Wouldn't you know... as the ferry approached England, we entered into a dense fog... Landing in Newhaven it was foggy and drizzling. A typical border town, there were lots of banks, shops and restaurants, it didn't appeal much to me so I got some local currency and cycled inland a few kms to Telscombe, a little rural community, and settled there. I spent the afternoon talking with locals and had a nice dinner at a nearby pub, "The Badger's Watch". Tomato and cheese soup; beef, mushroom and ale pie with cheddar mashed potatoes and a Guinness... that filled me up.

Telscombe was so nice and quiet that I decided to spend an extra day, cycling around and getting acclimatized to England (cycling on the left side of the road took some getting used to...).

The next day, I cycled a circuit to Lewes, were I got maps and visited the local brewery, Brighton, where I checked out the beach and other sights, then back to Telscombe.

Cycling's a bit scary at first in England. The roads are narrow with almost no shoulders and you're on the wrong side of the road... But drivers are so accommodating that you quickly come to enjoy the road. Cycling between Lewes and Brighton, someone's car broke down and traffic quickly accumulated behind him while the driver was trying to push his car off the road... Instead of honking in frustration, the passengers of the two cars immediately behind got out good-naturedly and helped the first car off the road... nobody honked... I couldn't believe it !

Set out of Telscombe in the early morning thinking I could get to Winchester. Well, in Worthing I discovered "caramel squares" (shortbread dough covered with a generous layer of some kind of caramel toffee and a thick coating of chocolate over that), then spent some time talking with folks at a small bike shop, and after all this, I realized I couldn't make Winchester and decided to spend the night in Arundel.

After fixing another flat, I went wandering around. Arundel's a nice little town with a hilltop castle.

Got up early (it's light out at 4h30 AM, it's getting nearer to the equinox and the days will get longer as I move north) and left towards Winchester. Stopped over at Chichester for some more caramel squares and hit the internet for e-mails, then at Bramdeen I wandered a bit finally arriving at Winchester in the late afternoon.

The "Wykeham Arms" pub in Winchester apparently won the "Pub of the Year" award 3 years in a row, so I went there for dinner... A bit pricey... Took a tomato and asparagus cream soup for starters then had a main course of salmon fillet over asparagus couscous with herb hollandaise, glazed baby potatoes, courgette and broccoli on the side. To drink, a Hoandean's Special Brew which was a bit like Guinness but lighter. Desert was a toffee apple tart (crispy crumb pastry with apples and a generous layer of whipped cream overall and melted toffee and powdered sugar on the plate around the slice) and a glass of milk.

It wasn't really like pub food... more like "nouvelle cuisine", but it was good... no mistake about that ! People-watching, the other customers appeared to be professors, lawyers, business people... a bit snobbish... Overall, I think I get more pleasure out of a real pub meal... and it’s cheaper.

In the morning I got myself a "full English breakfast" (cereals, scrambled eggs with bacon, sausage and beans, toasts, tea and milk), then went to visit the "Great Hall" which exhibited King Arthur's Round Table hung on a wall. I then hit the road around 11 AM.

It was grey and coolish, but good cycling. I got to Salisbury around mid-afternoon, got settled, had an early dinner where I sampled the local cider (the Brits make beautiful cider... not just beer) and then cycled a 35 kms circuit to Stonehenge and back. Awesome sight.... ! I hit the 5,000 kms mark with Titus on my way to Stonehenge.

Bath is a rather large city with an old character. It was nice actually and I spent an evening wandering around.

In the morning, the cycle to Bristol took me about an hour. It's mostly a modern city with a small old core. It wasn't much interesting but it took me an hour to cycle out as the city just went on forever... I crossed the North Severn bridge into Wales then it really got hilly cycling north along winding roads, fields and forests along the Wye valley which borders Wales and England... it was real pretty. I then crossed the Wye again into England and cycled up a gruelling hill to settle at St. Briavels for the night, a hilltop village with a castle.

The castle was originally built in 1209/11 as a hunting lodge for King John and a judicial center for the area, an important region at the time for its coal and iron... it supplied crossbow bolts for the armies...

Quite a sight, with a moat, which was dry but noticeable, St. Briavels' castle is now set-up as a Youth Hostel and for about Can$25 I just couldn't resist spending the night here in the castle.

After setting myself up in the castle, I wandered around in the surrounding village. I was fortunate that the village was carrying out a 100 year old tradition this same evening. After evening service in the village church, a couple climbs atop a stone wall in front of the church and castle and throw bread and cheese at the villagers below for good luck... Then, the whole village, myself included, went to the village pub. I had a spring veggie with ham broth followed by steak and kidney pie with lots of vegetables on the side with a local brew, and then couldn't resist a blackberry and apple pie with ice cream. The villagers around me were a riot and everybody had a good time.

