Touring France for the first time

[Roberrrrt]

Considering a trip to france this summer with the mrs on my new pointy ( :cool: )

This is the first time that we've ever done a trip this far, so looking for advice on various things:

1. The Route - we've got a week off work, and live up in Yorkshire, so the plan so far is
- Friday, take a day to get down to Eurotunnel, stay in a hotel nearby for a night
- Saturday get an early train with a view to be skirting round Paris by lunchtime ish, then get a couple of hours further south before stopping for the night.
- <insert middle of trip here> (suggestions very welcome)
- Ride back to the Eurotunnel to get on a train on Sunday afternoon (a week after setting off) then stop in a hotel in England once off the train
- Spend Monday riding back Oop North

Leaves us 5-6 days to explore! :D

2. Accommodation - Camping is a no-no (one of the conditions of the mrs coming along) so we were thinking Formule 1 motel type places or hostels (basically anywhere where you don't have to take your own sleeping gear and can get a shower). Again, suggestions welcome??
Another thing I can't decide on, is do we head in a general direction, then stop mid-afternoon to work out where we could reasonably get to by teatime, then ring ahead and book (but with the danger of places being booked up) or should we book in advance of setting off (but then gamble on how far we can cope with riding every day)??

3. Distance - What would you think is a reasonable distance to expect to travel in a day? This will impact on where we visit, and ideally we'd like a couple of nights in the same location, to relax off the bike (it is a holiday after all, and as much as I'll enjoy riding, I'm conscious that my pillion might get fed up)

4. Toll Roads - I understand that a lot of the motorways in France are toll roads, and we intend to use them only if we need to cover big distances quickly. What is a general rule of thumb for how expensive these are?

Apologies for the lengthy post, but I'm trying to get a feel for how these things work! :smt101

Thanks

Rob

[Luckypants]

The Route - You don't really have enough time to reach the Alps or Pyranees for hairpin pleasures, so might I suggest you look at the Ardennes/Vosges/Alsace regions of France so you don't spend too much time getting there and back.
B&B in cheap(ish) hotels is easy in France, they have plenty. Be prepared to practice your French though. Formule1 type places are fine for a brief stop, but tend to be in the industrial zones of a town, hardly ideal for sight seeing. They don't offer food either which makes the evening a drag looking for a place to eat. You also need to book Formule1 in advance, IME, which is a pain without a computer...I'd recommend getting a Logis de France guide and finding a hotel for each night in there - I've always had great little local hotels from that guide.
As far as booking in advance, I'd say maybe for the weekend, but not in the week. The problem is you give yourself a place to be by a certain time... This makes stopping for a leisurely lunch at that great roadside cafe you just found, or wondering round the charming town you are passing through impossible without the clock urging you to get going... Much better IMHO to see where you are about two hours before you have had enough (you'll get the hang of how long you like riding for) then choose a town to head for, get there and find a local hotel either from the guide or by calling in to the Office du Tourisme (most decent sized towns have one).
How far each day will depend on you and pillion. I'd say go with the flow. some days you can do 300+ miles, others will be 100 or less. Sight seeing stops, tiredness, bad road choices, good road choices, beer at lunch, etc, etc, will all affect daily mileages. Just do what makes you and your pillion happy.
Tolls not too expensive IIRC but TBH the Route Nationals (like our A-roads) are often as quick and more fun on a bike. I have not used a motorway in France for a while though.

[Bluefish]

A lot depends on if you are doing the toll roads or not, i reckon if you did use the toll roads you would be looking at about £30 there and back, they do save a lot of time, but if you are not making for a specific place then why not use the normal roads and experience the joys of rural france, road works diversions, not having a clue which way to go, lol, it's all part of the fun :D. For your first day if non tolling you might end up in the Troyes area, but it all depends on how many stops you make etc. In fact our first night was spent in chalons-en-champagne, 2nd at Dole which is quite a nice town, and would be a good place to explore from/ stay for a few days then make your way towards home, pics of Dole, hth


http://i637.photobucket.com/albums/uu94/andysv/eurotour/ARStarthols063.jpg
http://i637.photobucket.com/albums/uu94/andysv/eurotour/ARStarthols065-1.jpg

http://i637.photobucket.com/albums/uu94/andysv/eurotour/ARStarthols070.jpg

[sauluk]

Bluefishman I've been looking at chalons en champagne as a place to stay the night before getting to Calais. Was it nice? Just want a place with a few pubs to relax in really, where did you stay? How about in dole?

