we bumped into a random French man who must've seen us looking very, very lost and tired. He waved and pointed and said something about 'velo' (bikes), on the other side of the train line. We followed his instructions that we did not understand and were amazed to find the most beautiful, smooth, straight, flat, designated bike lane! This was our introduction to the 'Verde Avenue', a bike path that was built to connect London and Paris.

Stoked and so, so tired, it didn't feel real that this could happen at just the right time. We trusted the process and began cycling down the path, on the search to find a nap location. Joel managed to find the ruins of a Chateau on top of hill - Louisa was not impressed, wanting to sleep more than climb hills. Nonetheless, it was climbed and there was a lovely wee grassy patch for a nap in the shade. We both collapsed and slept for 2 hours. As Joel went on an adventure to the bathrooms, he bumped into a kiwi couple who intercepted him before he had a chance to relieve himself. Despite Joel being mildly disgruntled, we had a great chat about good things to lookout for in France, and she told us about the official 'Verde Avenue' bike route (she had cycled to Paris on it on an e-bike), and about mapy.cz, a much better alternative to Google maps for cycling in Europe - this tip has ended up being a life-saver!

After the shade dissapeared and the 32 degree heat hit us, in a heat-stroked, fatigue-induced daze we threw our things back into our panniers and headed back to the path. After cycling for 20 minutes we were so hot and passed a couple of lakes; desperately tempted, we cycled along a side-path and stumbled across the most beautiful river. It was the best feeling in the world to cool off, wash our sweaty clothes and feel refreshed.

Continuing on the lovely cycle lane, there were plenty of places to stop and enjoy the views of the French countryside, and chat about the upcoming trip and how it felt to be embarked on such a journey. Just after lunch, Joel needed to go to the bathroom. Toilets are as rare as hens teeth in France, and a house near to Saint-Vaast-d'Equiqueville that we passed by had some music going and the residents called 'bonjour!' to us as we cycled past. In desperation, we paused and quickly typed out a translated message in google if Joel could use their bathroom, and asked over the fence and crossed our fingers that our pronunciation was good enough.

Luckily enough our communication was successful, and the family of 6 delighted in inviting us in, letting Joel relieve himself and offered us some water. This quickly escalated to homemade pear Liquor, beer, a farm tour of their rabbits, chickens and ducks, a shower, dinner of fish on bread, more drinks, and an offering of a place to pitch our tent in their garden for the night. We gladly accepted all their generous gifts, and enjoyed a fun evening of speaking through google translate (they did not speak any English) to share about each others lives and learn what was important to them.

Day 2 - 20km, 1:45 riding time, 50m elevation gain, 12.5 km/h average speed, 30 km/h top speed

We woke rested but still tired with sleep debt from the ferry journey, and all the socialising and non-stop activities from back in the UK. In the morning we were gifted with huge bowls of cafe au lait and blackberry jam sandwiches before heading off, and we were sad to say goodbye after their wonderful hospitality - thank you so so much to Sebastian and his family for making our first night in France so special! We hopped on our sweaty saddles on pushed onward towards Neufchatel-en-bray home to one of the oldest (and arguably most delicious) cheeses in France. The ride was smooth, along tree laden paths, a gentle river by our side leading the way.

In the town of Neufchatel-en-bray it was boiling hot in the early afternoon, so we decided to take a break from the sun and visit the oldest house in the region, which had been converted into a museum of the surrounding area, filled with archaeological relics (from flint tools to clogs) and stories dating back to hunter-gatherers who lived in the area. When the midday siesta was over and the heat started to ease, we pushed off with hopes high; the paths that we were to take looked full of trees and areas to rest and pitch the tent for the night!

Kilometers later and still nothing, the sun setting in the distance we both started looking with a bit more strain, wanting to go around the next bend and find something, but nothing came about. We saw a possible campsite on the map, though after some closer inspection, it was private property which we both felt uncomfortable about camping on without asking. With no owner in sight, we continued pedaling along the winding roads.

