More ships - last day

Today we packed up our little tent and cycled out of the campsite for the station. We took a TGV to Paris, cycled across Paris in the rush hour, then a took TER to La Harve where we embarked on an overnight ferry for Portsmouth.

Today's blip is the rather magnificent mosaic at La Rochelle station, where we waited for our TGV to arrive. For such an impressive train there are only two cycle spaces per train set (two sets on our train, so four spaces) and there is no in-carriage WifI or power supply. The TGVs were modern 30 years ago, but now are showing their age - even if they are still faster than pretty much 95% of the world's trains!

Cycling through Paris was interesting and exciting, though much easier than you would think and we arrived at our second station in plenty of time for the train. The next train was a regional TER and we had loads of space for our bikes on it, though nothing dedicated.

At Le Harve we cycled though the failing light and drizzle to the harbour, and were surprised by the excellent cycling facilities we found there, including a nice sheltered space to wait before boarding the ferry! The ship is an old Danish unit and while basic, is pretty good and the sister ship to the ferry we took to Denmark two years ago. Our cabin even had a porthole, so we could watch the Channel in the dark if we wanted to!

Tomorrow we will be back in England... and then back to work!