It was really a windy day to ride my bicycle to the French border where I stopped for an half an hour to rest and eat. It was still around noon and a sunny day and I wanted to get to the city of Calais in France before the night arrived. But first I had to go through the city of Dunkirk. Dunkirk was about 10 kilometers away from the Belgium border and as I was riding my bike towards Dunkirk, I was also debating if I should stop over and get to know the city. But when I began entering into Dunkirk I changed my mind in a hurry. Nothing seemed felt right about this area. It was dirty and industrial. There were a few things I knew about this city. This was a fishing town long ago and Dunkirk was the third largest harbour in France. Its economy heavily dependent on this harbour, chemical industries, oil refineries and ship-building. There was something else about Dunkirk most people remembered: how British troops were cornered by Germans during the World War-2. I didn't want to stop in Dunkirk at all and I continued pedalling towards the city of Calais.
Finding the directions and your routes in France has had always been one of the major problems that I've faced over the years. I never carried a GPS on a bicycle, but rather carrying a detail map of France was enough for me. I've done this in the past many times. However, there are at times in France, getting out of or trying to get into some of the villages, towns and cities with a bicycle is one of the hardest things to do. This has a lot to do with their poor or I should say lack of signs on the roads showing where or what directions to go. In Europe, just like any other continent around the world, bicycles are prohibited to ride on freeways, Highways or Autobahns. Basically you can only take or use the roads between the villages or towns which would connect you to the cities you're traveling to.
It would be easy to find directions to any city if you're driving a car between the cities in France, but I was riding a bicycle. And believe it or not whether you have a map or whether you asked the directions to 20 different people, it would take about 3 hours for you to get out of the city of Dunkirk. And yes, it took me over 2 hours to find the road to Calais. Hahaha, I was laughing the entire time as I was asking directions to French people. They just didn't know the answer.
I finally arrived to Calais at 7:00 in the evening. It was still light out, but light winds were bringing cooler air. I was very hungry and tired for riding all day. This time I just wanted to eat at a restaurant instead of camping and preparing my own food which I usually buy from super markets.
It turned out to be a good idea as I met the manager of this restaurant and luckily he was from England which I was able to ask him the directions for the next morning's route. Before I knew it, Paul invited his several French friends to our outside area sitting table. We really had a great conversations about politics, wars, history, traveling, and Calais. One of the French guy Alain who spoke perfect English agreed with me how hard it was to find directions in France if you are not traveling with a car and not using freeways(Highways)
The problem wasn't the traveling inter cities, but rather it was finding the directions (The Road) while you're trying to get out of the cities and towns to your next destination. This is where French road signs fails to direct you to your next road which will lead you to your next destination. All of a sudden you're staring at 4 different roads and directions, and which one I should take? There is no sign! It would drive me crazy and mad at times.
Before we knew it, this table we were on having a conversation, became an international gathering. On this table, we had a few British, a few French, Belgian, Turkish, Dutch, American and a New Zealander. And we were having the best conversation about different topics. This conversation carried on until 2:30 AM. It was time to go to the bed. Alain the French guy invited me to stay at his house, but I told him that I had to wake up early to be on the road. I told him that it was really nice for him to invite me over and next time, whenever I'm around North-west France, I would definitely accept his offer.
I camped out all night in Calais and next morning after showering quickly, I was about to get on one of the most fascinating roads. I've been to France several times, but had never been to this part of France. Before going to Spain, some of my destinations in Northern France was: Etretat, Le Havre, And the beaches of Normandy landing as well as Mont-Saint-Michel then down to Rennes, Nantes, Bordeaux before entering into Northern Spain Basque area. Yes, I was excited for the new road (north-west France) which I haven't been on. I was actually shocked to see the sun and a warmer day after a cold night.
Calais is located in Northern France (Nord-Pas de Calais Region) and it's a huge ferryboat port. Because of its strategic position and location which overlooks to straight of Dover in narrowest point in English Channel, Calais has been a major port for transport and tradi
I began cycling out of Calais around 9:00 AM and I can feel the heat on my face right-away. As soon as I left Calais I saw the road D-940. And about 7 kilometers later endless huge hills began as I pedalled harder. I was sweating really hard in the heat and going against up the stiff hills. First I passed the village of Sangatte then right before I start on another hill approaching towards Le Cap Blanc Nez, I just couldn't believe my eyes. I said WOW! Where did this view come from? I was amazed what I was looking at and shocked to the nature. Ocean (British Channel) was on my right which you can see England. On my left beautiful hills and farms. If we translate Le Cap Blanc Nez from French to English, it basically means "Cape White Nose" The cliffs of this area is very similar to white cliffs of Dover, England. At the foot of the white cliffs in Le Cap Blanc Nez remain traces of an ancient shore of the quaternary era, fossilized beach is an exceptional curiosity, international reputation. I finally made it to the top and stopped locked my bicycle then walked towards the hills to take some photos. Still, this wasn't the only place or spots along the road of D-940. All the way down to Etretat there were more spots were waiting for me which I'll be sharing with you. But getting up here to Le Cap Blanc-Nez and its hills was a killer, however, it was worth every minute of seeing it. I loved it. I'll definitely go back again.
Outskirts of Calais, France. F.Aksoy- Aug-2013
Monument Dover Patrol, Cap Blanc-Nez, France. Photo: F:Aksoy- Aug-2013
This amazing road D-940 takes us down south to many other point of interests, but first not to far from this location another interesting spot around the town of Wissant and later the cutest small village called Tardinghen. I was speechless and there were no words can capture the experience of bicycling this region and this spectacular part of France. I fell in love with this area, this road all the way down to lower Normandy and I'd love to go back there next summer again.
No comments:
Post a Comment