| Day 1 - Calais to Arras |
| From Cocove to Lens |
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| Cocove restaurant |
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| Audruicq station |
| Train for bikes |
| Sloping carriage |
| Bikes on train |
| Not very often you get to see the interior of the restaurant at Cocove, so happy to oblige. Nice menu - waiter even gave us a special dessert as we were cycling - a circle of alternate white and pink grapefruit slices with a lemon and lime sorbet centre - very refreshing! The 15 minute cycle to Audruicq station that followed was a breeze! Plus at Audruicq, unlike Frethun sation we didn't have to lug our bikes up and down steps |
| Much more civilised - just a simple, level roll from street to platform. And timing was perfect - just ten minutes to wait for our train to arrive. Now why can't UK trains be like this - free transport for bikes throughout Pas de Calais-Nord? |
| Newer trains - from the type shown here, which must be 15 -20 years old, to the newest, most streamlined ones - tend to be double-deckers, with easy, low, access from the station platform , and a slope down to the lower seating area where there is a dedicated space for bikes. It's a tight fit, and that stops them moving back and forth, and you can sit bang opposite them if the seat is free, which it was both times we used this type of train. |