by regedmunds » Mon Apr 01, 2019 9:39 pm
Date walked: 01/04/2019
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Catch the ferry from Portsmouth to Caen (from the port by bus 1.50 Euros) and get off at central bus station. I use the map app Sity Trail to guide me. Walk out past the ticket office and past the 'gare', you are aimimg for the city centre Hippodrome race course, only a short distance away.
At this point you will pick up the GR36 hiking route. I followed this all the way to Clinchamps-sur-Orne and camped on a very nice farm site. The farmer made cider on his premises, very nice! The next day I hiked to Thury Harcourt and camped again. From there I crossed the River Orne and followed the GR36 'varient' back to the farm campsite, then back to Caen, camped near the port and then came home.
A short trip but the Suisse Normand area is very attractive, good food and wine, lots of D Day type history, many woodland routes to follow, limestone cliff routes and always nearby the River Orne, which is great for hiring and using a canoe. The area is also a must for cycling. If you take your bike (the locals love to use it for rollerblading) you can cycle on a dedicated smooth tarmac cycleway (an old railway route) all the way to La Rochelle, about 400 kms.
I went over a second time but this time I first made my way to Felaise (William the Conquer's birthplace, great castle and small town centre) then hiked across country to Pont D' Ouilly and made my way back to Caen by all sorts of footpaths.
