Next tour... a week in France

[J-Lo]

Hi all,

Not been on here for abit, so it's nice to see a new forum design - looking very smart!

Well, after having my tourer nicked, insurance finally paid out and replaced all the accessories after nearly 6 weeks... so now i'm back onto planning a short tour for a week. The idea was to get the ferry to calais and then cycle to bruges and around belgium - but now I fancy france.

As strange as it sounds (even though its nearer!) my geography of northern france isn't that great. I've been to southern france (dordogne etc) a few times and liked it (not cycling mind you!) but that's not really practical in terms of getting there is it?

So, any ideas of where I could aim to go and back in 7-9 days? However, I'm not bothered about cities or doing the common cycle to paris! I like the countryside...

Or...

I did think about getting the tunnel accross and then driving to somewhere further south, using a campsite as a base for days out cycling...

As you can see i've never really been a fan of trains!

Cheers

 

[mcr]

Do your 7-9 days include the return trip from Suffolk to the channel ports, and if so by bike or car (assuming trains are out!)?

Either way, a one-way from St Malo to Caen (or vv, from Portsmouth) would be doable, with the best of eastern Brittany and the heart of Normandy, inland or via the beaches. The area south of Dieppe is surprisingly scenic, inland from Calais less so.

As a different idea, have you considered using Harwich to get across to the Hook or better still to Esbjerg?

 

[rich p]

Newhaven to Dieppe out and St Malo to Portsmouth return

or Newhaven/Dieppe out and Dunkerque/Dover back

You'd have to train between ports in England but that's very easy in my experience.

 

[J-Lo]

Thanks for the replies & suggestions!

I quite fancy getting the ferry out from portsmouth to St Malo. Having a look round st malo & dinard. Then, upto mont saint-michel and slowly working my way to bayeux, and then the ferry back from caen to portsmouth.

Anyone done this or similar? Any tips or other nice places to visit along the way? Will probably do this July time me thinks.

Cheers

 

[steveindenmark]

Normandy is a lovely place. Mont St Michelle is impressive but is also the 2nd most visited tourist site in france, after Paris, so it can get packed.

The American Cemetery at Coleville is a must. Have a search for "Suisse Normande" it is a lovely area for cycling. There are nice coastal towns like Honfleur, Merville sur la mer and Deauville to visit.

The problem is that there is just so many places to see and nice places to ride. You need to do some research and pick one.

You will enjoy it though.

Steve

 

[snorri]

Good to hear your insurer stumped up!
Highlights for me were Mont St Michel , the mussel fishery on the sands and the Normandy Beach museums. The US cemetery I couldn't go into, all flags, buses and loud people when I was there, but the Commonwealth War Graves have to be visited, the smaller cemeteries sometimes more thought provoking than the bigger ones.

 

[BigonaBianchi]

I got to montpellier in 9 days..lovely ride it was to.

 

[Penfold]

Great costal ride...Go Pompey to Cherbourgh ride East, pick up the landing beaches and do the lot + some inland sights in a week.......back home Caen to Pompey....I did it here....http://www.crazyguyonabike.com/doc/Penfoldsmith
I love Normandy and Brittany, plus, after a few of my school boy French phrases they normally take pity on me and speak in English (Bless em)
Enjoy your trip
Graham

 

[Kahuczek]

9 days? you could ride to the South of France .....

St Malo > cross the Loire at St Nazaire > ferry from Royan takes you across the Gironde > West coast (FLAT AS A PANCAKE! AND GREAT SURF BEACHES) > Biarritz > put yer bike on the coach at Irun, catch the ferry from Santander back to Plymouth, it's a great ride .....

 

[J-Lo]

Thanks to everyone for the replies, I do appreciate the suggestions!

Nothing is definate... But after reading a few journals of brittany think I fancy that!

 

[vernon]

the Commonwealth War Graves have to be visited, the smaller cemeteries sometimes more thought provoking than the bigger ones.

My first Commonwealth war grave had just eighteen headstones and was surrounded by a field full of red poppies. It was a very emotional and thought provoking time.

It's also worth visiting French and German war graves to see how differently they went about commemorating their fallen.