Trees! A welcome sight; although there were not many of them, and scattered in thin lines. We both agreed that if things became really desperate we could camp in a corn field where we had spotted a large patch where the corn had died in which we could lay our roll mats down. It certainly would only be the last option.

On the fork of a road we found some mature dense trees lining an overgrown lane, with an old street sign next to it. We deduced that it must be either abandoned, or very rarely used, and decided to explore further. We bumped down the very shady lane until we found a patch of grass with no thorns and a view of the sky - success!

We pitched are tent, cooking up our ravioli and pesto dinner with the sound of unfamiliar animals and insects unknown to us before was quite an experience! A blood moon rose up which was very impressive in person but couldn't be captured with justice on camera sadly. Under the soft brightness of the moon, we discussed feelings of the trip so far, the things that we were scared of, proud of and what the trip might take to complete.

We talked until sleep took us, soothed in the idea that both the delightful and hard experiences are part of the process to adventure, and to life.

Day 3 - 45.25km, 3:16 riding time, 265m elevation gain, 13.6 km/h average speed, 36.6 km/h top speed

We had discussed our aim to get up early the night before and being low on water the next stop was the cemetery at a small church in Menerval named Eglise Notre-Dame de Menerval, where we would have our coffee and a greek yogurt, melon and banana breakfast.

The mornings have been my favourite time of day on this trip so far, the coolness of the morning was some of the most pleasant to ride in, your face fresh as the air rushed passed on the down hill sections, the peaceful lanes filled with song birds and the legs always feeling like they could go forever.

The little church was a quick ride through some very quiet country villages, the ones depicted in artists representations of the old way of life in France. The church provided some much needed shade and a quite place to eat a meal and share a drink. We have to laugh at certain times when things seem to go wrong. Such as, after pouring water over our coffee to filter it through the paper, we lift it to drain and the bottom opens up, filling the mug with grinds! An utter tragedy. After some quick pot shuffling and paper grabbing we were underway again.

Our arch-nemesis strikes again; the overwhelming urge for the loo hits Louisa hard, and myself shortly after. We vow to ourselves that we would no longer drink coffee in future unless we knew a toilet would be nearby.

We pack our things as fast as we can. A wild toilet wouldn't be suitable, as we had neither toilet paper or a spade at hand. Continuing along our designated route we rushed, pace quick and steady, avoiding all unnecessary bumps to avoid any additional discomfort. Mapy yet again saves the day, showing a toilet only 15 minutes ride away. I think we managed to do the distance in 10.

We pull in at a fast pace along the gravel runway to the loo, Lou does a handbrake turn and takes a fast dismount to keep momentum up as she bolts off her bike. Through the door and in classic French fashion there no toilet paper, but there was a plug placed there thoughtfully for us to charge our electronics. Cheers, France!

Toilets are rare in France, and finding toilet paper in the few that do exist are very, very rare. Some face wipes were sacrificed for the greater good, and our relief was celebrated afterwards with some sour lollies. Joels use of the wet-wipe was a new experience for him, and he came back with mixed reviews - ''Too moist'' was the final verdict, and he said he wouldn't be going back in a hurry.

We cycled on through the heat, until we reached Gournay-En-Bray; a beautiful picturesque town with a comfortable number of people and social activity going on to make it feel alive but not crowded. The town square had banned cars from enterinthe for a market day and it was blissfall to enter. All you could hear was the chattering of people, conversations about their individual weeks, gossip and prices of the different stall items.

Unfortunately, I (Joel) was too hasty and inpatient to escape the heat and get back on the road. We had time for a quick sandwich, and Lou took a few photos, but I do regret not stopping, looking around crafted items of clothing and attempting to capture what was happening in the lives of French people. So, for anyone else planning such a trip, yes you may have dead-lines, places to be and see, but remember sometimes the things you most wish to capture, are right in front of you in the moment.

