Day 1 Dover-Dunkerque-Ypres-Kortrijk

Arrived at Hilde's place in Kortrijk 7:45pm.

Always delighted to complete a day safely. Never cycled 100km before and definitely not ideal after waking up at 4am, two hours drive (120 miles to Dover) and after 2 hour ferry (to Dunkerque).

Had tried to cross the Dartford Bridge before 6am to avoid the toll. Parking was easy enough to find near the port (as it turned out this was opposite the St Mary's vicarage and not directly in front of someone's front door like last time when I got a big scratch on the side). And the £12 extra premium lounge fee in the ferry was well worth it. I had bought it for the outbound journey as I want to arrive fresh. And the free flow espresso and juice and especially the macarones were delicious.

As it took me an hour to cycle from the port of Dunkerque to Dunkerque itself(20km!) it was perfect time for lunch.

Lunch was the usual affair: take the TripAdvisor and go from top to bottom on the list that are open and available. Today it's No 2 Le Marmiton which I was grateful to her for not hanging up after answering no to my only French phrase "Parle Anglais si void plait"?

The French always serves me heart attack beautifully presented. My set lunch turned out to have pan fried liver, Foie gras for starter and pan fried liver on gorgeous Filet de Boeuf.

Then a customary tour of the town centre and marina and on the road to Ypres (Ieper). This 50km seem to take its toll but I left the restaurant at 2pm as planned and pretty much arrive at 4:30pm as planned.

Cute Bergues

Glad to see Poperinge (7km from Ypres, not far now...)

There happened to be a concert festival in the town square and it was perfect for me. Ypres was recently in the news because of its historical WW1 battleground and memorial. But the cathedral and Cloth Hall was much larger than I had anticipated.