A brief ride report for those interested....
Background
My other half (soon to be wife - I proposed in the tent whensheltering from pissing rain in the Bedoin municipal camp site) and I ventured out to euro land for a 12 week tour, taking a break from work and life in general - easy to do when you've no child/mortgage or other commitments!
Intentions
The plan was to start in Santander, go across the south of France, traverse Italy and hit Slovenia before heading north through Austria/Switzerland/Germany and back home. The NW Italians put that idea out of the window (we found many to be rude and obnoxious in person whilst 99% of the drivers have little respect for life and limb) and the route went something like this:
Route Overview
1. Santander start - crossed Pyrennees on NA2600 to St Etienne de Baigory.
2. Heading east/North-east across south of France, through the Cevennes before hitting the Alps at Gap
3. Heading into Italy from Barcelonette via La Bonnette (2802m!) and the Col de la Lombarde
4. Heading north/north-east between Turin and Milan through paddy fields (Arborio itself!) and on to Lake Maggiore before hitting Switzerland.
5. Lukmanier Pass from the Italian speaking bit of Switzerland (still life threatening driving standards but with extra arrogance), into civilized Switzerland before doing the Oberalp pass and Andermatt pass heading towards the swiss lakes and flat(ter) lands from lake luzern to Lake zurich and on to lake konstanz to pick up a bit of the Rhine Valley route
6. After about a day, got bored with the poor quality and boring flatness of the rhine valley route and headed towards the nearest hills in the Black Forest
7. Dog-legged around the French border before crossing over near Saarbrucken
8. Across northern france via Troyes and Rennes before hitting Brittany and the Roscoff ferry back to blighty
Highlights
Switzerland - jaw droppingly scenic and mostly very nice people.
Germany - so much like the UK it was like coming home. Great for wild camping (normal there!) and drivers are probably the best I've experienced. People really friendly and go out of their way to be helpful.
Northern Spain - stunningly beautiful, friendly people, love cycling (most encouragement from drivers etc of whole trip). Hilly as hell.
French Alps - naturally very scenic but we lucked out and found towns to be very nice and people friendly (Gap in particular)
Cevennes - a lovely area to ride in and amazingly quiet out of season. Made up for some of the more dull French countryside
Lowlights
Broken tent - Vango, you are f**king useless and a disgrace. Tent poles are 'consumables' apparently. Learnt lesson and bought from a reputable firm (MSR - couldn't stretch to a Hilleberg)
Italy - beautiful country but some terribly rude/obnoxious people (mostly those under 50) in the NW region we went through, and despite being a cycle sport nation, zero respect for cyclists or any other road users when behind the wheel. Scary
'Switaly' - as above but with added self-importance for being Swiss
Dull bits of France This was our own fault for route planning failures.... some bits of France are a tad too agricultural to make it worth riding through.
Rhine Cycle Route - bag'o'shite. Even came across Germans ranting and raving after attempting to follow signs etc. Surface atrocious in places. Don't ever assume Sustrans and UK local authorities have the monopoly on crap route. The French had some equally laughable routes.
After all that, here's a link to photographic highlights....
Euro Tour 2010 - a set on Flickr
Background
My other half (soon to be wife - I proposed in the tent whensheltering from pissing rain in the Bedoin municipal camp site) and I ventured out to euro land for a 12 week tour, taking a break from work and life in general - easy to do when you've no child/mortgage or other commitments!
Intentions
The plan was to start in Santander, go across the south of France, traverse Italy and hit Slovenia before heading north through Austria/Switzerland/Germany and back home. The NW Italians put that idea out of the window (we found many to be rude and obnoxious in person whilst 99% of the drivers have little respect for life and limb) and the route went something like this:
Route Overview
1. Santander start - crossed Pyrennees on NA2600 to St Etienne de Baigory.
2. Heading east/North-east across south of France, through the Cevennes before hitting the Alps at Gap
3. Heading into Italy from Barcelonette via La Bonnette (2802m!) and the Col de la Lombarde
4. Heading north/north-east between Turin and Milan through paddy fields (Arborio itself!) and on to Lake Maggiore before hitting Switzerland.
5. Lukmanier Pass from the Italian speaking bit of Switzerland (still life threatening driving standards but with extra arrogance), into civilized Switzerland before doing the Oberalp pass and Andermatt pass heading towards the swiss lakes and flat(ter) lands from lake luzern to Lake zurich and on to lake konstanz to pick up a bit of the Rhine Valley route
6. After about a day, got bored with the poor quality and boring flatness of the rhine valley route and headed towards the nearest hills in the Black Forest
7. Dog-legged around the French border before crossing over near Saarbrucken
8. Across northern france via Troyes and Rennes before hitting Brittany and the Roscoff ferry back to blighty
Highlights
Switzerland - jaw droppingly scenic and mostly very nice people.
Germany - so much like the UK it was like coming home. Great for wild camping (normal there!) and drivers are probably the best I've experienced. People really friendly and go out of their way to be helpful.
Northern Spain - stunningly beautiful, friendly people, love cycling (most encouragement from drivers etc of whole trip). Hilly as hell.
French Alps - naturally very scenic but we lucked out and found towns to be very nice and people friendly (Gap in particular)
Cevennes - a lovely area to ride in and amazingly quiet out of season. Made up for some of the more dull French countryside
Lowlights
Broken tent - Vango, you are f**king useless and a disgrace. Tent poles are 'consumables' apparently. Learnt lesson and bought from a reputable firm (MSR - couldn't stretch to a Hilleberg)
Italy - beautiful country but some terribly rude/obnoxious people (mostly those under 50) in the NW region we went through, and despite being a cycle sport nation, zero respect for cyclists or any other road users when behind the wheel. Scary
'Switaly' - as above but with added self-importance for being Swiss
Dull bits of France This was our own fault for route planning failures.... some bits of France are a tad too agricultural to make it worth riding through.
Rhine Cycle Route - bag'o'shite. Even came across Germans ranting and raving after attempting to follow signs etc. Surface atrocious in places. Don't ever assume Sustrans and UK local authorities have the monopoly on crap route. The French had some equally laughable routes.
After all that, here's a link to photographic highlights....
Euro Tour 2010 - a set on Flickr
