{"id":12575,"date":"2014-07-02T14:58:05","date_gmt":"2014-07-02T18:58:05","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/tourdebocrie.com\/?p=12575"},"modified":"2014-07-04T14:01:27","modified_gmt":"2014-07-04T18:01:27","slug":"day-4-tuesday-july-1-framlingham-to-norwich-england","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/tourdebocrie.com\/?p=12575","title":{"rendered":"Day 4. Tuesday, July 1 – Framlingham to Norwich, England"},"content":{"rendered":"

The city square was bustling with the set up for the Tuesday morning market, \"photo-3\"<\/a>beautiful from our bedroom windows. \u00a0We began our day with a fabulous breakfast of smoked salmon and eggs on a toasted bagel \"photo\"<\/a>and fabulous toast and jam. \u00a0I usually don’t get that excited with breakfast, but this was outstanding.<\/p>\n

There was no sun or wind, yet a comfortable 60\u00b0 as we pedaled away from our quaint town, noticing the castle\"photo-4\"<\/a> that we apparently missed on last evenings walk. \u00a0Even in the grey skies the countryside,\"photo-6\"<\/a> farms and manor homes\"IMG_0101\"<\/a> were beautiful.<\/p>\n

We rolled up and down through twists and turns as tight as a zipper. \u00a0As much as we were enjoying the scenery on our (postage sized signed) National Cycle Route 1, we also liked to make forward progress, we needed a new plan. \u00a0In Harleston, after biking\u00a017 miles to a ten mile destination, we stopped to sort things out;\"photo-8\"<\/a> thankfully, Jim also stopped to assist. \u00a0He offered a couple of route suggestions, a couple places in town to possibly buy maps, as well as a place to eat in the next town. \u00a0Unfortunately, our map quest was not fruitful, but I did get a lesson in how to properly say Norwich (strong G, not ‘ch’).\"photo-10\"<\/a> \u00a0Just short of the town of Bungay, a car drives by with a friendly honk and pulls to the side of the road; it was Jim. \u00a0Though we were not (yet) lost, he had retrieved a couple of maps and tracked us down to offer them to us. \"photo-14\"<\/a>\u00a0We were delighted, as we had yet to find these kind of maps in the various bookstores and petrol stations along the way. \u00a0We bid our goodbyes again and headed for a little lunch. \u00a0Jim had mentioned the place was a local’s favorite and frequented by bicyclists; \u00a0this should have been our first indication of size. \u00a0Wanting just a light lunch, I opted for the sausage and onion pie, “assuming” it would be like a slice of quiche with a parsley garnish,\"photo-16\"<\/a>huge but quite tasty. \u00a0Just as we were finishing, we met another friendly chap, Joe Skipper<\/a>, a professional triathlete.\"joe\"<\/a> \u00a0We discussed various routes and must-see scenery. \u00a0And as much as we would have liked to stay much longer, the food in our stomachs was luring us to complacency. \u00a0Joe was kind enough to lead us to our route then send us on our way.<\/p>\n

The roads we were now on were a bit busier, but we still managed to roll past countryside,\"photo-13\"<\/a>markets\"photo-11\"<\/a> and homes hugging the road. \u00a0\"photo-17\"<\/a>We could see Norwich in the distance perched upon a hill and spilling into the valleys below. \u00a0We had no idea how large it was. \u00a0We biked through town,\"photo-18\"<\/a> along the water’s edge for a bit until we found a place to stay for the evening; properly positioned beside the stunning Norwich Cathedral,\"photo-20\"<\/a>\u00a0founded in 1096 and set upon 44 acres,\"photo\"<\/a>\u00a0it is one of the finest complete Romanesque building in Europe, with the highest Norman tower and largest monastic cloisters in England. \u00a0A sight to be seen and unexpected treat. \u00a0We did a small walk around our neighborhood, as the long days and mileage (48) were starting to take their toll.<\/p>\n\n\t\t