When I got up in the morning, my shoulders and back were sore and cold as the castle was very humid, but after a hot shower I felt fine. It really looked like it was about to rain outside but I left anyway cycling north on a secondary road. It was very hilly and I had only done 40 kms to Hereford by noon. I had pastries and then switched to a primary road and got to Clun around 6 PM. At Clun, a film crew were doing children stories and asked me how long I was staying as they could use me as background in their film... Well I didn't feel like staying here a week or so, but I was flattered !

I ended up in a B&B up on the hill overlooking Clun and had dinner at the local pub with Connors, the B&B owner.

JULIEN & TITUS' CYCLING TRIP

> HOME > TRAVELOGUES > EUROPE (2001) > WALES

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In the morning, Connors really filled me up with his breakfast. I decided to cycle towards the west through Wales to the Irish Sea and Connors suggested a top-of-the-hills route to Newtown, so off I went... About 30 kms and a real killer. The road was bad and I had to push Titus up many hills, but the scenery was well worth it. I got to Newtown by 1 PM and was worried about whether I could do the mileage to Aberytwyth (on the Irish Sea) by nightfall, so I headed for Carris (near Machynlleth) instead... The "A" road was fairly level through the Welch mountains and towards the coast the cycle was gorgeous along a gorge through the thickest of the mountains.

Cycling north from Machynlleth to Carris, I met an old cyclist (60 + years old) and we both settled for the night in Carris. He used to be a racer and now just tours around on his bicycle (10 to 20,000 miles per year). He travelled very, very light... just one change of clothes and a blanket rolled in a poncho behind his seat and a handlebar bag. Interesting guy with lots of stories, but I wasn't sure where the truth ended and the fantasy began.

Going north between Carris and Dolgellau, through a high pass in the mountains, the cycling was hard but the view was terrific.

It was noontime when I got to Dolgellau and bought 3 pastries and milk. While eating, a guy asked me if I had come through the pass. He loved cycling and had noticed me yesterday at Machynlleth and the pass was a challenge for him. So we talked for a while.

From Dolgellau I cycled north on the 370 and it soured with rain... By the time I got to Blaenau it was pouring almost wet snow and I decided to call it a day and took a room at a B&B.

In the morning, from Blaenau, the first few kms were all uphill and at the pass you could swear it was about to snow... it was so cold, but the Snowdonia highlands (above) were beautiful. Then it was level or downhill to Dowydellan (left) where I had a nice rest.

I then continued cycling north uphill to the next pass at Caspel Curig... and there... a breathtaking view (below). It was very windy, the pass channelling a northwestern wind...

From there it was all downhill to Bangor where I settled for the night at the Youth Hostel. Had a nice dinner of "bangers and mash" (4 Toulouse sausages in a large bowl, over mashed potatoes with cabbage, bacon strips and cheese, all bathing in a thick brown gravy)... lovely and hardy ! A nice dinner for my last evening in England/Wales

Overall, the daytime weather in England and Wales wasn’t bad at all... I had the (cliché) impression that it rained all the time in England... But aside from a few days of rain..., there’s often a bit of fog and drizzle in the morning, then it clears up for most of the day and more often than not, you have a bit of rain in the evening or night.

The whole of England is like a well-tended garden... Everything is neat and landscaped... hell, even some farmer’s fields are surrounded with manicured hedges... Most houses, though old, are impeccable... like little dollhouses... Can you believe a 12th century castle is still habitable ?

Neat and courteous... the English are also reserved... If you get them to talk, they’ll talk a lot... but will keep their distances... not a bad people... but there’s something missing... spontaneity, joie de vivre...

On another note, I changed my cycling food in the British Isles, since I couldn’t find reasonably priced (or not at all) dried figs... I switched to English pastries... though not superb, they are certainly hearty, like the ¨caramel squares¨, ¨fruit lattices¨ (are dried fruits in a sweet and thick sauce between two layers of shortbread dough)... They’ll keep you cycling for a long time !... and in the cheapest places you can get four squares for about one pound (Can$2.50).

Plain dark chocolate was amazingly reasonably prices... about Can$1 per 100 grams... which was about at par with Spain or France... so chocolate remained part of my cycling diet.

Generally restaurants and pubs are expensive in England and Wales and you find that much of the pub crowd shows up right after work, then go back home for dinner and only come back to the pub around 10 PM, in fact that's when the pub really fills up.

So I self-catered a lot... Bought stuff at the groceries and ate in the B&B or at the guest kitchen at youth hostels... Hostels are popular in the British Isles... with a well-developed network... Independent hostels are even better developed... Bunk beds in a dormitory... but at Can$20 to 30 per night it’s the best alternative for a lone traveller... camping is cheaper, but you’re stuck between caravans and it often rains at night...

England is all rolling hills... low and gentle... and I don’t think you can cycle in any direction for more than a kilometre without encountering a dwelling, farm or village... about 60 million people are packed in a pretty small area...

Wales is a lot less dense. Actually, Wales is like the prettiest parts of the Laurentians or Eastern Townships back home, but a lot bigger. Cycling Wales was a visual pleasure... Mountains, lakes, woods, waterfalls and beautiful gorges between the mountains... High mountain passes that literally take your breath away... well worth it...