To be honest, when in france i usually hit the supermarket and stock up on Leffe. I think it was around 6 euros for 12 bottles a few months back. I love the stuff. There is an english pub not far from my mates french gaff and thats 4 euros for a pint. My opinion, if possible, go to the pyrenees, always found the roads much better, food, beer and digs much cheaper. Direct ferry overnight to santander, 10-14 days across to the med on the french side and come back on the spanish side. Stop at the little villages away from the tourist areas and fill yer face for next to nowt.
Pyrenees is quiet, isn't it? Almost too quiet. On the Spanish side half the little villages are deserted - ghost villages. You feel the Indians are going to appear at the head of the pass at any time. Weather is also more uncertain - closer to the Atlantic. Due to its non-touristy nature, it is indeed pretty cheap. Do not go to Andorra. The idea sounds good, the reality is horrendous. It's a concrete khazi with coachloads of old fogeys stocking up with all sorts of tat that they could have bought cheaper on the net. There really is no good reason to go at all. Thank god it's not very big. I shall never go back.
Yes its mostly quiet in the pyrenees. We have been several times and not experienced any rain. Andorra, well said, its a nightmare for a group of 10 bikers arriving late on and only one knowing where the hotel is. We all pulled in to sort out where the hotel was and the traffic officers went berserk at us on their whistles. We are now planning our trip for summer, looking at possibly using the motor rail instead of the ferry to get us down there.
Also with the OP's point, the Logis de France hotels group are now specifically advertising Moto friendly hotels which have - secure parking - washing facilities - list of local petrol stations open 24/7 See here: Moto : Logis Hotels
...This site maybe worth a look for non-chain places. Good for checking by area for route planning and it covers Europe and lists facilities and links to accommodation Websites. BIKE STAY FRANCE: Motorbike Touring - Motorcycle / Biker Friendly Accommodation in Europe, France - www.bike-stay.net DD.
The very best way to spend nights in France is to go to prestige places that have "chambres d'hôte". I did a lot of that in the 90s. People buy castles, manors, châteaux and other fine houses and rent out a couple of rooms in some wing or other to travellers. I have stayed in the most amazing places. Often the owner cooks you dinner and I have had some superb ones, like a memorable coq au vin in Burgundy with local wine. Back in the day it was all in a book called Prestige Accommodation in France. That book is no longer published, so it must now all be on the web. The cost is way cheaper than hotels and the places far more special. If I was going to France, I'd be scouting the internet now to find what's available. I used to look at a road map to see what area I wanted to be in, then check the book to look at pictures of the places in that area. When I found one I liked, I'd ring up the owner to see if there was a room for the dates that interested me. Many of them were worth riding miles to stay in.
I hired a gite near La Rochelle a couple of years back, cost £250 for a long weekend and 4 of us stayed there, making it dirt cheap if you don't mind being based in one place. Lovely little place it was too, in a village called St Benoist-Sur-Mer. I wouldn't mind staying in a gite in the Languedoc region and just exploring locally; proper biking heaven there
France or UK for a biking holiday?Now let me think about that for just a nanosecond.....France it is ,everything is great,ok I concede that in Paris it is expensive and full of tourists,but so is London,etc.why is France the most visited country in the world?Is it there traditions of drinking pints of beer,pie n mash,shitty frozen burgers and oven chips with loads of cheap ketchup,don't quite think so,try the wines locally ,eat the dish of the day in a half decent cafe,admire the scenery,try and find some litter out of town,you will struggle,see how clean the loos are in petrol stations,they take pride in their surroundings,I wish we did over here.
Ça fait longtemps que je suis arrivé à la même constatation (les années 80 en fait). Simple solution: on déménage.
Mais ce n'est pas pareil du tout. Tu n'habite pas en France mon ami! En Suisse il y a des regles partout...... et bien sure, c'est toujours propre......!
As per Kope suggest you could try SW France. Know it quite well as I have lived there for 10 years! Yes avoid Formula 1 hotels, like living in shoe box. Try to find some smaller guest houses in meduim sized towns. They are all biker friendly, and why shouldn't they be....where not a bad lot really. Back when I were a lad I used to blast (in the 90's when you could ride as fast as you liked) from the north to South of France in the day then ride- tours round the South. Good memories.
True although most of the Petrol Station loos I have seen look like the one from Trainspotting ! (I did also see a bloke with a cat on a lead at one service station... as you do....)
Pah! Règles, règles! Toujours les mêmes clichés! La vie n'est pas réglée ici comme du papier à musique, et il existe même des pauvres! Je trouve que la Grande Bretagne est nettement plus assujettie à des règles et de la surveillance: "Mind the gap! Beware of the closing doors!".
I have a Italian wife and ride to the family home on my bike, a lifetime of washing up and some expensive shoes, she flies with the kids ! I returned to biking in 2009 and for my first trip, solo, all I booked was the Tunnel out. I like others here did not book any hotels as I did not know how far or for how long I wanted to ride. Etap is one step above F1 hotels so I just scribbled the addresses of some on them at various distances from Calais. As it happened adrenaline and excitement got me to Colmar !! The first year was on a 650gs and the last two on a 1200gs, I found this a bit sterile so this July I am off on my 1100m. Givi 40l bag and two rok straps, thats me for 2 weeks. On the first run I drew a route on a map and sighted the sat nav city to city as I found putting a huge distance would push me to do it and not enjoy the ride. Anything I can help with feel free to ask