Day 4 - 54.88km, 3:48 riding time, 400m elevation gain, 14 km/h average speed, 41.9km/h top speed

We spent the morning cycling into Gisors, had a very very hot time cycling up a hill. Had to pull over in the shade as we both felt mild heat stroke coming on and wanted to stay safe. At the top of the hill there was a plateau with welcome breeze moving through, although we were sad cycling through fields of decaying cut wheat that were silent (no trees, birds, insects) and we discussed the dangers of monoculture farming practices.

After cycling up a big hill, we were zooming down the other side of it into Gisor at high speed when suddenly Lou felt a sharp stab in the side of her belly. She yelped, struggled to a stop on the side of the road (nervous about cars showing up while in pain) and quickly threw off her t-shirt. A large welt had appeared, and we guessed it had been a wasp that had been caught up in her shirt during the ride. Careful to keep an eye on it, we continued riding into the busy city.

For those who might be interested in visiting Gisor, we wouldn't recommend it too highly! It was rather hot and dirty, full of cars and not many picturesque buildings.

We were very very hot and sweaty after our ride, and in a cemetery nearby we relished in running our hot heads under the tap and refilling our bottles of water. We were very dehydrated, and bought a couple of beers from the supermarket to celebrate surviving the days heat. We found a small campsite near a very still lake in a park, at more tortellini and baked beans, and had an early night. The train tracks were nearby so occasionally the invisible rumbling passing through would disturb us, but we drifted slowly back again.

Day 5 - 14.82km, 0:48 riding time, 4m elevation gain, 18.2km/h average speed, 32.7km/h top speed

Woke up early and enjoyed a sunrise ride to the other side of Gisor. After a bit of a search, we found a cosy cafe with both a table by a plug, and a view of our bikes outside. Excellent.

We excitedly plugged everything in to get our things charging - it has become a ritual around any plug now, carefully rotating each item as it refills to its brim. Our adapter is awesome, providing 3 USB ports as well as a wall adapter, and we can get almost all our things charged up in a few hours. We find we have a lot of items to be refueled, from bike lights, head torches, cameras and battery banks all needing some help.

After about 2 hours of catching up on social media messages and emails, a German gentleman appeared and asked if the bikes outside were ours. We said it was, and he asked about if we knew the bike route up to London. We were very happy to help him out, and in exchange he produced the most amazing map of all the bike routes in Western Europe. In exchange for us taking pictures of this amazing creation, we gifted him our old 'Green Route' map that was of no use to us any more. We were very grateful that at a time we needed more information about the route we were to take, it turned up at our very table!

It was another blistering hot day, and we decided to rest in the worst of it. Hanging out in a nearby park with sandwiches and Orangina, a lovely Tunisian woman sat down and promptly introduced herself to us, and began hurriedly speaking to us in French. Despite us explaining that we could understand through listening but not speak much, this didn't deter her. She continued on, and spoke long and passionately about poverty, racism and the severe lack of toilets in France. We agreed that all 3 of these problems were very big and very important, but were saddened that our language barrier prevented us from really having a deep conversation about them. We napped and stretched here until the worst of the heat had passed, then headed to the local cemetery (someone had defecated near the entrance, it was nasty) to refill our water.

The day had been especially hot (mid 30's) with little trees for cover. It was hot enough to be dangerous to cycle between 1-6pm. Even during those times it was an absolute sweat-fest, so we took it easy and rode slowly through the afternoon.

All tarmac roads eventually have signs to a bike lane in France, and after a bit of riding shared with traffic, we were gifted with a fresh lane, and a lovely afternoon sunlit journey away from the traffic. Gliding along for 2 hours, singing lots of Queen songs and laughing about how silly my baguette looked sticking out of my pannier, we made some impressive average speeds of 32kph.

All of a sudden Louisa squeaks with glee at the sight she witnessed. Usually this means a duck, chicken or beautiful building has appeared, but on this quiet shaded lane it was not any of these, so I pulled to a halt.

