A day ride in France - Sat. 11th April

[Jimmy Doug]

For a diet coke, starter and a main, it was 20 Euros.

Looks good value. Although, if you went during the week the prices may go up at the weekend. I hope you're not hoping to get out quickly though. Lunchtime in France has been known to take a very long time!

 

[User10571]

Well, if you're going for national stereotypes, instead of empty lager cans by the roadside that you get in the UK, there were a few of these:-

View attachment 82100

Ah!
Snail traps!
I should stop this really, shouldn't I?

 

[Flying Dodo]

Looks good value. Although, if you went during the week the prices may go up at the weekend. I hope you're not hoping to get out quickly though. Lunchtime in France has been known to take a very long time!

This was last Saturday. I'm sure no-one will be drinking and cycling................

 

[mmmmartin]

The A20 is fine through Dover

I beg to disagree. It's always horrid at any time of the day or night. There are many huge lorries in a hurry to or from the docks. Best to ride on the pavement to the left of the road when going to the docks. Better by far to follow the cycle route, which is safe, quick and well away from lorries.

 

[mmmmartin]

The nasty bit is getting off the boat at Dover. It would be best to be the last off. There's another nasty ramp to go up and then you end up going a long way east inside the port, then dropping down and heading back west, to eventually get to the A20 roundabout, and then there's a bit of manoeuvring to get onto the cycle path on the left hand side. Apart from that, it's all plain sailing.

I beg to disagree. As you leave the boat - the loaders will keep you back so you are the last off and won't be squashed by lorries
- you should be told by the "landside" people to follow a line on the concrete that will take you through the parking area to a gate specially for cyclists. You press a button and the gate will open and you follow the line, on the flat all the way, there's no ramp to go up and you go westward past some buildings, to join the traffic as it passes through the customs area. Once through that you continue to follow the line and it takes you across the area outside the ticket hall and across the inward-bound road to a segregated cycle path on the north side of the road, then follow the cycle path.
It's complicated to do but does keep you completely separate from vehicular traffic.
I'm aware I've not expressed this as well as I could, but cyclists shouldn't go up the ramp and go to the east of the docks on the same roads as traffic. That would be a very difficult thing to do on a touring bike loaded with panniers, which covers most of the bikes likely to be coming off the ferries (but not your bikes on this occasion, obvs).

 

[StuAff]

Yup, I went that way after returning from Brussels. I got held back till last on the ferry- I can understand why but I'd have preferred a head start...the gate's a bit fiddly but otherwise that path works well.

 

[Flying Dodo]

I was left to my own devices getting off the boat at Dover, so it's good to know there is a short cut. It seemed daft having to follow all the vehicles, as I could see how far away in the wrong direction they all having to go.

So cycle path both ways.

 

[deptfordmarmoset]

I was left to my own devices getting off the boat at Dover, so it's good to know there is a short cut. It seemed daft having to follow all the vehicles, as I could see how far away in the wrong direction they all having to go.

Same here a couple of years ago. Calais also sends you off in the opposite direction to where you want to be heading. We were late coming back off the coast road and had to pass the port to get in when we only had minutes to spare. Which turned into sweaty minus minutes.

 

[velovoice]

BUMP for anyone still thinking about this who still need to book trains & ferries...

On the list so far:
@Flying Dodo
@velovoice
@Mark Grant
Gail G
@ianrauk
@Arthur
@User10571
@wanda2010
@man in black

And @Jimmy Doug joining us on the French side.

Looking forward to it!

 

[ianrauk]

BUMP for anyone still thinking about this who still need to book trains & ferries...


Looking forward to it!

All booked up. Looking forward to it also.

 

[velovoice]

Just two weeks to go!

 

[User10571]

<Rummages through drawer marked "Foreign Currency" to see if he has any Francs left over from the last time he was there>

 

[velovoice]

Passports!!

 

[Flying Dodo]

<Rummages through drawer marked "Foreign Currency" to see if he has any Francs left over from the last time he was there>

Somewhere in a drawer I've got some really old Francs from before 1960 when they made 1 old Franc = 10 new Francs (or so I'm told, as it's way before my time).

Anyway, Euros, young User10571.

 

[User10571]

Somewhere in a drawer I've got some really old Francs from before 1960 when they made 1 old Franc = 10 new Francs (or so I'm told, as it's way before my time).

Anyway, Euros, young User10571.

Ha!
All the rummage has revealed is a fist full of dollars. (Did you see what I did there?)
The last 300 or so Euros I had, I handed over to Pippa, (along with my wallet full of credit / debit cards, etc - there's an unprecedented level of trust for you - she could've taken it and gone shopping at Christian Louboutin, for all I knew.....) following our decision to abandon my inaugural ski trip to Grenoble, thanks to industrial action by SNCF / TGV, while I went to answer a Very Urgent If Not Imminent call of nature at Gare du Norde.
I emerged to a series of calls and messages and texts saying 'You have to run, you have Got To Run, I have just used your money to buy us two tix on Eurostar back to London (first class, natch) which leaves in T-30 seconds. RUN! NOW!

I did - well... I kinda sauntered.... I've never responded well to being told what to do....

St.Pancras at 06:30am
Paris before midday.
Back in St. Pancras by around 15:00 that same day.
I think champagne may've been involved....
Heady days....

I'll get some Euros.....