Day 1 - 32 km - Portsmouth- L'Etang Bernard

Up at 7 a.m. to catch the ferry, and nearly had our knives confiscated but after a telling off about having locking knives in public we were allowed to keep them. The ferry journey was thoroughly uneventful. We cycled straight off the ferry and into Cherbourg, found a sandwich for lunch, and then we were off. The roads out of Cherbourg were beautiful: undulating roads, dappled shade, challenging hills.

Our first campsite was gorgeous - in the middle of nowhere, a field with basic amenities and very few other campers (see extra). On that first evening it was flipping cold though, I was worried about whether I had enough clothes.