Turning back I was doubtful of what Louisa had found but she promised me it would be worth it. Winding down the path in the trees I was gifted with the sight of the most beautiful river, running clean and heavy! Full of life and joy at the prospect of being properly clean for the first time in days, we stripped down and waded in carrying Lou's biodegradable soap.

The cold water was dearly soothing to our sore and embarrassingly dirty bodies. After a good scrub, we climbed out, redressed, and found a campsite very close by. Cooking on the mini trangia we enjoyed an amazing meal of neuf-chatel cheese and fresh baguette, with a side of pesto tortellini with bechamel sauce.

Joels highlight was seeing bats for the first time at dusk, amazed by their silent acrobatics we quietly watched with big smiles before crawling into our sleeping bags for our first, much needed, early night in a long time!

Day 6 - 32.11km, 2:26 riding time, 50m elevation, 50km/h average speed, 27.2km/h top speed

We woke up at 3am to the worst sound imaginable - a house party being run by a DJ with terrible taste. We couldn't figure out where the music was coming from, but they must've had some impressive speakers since the music was pumping, in the middle of a rural area. The music could best be described as euro-techno meets drum and bass, with a BPM higher than you could realistically dance to. It sounded like someone had put on a spotify playlist with 4 songs that were repeating themselves. We tried our best to sleep through it, sharing the one pair of earplugs we had between us by putting it in the upturned ear, and enjoying a very broken sleep until dawn.

We were astounded to hear the music continuing until 9am the next morning when we had already been cycling for an hour.

As we were cycling into Vernon on shared roads, Joel was doing his best to navigate on his phone while cycling (Lou's mobile GPS keeps cutting out, so we avoid her doing nav unless absolutely necessary).

As we entered the city we were ecstatic to see a busy bike lane full of runners and cyclists, and jumped into it, relieved to be off the road. At this time, Lou noticed the stick holding aloft the might lazer kiwi had come loose and was rubbing against her rear spokes - a dangerous situation, so slowly braked and pulled over to fix it.

Unknown to both of them, Joel had jumped on his phone to do some navigating into the city and trusted that following Lou at her pace would be safe enough on this lane. He didn't spot her slowing down, and crashed into the back of her bike at roughly 8 km/h between her tire and right pannier.

Lou's pannier popped off and both us cried out. Lou wobbled to a stop while Joel tumbled to the ground, and both sat there stunned for a moment. Luckily Joel was OK, but his front wheel was bent slightly, and one of the main clips holding Lou's pannier had snapped clean off.

Lou was rather shaken up by the incident, understanding of the fact it was a genuine mistake but feeling sad that Joel hadn't been looking out for her and the trust between them wounded. Lou was most worried about the fact that we are less than a week into the trip and something like this had happened, and we rode slowly towards the closest cemetery in Vermont in silence for a bit to digest our shock and gather our words.

Cycling into the beautiful cemetery, we passed a man taking a leak against the gorgeous 17th century church next door which was both sad and gross to see - sadly not an unusual sight in France!

While we refilled our water bottles we unpacked our thoughts and feelings from the incident, shared a hug, both feeling tentative about preventing such an incident in future but optimistic about how we would move forwards.

Heading to the centre of Vernons, we realised it was also the worst time to have a broken bike that needed fixing; a Sunday, and the middle of summer. In France this means closing business for at least a month. All the bike shops in town wouldn't be open until at least Tuesday, if they weren't closed for the break as well. Most places don't advertise on google either if their opening hours change. You're simply greeted with a 'notice of closure' on the door of the shop - we have come across countless of these, and it's the biggest tease to be open on google, and closed in reality.

Louisa was still so tired from the doof doof camp, so had a nap in the park while Joel fiddled with his spokes to help rebend his wheel back into shape. Lou was delighted to wake up and find a public petanque game had been setup right next to them, and after a couple of games our spirits were lifted greatly.

