Emma's notables from Guernsey:
- I did the Guernsey parkrun! It was a tough one; taking in - as it does - many soft sand-dune paths. The buffeting winds really didn't help. A great life experience.
- Straight after the run I pedalled to the abandoned fortresses of Le Marchant and Doyle. Again, the scale and complexity of the fortifications is difficult to comprehend. It's speculated that Hitler went above and beyond in the Channel Islands driven by paranoia about Britain focussing attention on retaking its sovereign territory. It's also alternatively speculated the various engineering projects were a manifestation of the fact he was indeed simply a madman.
- From the forts I carried on pedalling and took in a few more minor attractions around St Peter Port before returning just afternoon to my digs for a well-earned rest.
Steve's notables from France:
- Much better weather today and it's been a pretty steady one.
- Heading towards lunch I parked up in a place I know near the mouth of the river Sélune. From there I went out on the bike down yet another awesomely prepared and maintained greenway; this time the Mont-Saint-Michel to Cherbourg route. It was a pleasure to spin out with the sun on my back passing through quaint rural landscapes. The greenway often cut through high bankings that were covered in a heady combination of primroses, stitchworts and bluebells.
- Post lunch I had a wander round with the bins and spotted little-ringed plover, a solitary grey plover and an equally solitary cirl bunting.
- My intended overnighting spot is a place I've used before, but only in the L200 over Christmas. Back then I spent the night in solitude; today was slightly different. At about 5.00pm a funny thing happened (and it's far from the first time it's happened to me in France). From nowhere, about half a dozen cars appeared at around the same time and crammed onto the tiny bit of greenspace the truck is occupying. There really wasn't room for such shenanigans but each driver just made their car fit. From each car, occupant(s) decanted; some solo men, some solo women, some entire families with/without children of various ages and with/without dogs. They all just then randomly wandered off to who-knows-where before returning an hour or two later, reacquainting themselves with their respective vehicles, very carefully unthreading themselves from the soup of cars (and a big lorry), and driving off. It would seem it's a thing to take a walk before settling down to the evening's meal. It's all very wholesome but also - from a gringo's perspective - a bit weird when your otherwise completely untrammeled overnighting spot is temporarily turned into a very hectic unmanaged festival car park!