A couple of weeks ago I did what I think anyone who knows me would expect me to do: I bought a bike! Meet Amandine, my Peugeot. I found her at Emmaus, a European charity organization. She came with "les garde-boue" (fenders), "le porte-bagages" (luggage rack) and "la pompe" (a pump). The chain is definitely "à remplacer" (to be replaced), and so far I've only managed to get 8 of the 12 speeds to work (rear dérailleurs were not meant to be indexed with a butter knife...). Otherwise, she rides like a pro and stops like one, too.
After two weeks of typical Normandy-grey skies, the clouds parted for the weekend, and blue skies abounded! So, I decided to take off to Dieppe, the nearest big city. 60km/40miles round trip. Along the way I pedaled past scores of "éoliens" (wind turbines), "vaches" (cows), and I pedaled through 8 or 10 little towns in the French countryside. It was a relatively flat ride, but it took me two and a half hours to get to Dieppe, because I was riding into the wind during "l'allée" (the trip there). With the wind at my back, "le trajet du retour" (the return trip) only took an hour and a half. At one point I passed a machine that told me how fast I was going. On the way there I wasn't even going fast enough to be registered by it, but on the way back it clocked me at 29kmph.
Dieppe is such a lovely port city. There were loads of English-speakers there, thanks to the ferry that runs between Dieppe and Newhaven. I followed the road signs to get to Dieppe, but once I was in town I just had to guess where I was headed. I made it to the harbor, where there was a huge fish market. There were dozens of sail boats, too. The fishermen were all jovial, and I managed to speak to a few of them. Just quick, passing conversations. At any rate, everyone seemed shocked to meet an American in Dieppe. I followed the flow of market foot traffic, and eventually found myself on La Grande Rue, which turns into Rue de la Barre, the street that Brittany, an English assistant from Canada, lives on.
Brittany was a wonderful hostess. She showed me around Dieppe and let me stay the night with her in her studio appartment. Apparently, during WWII there was a battle at Dieppe during which 900+ Canadians were killed, 1700+ Canadians were taken POW, and only about 2000 Canadians made it home to Canada. There is a Canadian Memorial Garden, and this monument to commemorate their losses. I thought it was especially meaningful to be shown these hallowed grounds by a Canadian.
Dieppe, like Le Tréport and Mers-les-Bains, has a couple of cliff faces that you can get to the top of for a beautiful, panoramic view of the city. Here I am, sitting in front of an art installation on the grounds of the château. There's also an art exhibit going on in the chateau right now, but we didn't make it there in time to see it on Saturday, and it was closed on Sunday.
I leave you all with a house that we walked past, which looks like it has grown out of the vines. There are loads of buildings here that look like this. It's a shame how commonplace they've become to me, because when I first got to Poitiers their beauty was absolutely stunning.
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