France - route advice please

[Scott_rider]

Hi guys. We've been to France on the bikes many, many times but we usually 'blast' through it from Calais to the Spain in 2 days with 2 overnight stops in either Poitiers/Vendome or Carcasonne/San Sebastian.

This year we want to take 4 nights and see a bit more of France rather than at warp speed . We can either end up on the west coast of the Spanish border (San Sebastian area) or on the east coast of the Spanish border (Perpignan)...it doesn't matter.

No motorways and we'd prefer not to be doubling back on ourselves. We're happy to do up to 300 miles a day. Any suggestions?

[daveuprite]

Such a hard question to answer because there are just so many ways to go, all of them really good. I live north of Limoges and my general rule on a road bike is to head South and East. The roads are more varied, there's more twisties and great scenery. So of your two alternatives I would recommend the eastern route ending up in Spain either midway along the Pyrennees or on the Med coast (you could always return up the Atlantic coast anyway).

SO: From Calais, ride east of Paris. If there is one bit of your trip that's worth ticking off on autoroutes it's this bit. Or fast N-Roads maybe. I'm not saying that there is nothing good to see in Picardie or Champagne region, but if you have the whole length of France to cover in 3 to 4 days this is the bit to get past quickest I would say.

Get yourselves to somewhere like Nevers or Moulins on your first night (assuming you had a morning channel crossing). Then you can spend lots of time on D roads up in the Massif Central on day 2. The Auvergne dormant volcanoes (Puy De Dome etc) are well worth it and the roads are great down through Le Puy en Velay and Mende. Overnight in Mende, Florac or maybe Le Vigan (very nice scenery here).

At this point you could head West past the Millau Bridge, Tarn Gorges, Lot, Gascony etc and hit the Pyrennees in the 'middle' (Bagnerres De Bigorre for example) - although bear in mind that these roads are often v busy during July/August, OR from Mende go and find the brilliant roads through Languedoc - Lodeve, Beziers, Carcassonne, Limoux ending up towards the Spanish Med border or into Spain for the night. Then you could just tick off 150kms to Barcelona or sun yourself on the Costa Brava beaches or go to Andorra for some cheap kit (there's no other reason, mind...).

Loads of other alternatives, but these two routes give you something to chew on.

As for getting back to the UK personally I would avoid the Atlantic coast. If you have time do the N260 and other great Pyrennean roads on the Spanish side, get back into France somewhere near Bagnerres De Bigorre and then ride on D roads up through Gascony (Gers) via Auch and Agen, then Bergerac followed by Perigeux and overnight at Motobreaks (just up the road from me between Limoges and Poitiers).

Then you could stay on decent D and N roads up through Saumur (Loire Valley), Le Mans, Evreux, Rouen or Amiens and back to Calais (or Dieppe to Newhaven depending on where you need to get to in the UK).

Have a good one,

Dave

[PHILinFRANCE]

What he said its also worth following the Lot river west untill Cahors for great roads and scenery

[Scott_rider]

Thanks . Some good tips there. Usually we go one of these two routes in 2 days...but we want to double that this year:

Calais
Le Mans
Poitiers
Bordeaux
San Sebastián

Or

Calais
Paris
Clermont Fernand
Milau
Carcassonne

[chunky butt]

Bordeaux- Biarritz is flat as witches tit, and roads seem to be long and straight......me I'd overnight at motobreaks or further south at pif's where you'll get a very warm welcome, and then go south or south east......far better roads and scenery, I suppose it depends on your destination in Spain.....

[Alan29]

I would go south on the Autoroute to Clermont Ferrand then through the Massif Central, heading for Puy Mary and then on to the Tarn Gorge and over the Millau Viaduct.

[daveuprite]

If you like scratching, I find the best way to put together a french tour is to find all the best sections of scratching roads that you really want to ride and then string them all together into a route which keeps roughly progressing in the direction of your destination. That way you spend more time actually riding the kinds of roads that are most satisfying and less time obsessed with covering distances efficiently.

For instance if you are anywhere near Mende / Millau then it would be a real shame not to ride the magnificent D986 around Valleraugue, which is a superb piece of tarmac. On something like an R6 or a GSXR this road is like a fast group trackday session - it's fantastic. Start a list of similar roads you just must not miss and the route between them starts to build itself.

Above all don't book accommodation in advance unless you plan to stop for more than one night. Just ride into a town at about 6pm (in the Summer) and find the Tourist Information Office. They will show you pics and descriptions of all the local Chambres D'Hotes / Hotels that fit within your budget and/or spec (e.g. must have secure bike parking) and for about 2 euros they will do all the phoning around for you and book you a room. No need to keep riding between B&Bs asking for vacancies in shit french when you are hot and tired.

[Fulcrum_29]

The south of France is actually magnificent... and yeah, the whole southern half! If you have several days to reach Spain and like mountains, I can advise you to go through the Jura region on the Swiss border, taste the Comté cheese and have a glass of yellow/straw wine before going to sleep in the evening, and then go on through Provence (Aix-en-Provence, Avignon...) and see the Mont Ventoux. It's one of my favourite places!

And if you see Provence and Jura a couple times and go to France again, Picardie and Champagne do have nice roads to travel through, near Pierrefonds, or in the Ardennes.

[qcnr]

Depending what time of year you are going there is Wheels 'n' Waves in Biarritz during June.
If that sort of thing tickles your fancy...

[garyboy]

I have not been to France for a couple of decades, but my basic knowledge is
. route west .. motorways and big roads Bordeaux way are great for a big bike. La Rochelle is fab. Brittany well worth a visit.
. route mid .. smaller roads, great for country scenery, central massive Clermont, Puy de dome .. fab.
. route east .. height of season a traffic nightmare from Calais to mid .. but fab valleys later mid/south.
.. south france .. fab fab fab .. but lyons way return is gruelling.. Montpellier way can be extremely hot, but nice. Nice nice but commercialised, smaller bays better.

Pyrenees great/amazing. such high roads up.
Andorra worth a visit even for just the valleys/mountains, amazing highs.

I was hoping to do the central route this/next year.. then guess wot? .. the TET came along