I've ridden all over France. Lots. What's not to like? Roads are uncluttered, countryside is beautiful, loads of twisty bits, piles of cafés, great food. The whole point of biking is the getting there. Taking Easyjet is a lot faster and cheaper if all you're interested in is the destination. I've never understood those people who ride non-stop from the S of F to the Channel (or the other way) non-stop, top whack on the motorway. What an utterly tedious way to spend your time and empty your wallet. You'd be better off in a car listening to CDs.
Most of the top half of France is tedium itself, the scenery unchanging, the N roads full of lorries. There are a few decent roads, but they take time to find, and if you're heading for Spain you ain't got the time, simple as that. You can spend a week in northern France and find some really nice areas and roads (and I have done so), but the first time you hit southern France you'll never want to dally in the north again. I'd take the train every time.
OK, for those of you who think that France is boring - there are some fantastic country roads straight out of the tunnel!! I challenge you to ride and not like this route - it will be three days of 9 hours in the saddle and you won't touch a motorway! OK, so...... Out of the tunnel, turn to Guines and ignore the signs to the A26. Straight into countryside twisties.... Then go D roads all the way accross between the following towns: to Le Touquet (Paris Plage) for lunch in a medievel town. Fairly shabby.... Then to Desvres, Hesdin, Doullens. All D roads, fast, swoopy, lots of fun. Albert, Perone, Saint Quentin. Tergnier, Soissons. Chateau Thierry, Sezanne. Romilly sur Seine, Bar sur Seinne, into the Foret D'Orient. Find somewhere to sleep! Blast through the forest to Chatillon sur Seine, then to Salieu, then Autun. Then to Montchanin, then Tournus - lunch on the river. Romenay, then to Bourg-on-Bresse. Roads get fast and twisty now..... Bourg- to Nantua - this is unbelieveable riding! Nantua, Frangy, Annecy. You can hardly hold on! Annecy to Chambery, then Val D'Isere, to La Mure. At some point here from Annecy to Val D'Isere, you will need to sleep! Onto N85, Route Napoleon to Aix en Provence, then pick route to south cost to taste. Now, if you can ride that, in two days you aren't on a sports bike! But I ride the first two days of that, but go from Annecy via Faverges over Morzine into Chamonix (AWESOME road) and then stop. Then I backtrack a little via Val D'Isere and then down to the coast on day 3. By the end of day 2 on a sports bike you can hardly hold on after two 9 hour saddle days back to back. The third day from Chamonix to the coast is OK as you cover more ground more quickly in the afternoon. The Val D'Isere morning is all hard again, then route Napoleon is easy and quick progress. I challenge anyone to ride this route, not enjoy it and not be absolutely exhausted at the end, if you are trying properly! I love France. You will find hardly any police on this route, you are miles off the beaten track...... I ride the Desmo pretty much flat out in 3rd, a few bits in second and a touch in 4th, the entire route - other than stopping every 80mls for fuel!
This is great. But it's of fuck all use to someone who wants to bomb across France to hit the south or head into Spain, and that's the whole point of this thread, and indeed of the motorail service. Also, I've used some of them roads and they ain't all that.
just aborted a ride to the pryneese at Tours in France after fork seal started to leak badly ! rode home the tolls what a rip off wet windy and shite gutted !!
I'm taking the autotrain on the way to Misano next month. Think it's about £200 for the bikes and I've not booked the TGV yet. The missus is going on the bike and she didn't fancy a big long motorway slog through France. We've done France and just want to get to Italy. I'll report back!
Used it again this summer, put the desmo on, without any problems at all. It is very safe and well organized.....
It's really easy and simple. You ride to Gare du Bercy in the centre of Paris, which allows you to do the tourist thing if you've come from Le Havre like me, and ride down the Champs Elysee and round the Arc du Triomphe. Otherwise you have to brave Le Periphique, which goes straight past the Gare Du Bercy but is terrifying. When there, you take your stuff off the bike and hand over the keys. They then tie it down, but so that it's standing up straight - not butchering it on the sidestand like the monkeys on the ferries. I didn't even have to take my topbox and panniers off. The next day you go to the station at the destination (Nice, in my case) at a certain time and collect your bike. I flew down to Nice with Air France, as it was cheaper and faster than the TGV. Nice is about an hour at most from the Italian border. Makes getting to Italy much, much easier, as you're then only 100 miles-ish from Genoa. For going to Italy I would use it again. Much better than expensive toll motorways. Only thing is that you have to book in the UK through RailEurope.
Also, the dual carriageway from Saint Denis to Calais is about the most boring road I've ever ridden on. Got the tunnel back due to ferry timings but what a massive fucking YAWN!
Can I ask how much? RailEurope are a bit cagey unless you're within 3 months of your chosen travel date, and I'm trying to talk my mates into this.
There are lovely D roads from Calais to within about 20 miles of Paris,takes me 4 hours to Paris from Calais this way.
There are indeed. In fact there's quite a few roads worth riding in northern France, but you've got to search for them.
I had trouble uploading a bigger screen shot......but you could go via EuroTunnel for 5 days for £62 return (Folkestone-Calais-Folkestone)
No, we're talking about the autotrain to take the bike all the way across France, not just across the channel. Believe me, after the tenth pass, northern France can become a tad tedious, and the cost of living in France at the moment means I'm more than happy to miss it out.
