Arriving into Dieppe by ferry at 4am with a whole group of other cyclists. People were going to various destinations in France. I felt I’d be on a mega trip going all the way to Nice, but I met a couple that was going to Bordeaux in a recumbent! So a few other eccentrics around apart from me!
Riding through the night and through the morning mist in Normandy was another notable memory. Even though it was 10am I still went through areas were there was hanging mist.
In Paris the ride from Gare St Lazare to the East side of Paris was a bit of an adrenaline ride negotiating the rush hour traffic. Funnily enough, although Parisian drivers may be used to seeing cyclists on the road, thanks to the Velib scheme, they are not used to seeing cycle tourists – and female cycle tourists at that! So of course taxi drivers were shouting across to me at traffic lights trying to make conversation – asking Comment ca va? Where are you from? Where are you going etc.. I just got on with riding my bike!
One thing that I learnt more about was the terrain in Paris. I know everyone talks about Montmatre being particularly high up and particularly hilly, but no one talks about the 19th arrondissement. My ride along La Petite Ceinture to get to from Porte de Pantin to Bercy actually involved quite a climb over the Buttes de Chaumont. It’s just as hilly as riding around Montmartre but I guess people talk about Chaumont less as is not so touristic.
Also, watch out at traffic lights. Red goes to green immediately, with no amber light in between. Green goes back to red via amber but very quickly, and immediately your lights go back to red, a green light goes on in the cross flow lanes of other traffic. Junctions are wide and are often star shaped rather than crossroads, like what you get in the UK. They are not that quick to cross. Ergo, those who want to try and jump a red light think again!
Road surfaces are ok, but can be sketchy sometimes and with intermittent tarmac and cobbles. In some parts I got a good old rattling – especially when going down Champs Elysees at speed!
The other thing I recall certainly through the Northern part of France is the Cote d’Or, just outside Dijon is very picturesque. It’s worth a trip in itself, especially as all the Burgundy vineyards are nearby.
From Dijon to Bourg en Bresse there was a very nice view on the approach to Bourg, where I got my first glimpse of the mountains.
One of the let-downs of the trip was not really seeing that much of Dijon. Sadly the weather was so abysmal that it really wasn’t a place to hang around. Something to try for next time. I’d love to visit the centre of Dijon properly as it’s quite historic.
Another place nearby which is worth visiting as well is Macon, which is close to Bourg en Bresse. Again I missed out that town as I just wanted to get a move on the weather was closing in.
The ride from Bourg en Bresse to Aix les Bains would have been really good except that it was cancelled. That stage was cancelled again because of the poor weather. I think the terrain would have been good. In fact the day before I would have ridden it there was a professional bike race that went over the col de Grand Colombier. That would have definitely been a place worth going through. It looked really good, everyone said it was really good but unfortunately it wasn’t safe for me to go up there on that rainy Monday. So another memory is the disappointment of not having ridden that section.
However, the following day the ride from Aix les Bains to Grenoble is highly recommended. The ride through the Massif de la Chartreuse is brilliant, as well as visiting the town of Chambery. I’d also say that the area around Aix les Bains is very sporty and very cycling friendly. There are lots of cycle paths around the Lac du Bourget, and the ride from Aix les Bains to Chambery consisted of following a well sign-posted purpose built cycle path that went through the woods on a very smooth surface. It’s definitely a place to be recommended if you are into cycling and running.
The descent from the Massif de la Chartreuse into the town of Grenoble is lovely and whooshing! After the last climb, col de Porte it was basically 18km of straight descent all the way through into Grenoble, with great views of the conurbation as you approach the city. It’s a lovely panorama. Once you are in the city you are by the river – the Isere, and you can see all the little telecabins or eggs that take you to the highest point of the city. Definitely to be recommended. I also need to remember that the road to get to the youth hostel to the South of the city is Avenue Jean Jaures, and don’t follow the signs that say Echirolles as they only serve to confuse!
The ride from Grenoble to Serre Chevalier was pretty straight forward. I think that it involved a lot of what I ridden before. There wasn’t really anything new there, but I did feel a massive sense of relief when I descended from the summit of the col du Lautaret into Serre Chevalier. For about 20km I didn’t need to pedal at all! It was brilliant. That was another great descent.
The other good descent was the one from Sauze into the valley to reach the Lac du Serre Poncon, near Embrun.
I would recommend the route from Embrun into Barcelonnette. It’s very good for a cycle tourist as it’s very pretty and it doesn’t involve any really tough climbs and it’s also a way of showing that you can actually ride through the Alpine area without needing to go over horrendous mountain passes.
Although I didn’t take it, locals talked about the road from Briancon to Embrun being another really nice road for cyclists – one to bear in mind as an alternative to the col d’Izoard.
Along my whole trip different people stopped to chat to me and were curious about what I was doing. Roadies on their club ride would say “courage” as they passed me. Just outside Dignes les Bains a man rode with me for a few hundred metres and struck up a conversation. When I told him I was headed for Nice, his words were – “I don’t want to shock you but you will have a few small kms to go before you reach the sea, enjoy the day!”
I realise that although cycling is big in France, cycle touring isn’t. the French enjoy cycling on club runs or while on holiday but it’s not really in their culture to load a bicycle and ride from one place to the next nomad style. It’s probably not the stylish thing to do! I got the impression that the French admire people who do that sort of thing, and maybe they have a secret desire to do it themselves, but not knowing where to start on the logistics front may put people off. And maybe some just don’t think it looks that stylish!
In Briancon, notably, a few people actually came up to me asking advice. They’ve always wanted to do cycle touring but they didn’t know how to plan it, what bike to ride, how to plan accommodation, what to wear, etc. Standing on the citadelle there with my bike taking photos of the area almost become a cycle touring advice surgery! So who knows we may begin to see more French cycle tourists.
I didn't go out so much in the evenings as sometimes I arrived at places a little late. Of course I went out in Paris and met up with a friend, I also went out in Serre Chevalier with a Czech woman I shared a room with. That was a fun evening. The best evening was a night out in Digne les Bains for their "international salsa evening" which basically played all the kitsch pop songs like Macarena, and yes I danced around with the locals! The thing is, when on holiday and nobody knows you you can dance to this stuff and feel safe in the knowledge that however unstylish you are none of your fashion conscious friends are there to make you hold back your inhibitions or feel embarrassed by you!
Accommodation was very varied – I stayed in youth hostels, Formule 1 hotels and small independent hotels. People were generally amicable, though food and standard of room varied vastly. In all places proprietors had a place for me to put my bike – even if it meant keeping it in my room, as was the case at Formule 1!
I would definitely recommend the run into Nice via Greolieres and the Gorges du Loup – lovely scenic rocky outcrops and gorges, and in that directions it’s a lovely adrenaline filled descent.
No comments:
Post a Comment