The bikes spent their last night relaxing in the van. We found parking for a month, the bikes popped out and the van was left in Canterbury. We set off maybe thirty minutes behind schedule. No shortage of Kent hills, we followed cycle route 16 to only to reach Dover just after the ferry check-in closed. We crossed to Calais by the hybrid ferry Pioneer, so quiet the electronic toys of other passengers became intrusive.
Lowlights – no pilgrim passports – it seems KO that the C of E isn’t keen to promote the Via Francigena which seems odd given that incoming tourism is so important to Canterbury.
Highlights – open countryside and the huge views across fields on a sunny afternoon.
Counterpoint – the refugee crisis was all around us, plain to see.
Bizarre – the evangelist who blocked the pilgrim path with her car in order to distribute leaflets that could take the reader closer to Jesus.
And now 2% of the cycle is behind us.
The bikes look sweet cosying up to each other in the van. Do you think they knew….?