Day 10 - Sainte-Mère-Église to Swindon

Day 10 - Sainte-Mère-Église to Swindon

Friday 30/06/2023

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Home again after a dream fulfilled


Best night of sleep yet. We can really feel the cooler weather up North, much more pleasant on the bike but quite a change for us. We even had to wear our fleeces last night for the first time. We got up a little earlier than usual, just to ensure that we didn't miss the boat. 45 minutes after leaving camp we made it to the port at Cherbourg and the ferry.

We travelled on the Santona which is a new LNG powered ship. Very nice but we had to endure some cheesy music for the whole journey. They had video on demand for free so I watched Dune but with a break for a general knowledge quiz.

We arrived in Portsmouth bang on schedule and cruised the final miles back home with no issue other than we had to deal with rain for the first time in ages and Leon's rear light bulb blew. That's as exciting as things got.

Bitter-sweet to be home. Sure it's nice to have a comfy bed, eat some familiar food and sleep in a comfy bed, but we had really got into life on the road. I certainly could have gone away for longer!

Still in was a great trip with lots of variety and we all saw and experienced so many different things in such a short space of time. Mountains, forests, sea views, lake views, small towns, big cities, beaches, gorges, plains - everything. Loved the French side of the Pyrenees and was surprised by roads that were meant to just be transit legs like the road from Perpignan to Quillan or the road up from Pau to Bordeaux. The Spanish side was also great but in many places so different to what I remembered. We only did one mostly boring riding day and that was yesterday. Every other day (apart from my motorway assault on France to catch the boys) was spectacular. I would love to turn around and do it all again (after a food wash and re-stocking clothing).

Perhaps I can sneak in another trip later in the year....


Mileage: 2292 (Andy) 1928 (Leon - Konrad has done probably another 35)
Beers / Drinks: 43 (+ 9 bottles of wine)
Fines: 0 (possibly 2 in the post)
Bribes: 0 (£53 tolls)
Ass pain: 2/10 
Mechanical issues: 1 Puncture, 1 lost toolbox cover, 1 lost front wheel weight, 1 blown tail light
Accidents: 0 (Konrad scratched my pannier)
Wetness: 4/10 
Coldness: 2/10
Theft count: 0 (ignoring tolls)

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