Waking up was hard to do, but no hurry, my destination was only 4 1/2 hours away.

After waking up with a great crape breakfast I said my good byes and packed it up. I left at noon to get from Tours to Maisons, a small town near Bayeux. By now I’ve gotten used to the routine of no routine. Get up when I want, leave when I want, go where I want. It aint bad!!!

The western part of France is beautiful, almost immediately I’m riding through old towns with castles as their Frances most prized tourist attractions.

I want to stop in every town, but I know by now, I can’t see everything. I’m on a small time crunch. I stop just to catch glimpses of some of the castles but not long enough to explore.

As well as some old roman temples….their in shambles but they’ve preserved most of whats left, and they turn these areas into peaceful parks.

As the ride went on, I did stop and take some small detours, but my goal was still to get towards Bayeux before sundown. It  didn’t stop me from appreciating such a nostalgic region.

As I made my way towards Maisons, Bayeaux was biggest and closest city, it has a strong history including being the first town to be liberated in world war 2. So I did a quick cruise through there.

I arrived to Maisons and met Corinne and Didier. Their place immediately felt like home as I stayed in there granny unit which fell more like it’s own apartment.

That very night I had the opportunity to hang out with Corinne, Didier and their friends. We enjoyed some beer, wine, a local drink Calve. Their also musicians so we had a little jam session.

Once again it couldn’t have been more perfect. We sang or at least they sang and played :). I could not remember the words to any american rock songs. I must have been in Europe too long. Here’s a small clip;

I’m only 5 or 10 miles from the beaches of normandy and there is so much history here and all I can feel is a sense of pride. I started the next morning by going to the Museum. I wanted to hear the stories and see the faces of those involved before I headed to the beaches.

They do a nice job of chronologically going through the years of the war and the different parties involved. So once I was done with that I rode out to Omaha Beach.

These motorcycle rides are taking a life of their own. Each journey, destination, and the people in it are giving me unique euphoric experiences that can only come from traveling alone, and on a motorcycle. If you allow yourself to understand the history and take the time to let it set in, you can almost feel like you’ve been there during that time.

In the video below there were heavy feelings being on the beaches and seeing the monuments and names. Those heavy feelings of sorrow, were followed by a sense of freedom, once you understand how they captured the beaches and towns. That feeling of sadness, yet, Joy for them must have been unfathomable.

Spending time in normandy was a cool experience, but I’ve have rugby game to play in wales. The last thing I needed to do was change my tires. So I called up a couple of shops and found one in Caen, France. Every city has its history but I had no time to explore Caen, so I set out to get the tires. I needed to ensure once the rain hits I’ll be able to ride with confidence. This shop took care of it in a flash, with enough time for me to go explore.

After getting the tires fixed,  I set out to bayeux, and visited their cathedral.

It’s another beautiful french town with rivers running directly through it.

But with no time left I had an over night ferry to Plymouth, England. So just with an hour ride to the ferry I packed up and said my goodbyes to my air bnb hosts. Not before I stopped off at a mansion near my air bnb.

This mansion was captured by the Nazi’s but taken back by the british after D-day.

My last ride through the normandy region at dusk was beautiful, I found the western part of France to be a fun region. Friendly people, tons of history and beautiful castles and scenery. I would love to come back here and explore it some more. For now I’ve got another adventure around the corner.

Jolly Ol England, Rugby in Wales, and a familiar face from home are all ahead. I’m looking forward to it. I’ve just got to get on another ferry first,  this one though looks nicer then the one going to Barcelona. See ya their mates!!!