Humankind cannot bear very much reality. T. S. Eliot
Today I follow a section of the Greenaway that links London with Paris and it has to be said that the French have put more effort into the endeavour than the English.
This quote from the poet T. S. Eliot concisely explains why we all create our own happy realities; you know, simple worlds that we can understand, ones that make sense to us. The real world is far too messy, confusing, and downright harsh for us. For the 19th century American author Henry David Thoreau that created reality was a wooden cabin by Walden Pond with an account recorded in his classic book Walden which starts as follows.
When I wrote the following pages, or rather the bulk of them, I lived alone, in the woods, a mile from any neighbor, in a house which I had built myself, on the shore of Walden Pond, in Concord, Massachusetts, and earned my living by the labor of my hands only. I lived there two years and two months. H. D. Thoreau
Of course in the modern era we craft our wooden cabins through on-line booking systems, social media and blogs such as this. Though in the modern era people are increasingly looking for the whole immersive experience equivalent to that of Thoreau.
To set the scene for the days ahead, days 2-5 take me from the outskirts of Dieppe to Charleville-Meziere. The soft "S" shape is a result of a digital tool which maximises time and distance on cycleways; the most pleasurable reality for a touring cyclist.
Today I follow a section of the Greenaway that links London with Paris and it has to be said that the French have put more effort into the endeavour than the English.
For the benefit of local riders who will be coming this way in June (you know who you are), the road bridge coming from the ferry port has maintenance work so it's a 100 yard diversion to use the nearby footbridge. Then you are soon onto a disused railway embankment which as been re-surfaced with tarmacadam and still shows evidence of platforms and station buildings complete with station names.
When the French do a Greenway they really do a Greenway.
It would be easy to get lost in thought on the traffic free Cycleway so you need to make the effort to look around and stop.
On the Greenway there is nothing to stop you so it's easy to imagine you are cycling forever to the farthest reaches of the universe. A sensation supported by planetary signs spaced, one assumes, in proportion to their actual distance from the sun. This isn't a new device and Ruislip Lido in North West London has the same.
By 11:30am the clouds are closing in and I'm ready for some café shelter and a coffee but that will have to wait. A cloudy 11 degrees centigrade and a biting wind from the North leave me wishing I'd packed some gloves.
Though todays segment of the long and winding road is taking me towards Paris I veer Eastward tomorrow so won't reach Paris or get to see the newly refurbished Notre Dame cathedral. With that in mind at least I get to see Notre Dame church in Ménerval which dates from the 11th and 15th centuries.
Soon after Ménerval I wriggle through the edge of a village and pass Le Velo Jaune café. It is easy to miss as it sits on a mound above the road and your attention is drawn to navigation at this point. The café is closed probably due to today being a Monday and it is run by a Scotsman who has excellent French but will switch to passable English if you prefer. I only know this as I passed this way having cycled to Nice, night train to Paris then cycled the Avenue Vert (Greenway) to Dieppe.
Near my destination I notice one of the ever present Lavoir or washing places that are preserved across France.
The accommodation tonight is a little out of town, inexpensive yet very smart. They are happy to provide breakfast and emphasise the local cheese and local jam to complement egg, bread and coffee. I opted for 8am to better fit in with French custom. As is also customary there is the half-offer of an evening meal (table d'hote) before deciding that 24 hours notice is the practice so 'off into town with you, you young whippersnapper'.
Today was 80km (50 miles) of excellent cycling covered in a total elapsed time of 6 hours and 30 minutes including breaks.