Day 11: Cleres to Elbeuf: The Legs Start to Complain.

It turns out we were camped not far from a zoo which would explain the crazy noises at night. The woods makes good cover and we are not disturbed at all. We pack in the rain that makes it through the trees and the tent gets a proper soaking. Black bags are the order of the day. Today I rock the waterproof hot adventurer look of cycling shorts, cycling top, cycling sandals and waterproof socks. Watch out Paris here I come a la mode. We escape our woody retreat and hit the D3 again towards Rouen. A cathedral awaits. We hit some hard hills very quick and the legs get a punishing, they are the hardest we've encountered so far, but walking up is not an option. The drizzle hangs in the air all the way to Rouen and as we descend into the City the spires of the various cathedrals are visible. Rouen pleases the eye with its twisty turny timber framed buildings leaning haphazardly one way or another ready to fall down and take the whole street with them. The Cathedral is impressive but fairly sparse as cathedrals go inside. I get a few strange looks from other tourists as we have not only wandered around in the opposite direction to everyone else but I also have my head cam still attached to my head. We take a bread and cheese lunch outside in the square and the drizzle eases for a while. We then make the short jaunt South towards Elbeuf. Stevens ended up here by mistake and we have similar problems taking the a straight road out of town instead of hugging the River Seine. At some point we end up on a road that I can only guess is off limits to cyclists as quite a few automobilists give us a toot and wave their arms. It's quite a faff to find out where to go next as we come off at the next junction. After bombing down a dirt track we arrive at the bank of the Seine and take the path along the river out towards Elbeuf, although this turns into a dirt track and then we end up underneath the motorway we were on earlier. If it was dark we would probably end up being mugged or used as firewood, its a nice place. Finally we wheel in to the centre ville. It's a wash with many different styles, races, cultures and clothing. More than a few different African languages can be heard chatting away outside bars and cafes. Lidl invites us in to peruse the bargains and supplies are purchased and we hit the road. Mountain Goat seems to be oblivious to leg pain but mine are burning at the slightest gradient. We climb a hill out of the town and spy a deer track into the woods. MG makes a recky and we disappear into the greenery. The path fizzles out but we push hard through the undergrowth and pop out on a semi tarmacked track. We cross this and delve deeper before finding a lovely clearing in the pine trees. We create a nice log free pitch and dine on pasta and Normandy beer. A fine place to spend the night. The tarp extension goes up for the first time and we have plenty of room to move about in the dry if it rains.

A solitary owl hoots away in the darkness and soon we are away with the owls too.