Touring in Chateau Thierry France

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Unfortunately it was not me doing the touring as I was on my motorbike but I met a nice German guy who was. He had intended to cycle from his home in Germany over to Norway but literally a few days before he was due to set off he developed a problem in his back and so instead decided to cycle to Paris and then down to CT where I met him. It was great to talk to him because he was telling me how dangerous it was cycling along the N roads with all the heavy transport travelling past him too close for comfort.So much so that he had to deviate from his planned rouite several times. Its dangerous enough on a motorbike let alone a bicycle. Still it has made me realise that when I do eventually set off I will plan to cycle on the D roads as much as possible.

He was riding a nice looking bike made by Musing with a Rohlof hub and he loved it. Given he looked so comfortable on it and it had straight bars I was wondering whether comfort wise that is a better option than the racing bars. Any views on that anyone.It just seems to me that climbing hills with straight bars would be harder than with drops.

He also had some terrific panniers on it that have the two side panniers combined with the top one. To make it that bit more enjoyable for him he was using hotels rather than camping. I can understand the appeal of doing that but given for my 6 nights away I used Ibis hotels and the prices ranged from 68 - 75 euros a night it must be an expensive trip for him.On the subject of Ibis hotels I had not used them for several years and I had not realised how costly they are now. The majority of them that I stayed in this time cost 13 euros for a continental breakfast. Thats more or less £13 for a lump of bread ham cheese etc etc. Its camping for me next time.

Aferchattying to each other for a good while my new German friend said our goodbyes and even though I had the knowledge that to travel just by twisting a throttle I could get wherever I was going to easily I could not help envying my new friend and wishing I too was on a cycle.I really do have to get this first tour under my belt very quickly.
 

cedfromfrance

New Member
hondated said:
Unfortunately Aferchattying to each other for a good while my new German friend said our goodbyes and even though I had the knowledge that to travel just by twisting a throttle I could get wherever I was going to easily I could not help envying my new friend and wishing I too was on a cycle.I really do have to get this first tour under my belt very quickly.

Hello, Have you done this trip to Chateau Thierry ? It's quite a nice area there, I hope you had fun. I live in a more mountaineous part of France (Albertville) but If you come around here, please let me know :smile: Ced x
 

Arch

Married to Night Train
Location
Salford, UK
hondated said:
H
He also had some terrific panniers on it that have the two side panniers combined with the top one. To make it that bit more enjoyable for him he was using hotels rather than camping. I can understand the appeal of doing that but given for my 6 nights away I used Ibis hotels and the prices ranged from 68 - 75 euros a night it must be an expensive trip for him.On the subject of Ibis hotels I had not used them for several years and I had not realised how costly they are now. The majority of them that I stayed in this time cost 13 euros for a continental breakfast. Thats more or less £13 for a lump of bread ham cheese etc etc. Its camping for me next time.

You can use hotels and B and Bs for a lot less - I've just had 2 weeks away in a group and for 14 days of bed, breakfast and evening meals (a couple of days we self catered for dinner, so the food came out of a cash kitty), it's costing £600 each - as well as that I think we each chipped in maybe 100 Euros to the kitty over the fortnight which paid for picnic lunches, mid morning pastries, some of our beers and a fair few of our morning and afternoon coffees (sometimes we paid out of the kitty for coffees, sometimes individually).

So about £50 a day all in, and that was by no means slumming it - the accommodation was all comfortable and welcoming, and in some cases downright excellent!

Put another way - it's less than a quid a mile!

A hotel that comes under the Logis name, even at the bottom end of the scale, will generally be good and economical, and often has a good restaurant attached.

I gather a good thing to do is to camp, but budget for a hotel every so often, to give yourself a break and a real bed.
 
OP
OP
hondated

hondated

Guru
Thanks..

cedx for your offer and I will take you up on that sometime. I,m a real francophile and I just cannot get over enough times.

Arch for your wealth of information I shall certainly remember it when I next go over.
 

Arch

Married to Night Train
Location
Salford, UK
There's always an element of luck with B and Bs and small hotels, just because they tend to be independent - as I understand it the Logis name is a sort of covering authority, rather than a single corporation. But all the hotels we've stayed in, in three trips of this sort, have been Logis, and all have been perfectly good. There is a book of Logis hotels, or look here:

http://www.logishotels.com/en/index.html

This time we had some B and Bs (Chambre d'Hote), and all were good, although the very last landlady seemed to think of us as a bit of an inconvenience - perhaps she trained in England.:biggrin:

The very best place we stayed, was here:

http://pagesperso-orange.fr/villeprouve/bb/gb/accueil.htm

Just look at the decor! It was sumptuous, the set menu dinner was excellent, our host and hostess were superb and there were 8 sorts of jam at breakfast! 37 euros for a single, bed and breakfast, 15 euros for a four course evening meal...

Oh, I want to go back....
 
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