Days 7 and 8: Vouziers to Home via Cambrai

I planned a scenic route through the Ardennes hills north of Sedan and then on the D roads to Cambrai. The basic distance was short so I had plenty of time for this detour. The Belgian roadsigns were confusing as they seemed to list towns in a different order to those in France. Moreover my route crossed between France and Belgium and back and perhaps they list towns by nationality rather than by distance?

The little roads in the Ardennes were pretty and curvy, so well worth a visit. Bohan was clearly the tourist centre and I saw more people milling around here than I had in any other village. The western Ardennes looked to be suffering from being post-industrial, closed factories and rundown suburbia.

In Cambrai I decided against staying in the Etap class hotels as they looked to be further from the centre than usual. I'd booked into the Hotel Beatus, which was the most upmarket hotel of my journey and suspect that I will be revisiting.

Finally it was time to head home. I decided that I would do it quickly using Peage in France and returning on the A1. The toll was only €5.30 for 122km which wasn't bad considering the time it saved. The crossing and road home was uneventful and I was back home by 15:30. The total distance was 1950km of which 800km was in England.