Overview of N. France?

[Gotte]

I'm planning a tour to either Fanders or the Somme region for May this year.
I've been to Flanders before, so know what to expect, but have never been to the Somme, nor the countryside between it and Dover (or Dunquirk). Can anyone give me an overview of the area?
Is it pretty?
What's accomadation like (not camping)?
How about food, I heard the shops can be closed in the afternoons?
Is the weather any different from Flanders?
How about bike routes? I heard they are few and far between, but the roads are good to ride on.

 

[Cathryn]

I don't know the area particularly well but have been around there a few times.

It's flat. And not very pretty.

I don't imagine that the food, accommodation and shop opening hours would be vastly different to the rest of France. Assume all shops are closed on Sunday so get any food you need on a Saturday. The food will have Belgian influences but is likely to be as great as you get everywhere else in France. I don't recall seeing any bike routes (I was in a car) but cycling on the roads in France isn't the issue it is in the UK so I would have no worries in that respect.

If you want a hill, go to Cassel. Lovely town, stonking hill.

 

[Tim Bennet.]

It's not all flat (but never 'mountainous'!) and there are areas that are really pretty. In fact, it has a lot going for it as a cycle touring destination, but requires some background reading, a little insight and a bit of effort to winkle out the best.

The coast south of Boulogne is quite wild and there are masses of cycle routes. The Somme Estuary is superb and then you can weave inland covering history from Crecy to WW2. There are forests and rivers to follow till you get to Flanders. Once there, a combination of the history of conflict plus a good smattering of cycling history will keep you diverted for a couple of weeks. You can ride the cobbles, try some of the murs (as at Cassel) and get an insight into a part of France that isn't all perfect, but reflects the real history of our neighbouring country.

I find more interest in the social and industrial changes in 20th century Flanders than gawping at yet another chocolate box Loire chateau.

 

[LondonCommuter]

Lots of soft cheese so don't go if pregnant!

 

[Gotte]

Thanks for that. A quick look at the route planner gives me a circular route that starts in Calais, then down the chanel coast to Abbevile, then S.E. to Amiens, then NE to Bapaum, North to Arras, North to Bethune, North West to Ypres, then back towards Calais.

Anyone done anything similar?

 

[BigonaBianchi]

The Somme battlefield areas are what I would call 'rolling countryside'. No huge hills, but it isnt flat. Excellent road surfaces and lots to see...erm if WW1 is your thing. You could spend a couple of days just on the road from Bapaume to Albert alone...so much history on that small stretch of road alone. Make sure you go to the New foundlamd memorial park there at Beaumont Hamel.
To get the most out of that aprt of the somme I advise you to take a guidebook with maps of the battles there...facinating.

 

[rich p]

Thanks for that. A quick look at the route planner gives me a circular route that starts in Calais, then down the chanel coast to Abbevile, then S.E. to Amiens, then NE to Bapaum, North to Arras, North to Bethune, North West to Ypres, then back towards Calais.

Anyone done anything similar?

Don't stop in Abbeville, it's a dump. If your route goes anywhere near Montreuil stay there instead. It's a gem of a bastide town with a wonderful rampart walk and I recommend the Le Cafe du Capuccins for a good nosh. Le Touquet is also interesting.

 

[BigonaBianchi]

Le Touquet is also interesting

I went there once on a piss up weekend in January...icy cold, on the beer all day, then ended up in some dive of a snooker hall pub at about 4am playing drunk snooker with locals...then on to the ferry home a few hours later...passed out under life boat feeling VERY sick...rest of group decided I must have gone overboard and alerted the crew....I awoke from drunken stupor to hea rmy name being urgently called over the ships PA....next time I go there it will be summer....I reckon I got a serious case of hyperthermia...thats what made me ill...yep...must have been the cold.

 

[Gotte]

BOAB, thanks for the info, and the story. I have had a few days like that myself, though not for a while now, and not involving cross-channel ferries and possible man-overboard incidents.
Rich, thanks for the link. I'll have a read later, when I;ve got time.

 

[rich p]

BOAB, thanks for the info, and the story. I have had a few days like that myself, though not for a while now, and not involving cross-channel ferries and possible man-overboard incidents.
Rich, thanks for the link. I'll have a read later, when I;ve got time.

Gotte, the link is not connected but it's worth searching the www.crazyguyonabike.com site for other tourers' experiences. Click on 'Journals' - Locales - Europe etc. A great source of advice and travelogues

 

[Gotte]

I just read the link and it was interesting, as I didn't know that you could catch a ferry from Newhaven to Dieppe. From what you wrote it seemed like a nice area, and it might be an alternative route for us. I checked and it's about the same distance from Dieppe to the SOmme as from Dover.
Also, I noticed you mentioned you;d been to Waldshut. Was that the Waldshut in Baden-Wurtenburg? My friend and I were there a couple of years ago as part of a Black Forest tour. How did you find Germany? I love it myself. How do you find France compares with Germany regarding cycling?

 

[rich p]

The ferry to Dieppe takes the best part of 4 hours but it's a good quality boat these days compared with the old bucket of a few years ago.

Yes Waldshut (and Tiengen) were lovely places. We have 2 German friends who live there and have been a couple of times.

I cycled in Germany for the first time 2 years ago and was blown away by it. It's such a cycle friendly place, wonderful scenery, delightful architecture and civilized people. France is great too and each has its advantages. Cafes are open more often during the day in Germany but the evening meals are a bit monotonous. Vive la difference as they say!
I've done France many times but I want to do more of Germany. We travelled east from Trier to the Romantic Strasse and then south to Fussen and into Austria. Happy days!

 

[Gotte]

You should have gone to Freiburg. The whole town was given over to cyclists. They even had a radweg down the side of the river that was so narrow, but busy it was like some madcap white knuckle ride.
Here's a link to some pics from our Black Forest tour:

http://smg.photobucket.com/albums/v56/PhilipSmith/Cycling/Black Forest/?albumview=grid

My friend and I went from Berlin to Dresden last year - down the Elbe most of the way. It was really interesting seeing the old DDR, and Dresden was a jewel. One of the best things was there were so few British people to ruin it. I don;t have a very high opinion of the British abroad - I went to Budapest once, and was just depressed at the amount of Brits, and the way they carried on; drunk mostly, and when not drunk complaining or being high handed. But thankfully the British have never liked Germany as a destination, which is odd really, as it's a beautiful country, there's lots of beer and sausage, and given the fact we nominally won the war, it would give us endless opportunities to feel smug and superior, and be offensive at any gap in the conversation.

 

[yello]

it would give us endless opportunities to feel smug and superior, and be offensive at any gap in the conversation.

In fact, just the kind of behaviour you were berating a sentence earlier!