Researching getting a replacement clip for the pannier proved to be difficult - ortlieb, the pannier brand, didn't ship to France and we would need to ship through a third party, which could take anywhere between 2-10 business days. After much faffing and deliberating, we decided to fashion a temporary solution to attach the bag to the rack (it was very unstable and looked very dodgy), and have the replacement sent to a post office further along our route to be picked up along the way.

Deciding there wasn't much point in staying in town, we cycled onward out of Vernon for a few hours, to camp near the next cemetery. When we arrived, we were surprised to find that it was actually a pet cemetery. Visiting so many cemeteries for water has allowed us to visit a few, and we have noticed a 'fashion' of different graves through the ages. Modern graves (~>1960) are commonly plain slabs of granite, while older ones are ornate iron cross. Military graves are painted white and inscribed with the grateful remark 'pour morte la Francia' - 'Died for France'. The pet cemetary was full of the same grave designs as modern humans, a mildly bizarre sight for us being from NZ where neither of us had come across anything like it!

We camped and enjoyed an early night under the trees nearby - the wheat grass that has been cut, and baked in the sun and become surprisingly sharp. Joel had a few blades penetrate through his slides, and we were worried about damaging our tents and sleeping gear - everything seemed OK though and we had a very peaceful and deep sleep.

Day 7 - 89.88km, 329m elevation gain, 6h 13m cycling time, average speed

We woke up at 6am, quickly packed up our tents and headed off towards Dreux. After a steep climb and much puffing, we were greeted by a beautiful rising sun and a field of 4 young cows and a donkey whom trotted over to us in curiosity. Joel reached out and was lucky enough to pat the donkey, who quickly left in disappointment once he realised Joel didn't have any food. The cows looked on and headbutted each other. We powered on until we found a cemetery, where we refilled our bottles with water and electrolytes, brewed a coffee and finished off our neuf-chatel cheese and baguette for breakfast.

We were focused on cycling through as fast as we could to make it in time for our AirBnB booking in Chartres, so didn't stop in many of the small towns we passed. As we began our hunt for an iced coffee, we noticed that everywhere was suspiciously quiet; no-one around, all the houses and shops shut up, even though it was lovely weather and a Monday. After a quick google we quickly learned that today was a Catholic public holiday; the Assumption of Mary; and that everyone was enjoying time relaxing and feasting with family rather than brimming with enthusiasm at the prospect of serving foreigners a coffee.

We cycled under a modern aqueduct supplying water to Paris which was special. We had a great conversation imagining bustling ancient day Roman cities, and what it would be like to live and work in that time with these technologies!

Cycling along the valley alongside the river L'eure and 'promenade des grands pres' (Walk of the Great Meadows) for half of the journey was such a treat, enjoying the mild coolness it brought to the dry heat and watching the bustling insect and bird life along its borders was calming and fascinating.

Entering into Chartres was spectacular and so special, filling us with a great feeling of achievement and relief. Cruising through leafy covered lanes, bustling with walkers, runners and other cyclists (it was hard to avoid a collision!), grande arches and buildings either side and cool air, we slowly wound our way through tiny side streets into the quiet suburban area where we would be staying for the next two days. We were stoked to see there was a bike lane right outside house we would be staying at.

After a quick greeting and chat about highlights of the city with our host, we enjoyed a long, hot shower each; the first proper wash we had had since leaving the UK. We dropped all our luggage off in our room, then jumped back on our bikes, so surprised at how light, quick and bouncy our bikes now were without 20kg of luggage each. Zooming into the city, we treated ourselves to the tastiest meal of pizza, caprese salad and the most well earned beer. The chef, Kenny, came out to check if it was all right and we almost hugged him it was so good. Thanks Kenny <3

The route travelled in week 1 from Strava - Dieppe to Chartres. Sadly some data was lost between Gisors and Vernon!