Designated cycle routes in France

[winterwonderer]

Hi everyone, can I start off by saying a big thank you to all of you out there who take the time and trouble to share your experience with people like me who are new to touring and what it entails. I have been reading the forums for a few weeks now and the information I have gotten from you has made this little dream of mine seem possible.Cheers, once again.
I'll stop creeping now. I am planning a leisurely 10 week tour of France in the spring and by looking at the map on voiesverte.com it looks like I can do a flat route using the designated cyclepaths. I hope to start at Orleans along to Saint Nazaire then travel down the Atlantic route to Bordeaux, onto Carcassonne then Montpellier. I have a Michelin National map of France and I am pulling together general area IGN maps of the route itself from the roadrunner site but what is making me anxious right now is finding the exact start of the various cycle paths. I am learning how to ask directions in French but I dont really stand a chance in understanding any replies! So, I would really appreciate any info on this. Thanks in advance.

 

[Milemuncher]

Hello! I am in a similar position planning for September. Cannot help with specific starting points too often, but some are mentioned in responses to my posting here:

http://www.cyclechat.net/threads/planning-for-france-into-spain-and-portugal.89747/

I'll post up stuff as it comes by me. All the best!

 

[srw]

Take a look at my sig links for the section from Bordeaux to Carcassonne, including full GPS tracks - plus a route for north and south. The tourist info office in Bordeaux will give you a free map telling you how to get onto the Roger Lapebie cycle route - or the voiesvertes website will let you download or order paper copies of the map of the cycle routes.

 

[Dave Davenport]

Some of the French designated cycle routes take you on some very rough off road sections and meanander around a lot just to keep you off roads which have hardly any traffic on anyway. We use Michelin regional maps and make it up as we go along.

 

[rich p]

Each to his own but I find too much time on cycle paths a bit tedious. It's nice to see a bit more of life, villages and shops by travelling on smaller roads. Doing as Dave D does, as your confidence increases will be more rewarding.

 

[fraefreuchie]

Via Michelin will plan three bike friendly routes for you between two places provided they are not more than 200kms apart.

 

[johnny mcgurk]

The voiesvertes website has all downloads you would need for that route but I would suggest doing at least part of the journey on local roads rather than solely on cycle paths. In the spring there will still be some very quiet lanes to meander along and you will see a lot more of local life. The canal route to carcassonne, whilst being completely flat, can get rather dull. If you want very quiet lanes, try and stick to c(communal) roads, d(departement) roads will be busier . Avoid n (national) roads. When it comes to trying to understand the language, remember a droit is to the right but tout droit is straight on. Designed purely to confuse non-natives!!
Good luck

 

[psmiffy]

I agree with Rich I would not go out of my way to find cycle paths (or canals for that matter) nice for a while but you end up missing too much.

Midi Ive done a few times in both directions but I tend to use it as a transit route on the way to somewhere else - pic and mix when I want to be on the road ie looking for camping, food et.al - cycle route is quite useful for going into and out of Toulouse - avoid the one from Locaneu Ocean and the ones down the back of the Dunes - too many trees.

In ten weeks you can do an awful lot of France so you ought to have a bit of a wish list and personally even if it is a bit painful you should include a few of the lumpy bits - central massif - Tarn, Lot, Ardeche throw in a few bits of the alps - a decent beach somewhere on the med - a good dinner in Lyon or Annecy or any number of places - Wicked cake shop in Val d’ Isere - watch the moonlight over the lake on the Cormet Rosemund - sun setting over the med in Corsica - I could go on and on -

Personally I would start off a little later if you can so the passes in the alps are open - take a couple of weeks down the west coast to Bordeaux taking in as much a Brittany as you can to get the legs working - turn left through the Dordogne then right to do the Tarn/Lot - left - the Ardeche cross the Rhone at or around Tournon and into the foothills of the alps - Geneva - right then right again to get you to Galibere or straight on to Isere - I am wobbly just thinking of the possibilities - but just make it up as you go along - thats the joy of having that much time

 

[psmiffy]

Forgot

Orleans to St Naz is the most boring part of the Loire - go the other way - follow it down (try dinner in Sancerre overlooking the Loire with a little of the local plonk)- a little jump over the hills get you into the either the Jura with options for the Alps or into the Rhone Valley - left for the Alps or right for the Central Massif - take your pick

 

[rich p]

If I wasn't married, you'd be first on my list smiffy My kind of tourer!

p.s. In the cold light of day I realise that this post may have been fuelled by alcohol.

 

[Arch]

I am learning how to ask directions in French but I dont really stand a chance in understanding any replies! So, I would really appreciate any info on this. Thanks in advance.

By the end of 10 weeks, you'll be fine! My French is O level-mostly-forgotten level, but I find that even after a week I'm getting more tuned in to the language.

A tip from friends who live there now, and with whom I've toured in France 3 times, is when someone replies too quickly for you is to say "Doucement, s'il vous plait", which sort of means "Gently, please" - it should give them the idea that they need to talk to you like a small backward child - which is just what you'll need! You can always carry a small notebook and pen and learn the phrase "can you draw it for me please?"

I agree about the small country roads - cyclists' bliss! And passing through villages gives you so much more opportunity for a coffee or an Orangina at a cafe. And get used to people greeting you as you pass.... Oh, I want to be back there!

 

[winterwonderer]

Wow, what a response! Thank you all. You have made me feel so much more relaxed about this trip and I am kicking myself for not posting sooner.
In the beginning I had planned on taking the more scenic/backwater roads but thought better of it, as for about the last ten years, I have been a casual cyclist only and I was worried about my fitness level. Thats why I opted for the cyclepaths. After reading these replies I asked myself what I wanted to get out of the trip and decided it was not just to cycle along a tow path etc., that I wanted to 'be' in France and sample the life there. I really like the sound of making it up as I go along, so, it is the minor roads for me and if my legs give out then I hope it is near somewhere that I can get a cheeky bottle of red!
I am sure I will have to pick your brains a few more times before I go and I really hope that when I return I have at least one bit of advice that maybe of use to someone.
Going to get "Doucemont, s'il vous plait" tattooed on the back of my hand, should imagine this phrase will come in handy so many times and it will feel quite comforting to be spoken to as a small backward child as the wife has been doing that for years.

 

[bof]

The voiesvertes website has all downloads you would need for that route but I would suggest doing at least part of the journey on local roads rather than solely on cycle paths. In the spring there will still be some very quiet lanes to meander along and you will see a lot more of local life. The canal route to carcassonne, whilst being completely flat, can get rather dull. If you want very quiet lanes, try and stick to c(communal) roads, d(departement) roads will be busier . Avoid n (national) roads. When it comes to trying to understand the language, remember a droit is to the right but tout droit is straight on. Designed purely to confuse non-natives!!
Good luck

Some D roads are main roads - often former N roads, others have virtually no traffic. Michelin mapping colour coding is excellent: Red for A road equivalents, yellow for B roads, uncoloured for the rest. Unlike England where stretches of old trunk road that parallel motorways can be pretty empty roads, the motorway tolls means the French equivalents have more traffic.