France 2001 notes
NOTES ON OUR 2001 "TOUR DE FRANCE"
We found the eastern outskirts of Paris to be uninspiring and the almost continuous drone of overhead aircraft did not help.
Fontainebleau Park area was nice, the walking was ordinary.
While the Loire are is interesting with some nice forests and towns with a delightful selection of chateaus, it is not particularly great cycling area. It is flat. Orleans is attractive. Chambord forest and Chateau are recommended.
The notes are based on this route
Jeanne d'Arc played an important role in the history of beautiful Orleans. She had a nice house too.
Heading south of the Loire, the countryside continuously improves. Rolling hills and beautiful rides abound south of the Cher River.
Municipal campgrounds were economic and often were right in town. This was the view from our tent at Chauvigny.
On the Atlantic coast, La Rochelle was awesome and Ile de Ré also highly recommended.
South of La Rochelle, the cycling seemed better inland to avoid busier roads. Once across the Gironde (ferry) there are plenty of quiet roads and bicycle paths all through the coastal area of the Gironde and Lande departments, west of Bordeaux. The paths were generally good and the ocean beaches and dunes were world class. There was little beach-side development. There are plenty of wild beaches and entertaining public access points.
Île de Ré is connected to the mainland by the 4km long Pont Viador. Tolls are collated for cars but not for bicycles.
Crossing the Gironde. Plenty of sandy beaches beckoned.
In the Pyrenees, we found the foothills to be excellent cycling (tough at times). We skipped the big passes on bikes because the weather was foul for weeks on end. They would be tough work on a fully loaded bike!
The area around Toulouse (north and south) was not particularly interesting.
The Aveyron River (gorge) NE of Toulouse was very nice. Najac is something to see.
The department of the Lot has a lot to see and ride. The Lot and Cele rivers are fine, easy riding.
The Dordogne River, in particular Sarlat, is very nice but best visited outside of July and August (too many of we tourists, increasing traffic on the quiet roads) but it was fun floating down the river on hot afternoons.
Lascaux II caves were worth a visit.
Najac
Lot River view from St Cirq including towpath.
Figeac countryside
The Limoges region was excellent riding, though Limoges itself is not worth a detour.
Yonne department (NW Borgogne) was good riding. Auxerre is nice. Chablis was pleasant. Further north, Troyes is worth a visit.
Champagne region was big sky country with light traffic. It would be nicer in early summer as rode through dirt (already harvested) fields in August.
The French-Belgium border area (Ardennes) provided fine riding. Chiers River was nice riding.
Chablis valley
It is worth taking some time to visit a champagne producer!
LUXEMBOURG
South Western Luxembourg is heavily populated and industrialized. Best avoided.
Everything at or above the latitude of Luxembourg City is FANTASTIC riding except for a couple of major highways. The border with Germany is beautiful. There are many deep wooded valleys throughout the country.
The 40km cycle path around Luxembourg City is especially useful on the east side. Beggen to Hasperange includes a lift (elevator) up to the city and nice green valley cycling.
FRANCE TRIP REPORTS