Oh I recommend Troyes and also fontainbleu if you end up going that way. Vosges is great, stay in St Marie aux mines and work your way down to switzerland?

[Bluefish]

sauluk, chalons seemed ok, we stayed at the municipal camping site, was knackered when we got there so, tent up food and bed, went back into the town center, sorry centreville the next morning to go to the bank, seemed much like any french town, full of french :D In Dole we stayed at a campsite down a little side turning of the river, 5mins walk from the center, Dole was a very nice town. pic of the tributary river/ canal, the campsite is just down the path, and is literally in the middle of town, so walking distance to pubs, although there is a bar/restaurant on
site, with entertainment, lol. Found it here is the link to the dole campsite http://www.camping-du-pasquier.com/

http://i637.photobucket.com/albums/uu94/andysv/eurotour/ARStarthols071.jpg

[L3nny]

This is what I would do (and it's similar to what I did last year)

Once you are in France head down to Grenoble. You will do this in a day but it will be toll roads all the way and not a lot of fun but I can't see the point of going to the effort of riding in Europe if you are not going to do any mointains and hairpins.

Route - Day 1 (http://maps.google.co.uk/maps?f=d&source=s_d&saddr=calais&daddr=Grenoble,+France&hl=en&geocode=Fc2OCQMd_UMcAClj4_HXdT_cRzH0edKM4Nm-rA%3BFSScsQIdMnVXAClvvonWi_SKRzGYU5luzRCMYQ&mra=luc&doflg=ptm&sll=48.078079,3.779297&sspn=10.779053,19.753418&ie=UTF8&z=6)

The spend 4 days doing the Route Napoleon and the Route Des Grandes Alpes

Route - Next 4 (http://maps.google.co.uk/maps?f=d&source=s_d&saddr=Grenoble,+France&daddr=44.54566,6.05356+to:43.97839,6.31061+to:43.6 9371,7.25624+to:43.7935437,7.503605+to:43.97697,7. 39182+to:44.49181,6.74225+to:45.21001,6.71906+to:R oute+du+Col+du+Petit-Saint-Bernard%2FD1090&hl=en&geocode=FSScsQIdMnVXAClvvonWi_SKRzGYU5luzRCMYQ%3BF Xy2pwIduF5cACmljdZP5D_LEjERH-P3pRkIEw%3BFZYOnwId0kpgAClTecozbYzLEjExEcr2pRkIEw% 3BFY62mgIdsLhuACl_h6--ctDNEjEAmUPfpRkIEw%3BFYc8nAId9X5yACkn50XnuOvNEjG92 AVhh9vJSA%3BFQoJnwIdTMpwACnp9-iuB73NEjGB6Qf5pRkIEw%3BFSLkpgId6uBmAClhyVUfterMEjH QrbT8pRkIEw%3BFZrZsQIdVIZmACmtmd3QqZGJRzEx10LrKqsI Ew%3BFW42uAIdPI5nAA&mra=dpe&mrsp=5&sz=8&via=1,2,3,4,5,6,7&doflg=ptm&sll=44.71161,6.778564&sspn=2.86535,4.938354&ie=UTF8&z=8) I did this in 3 days which was a lot really. Doing it in 4 will mean you'll be on the road about 6 or 7 hours a day.

Then you have another 2 days to get home.

Found reasonable hotels along the way, I wouldn't reccoment staying in F1 hotels unless you are on a realy tight budget as they are miles out of town and pretty crappy. Most of the ones I stayed in were about 70-80 euros a night including a good breakfast which I didn't think was too bad. After all it is a holiday.

[Bluefish]

L3nny, that's a hell of a lot of miles for a first trip, in one week, on a pointy with a pillion as well. Be a good trip though, knackering but good :D

[454697819]

I am going to France in about 4 weeks (if I ever book the sodding tickets) and have decided to limit myself to about 1200 miles as We are only going for 5 days, if things go well I will go back and go through the Pyrenees again. (1800 miles if you go through spain on the way home)

Things I remember from last time.

1) dont plan every inch or you will be so set on getting it done you will loose any sense of adventure
2.) dont try riding 4000 miles in a week, you wont enjoy yourself.
3.) use rural B roads when you can, france is beautiful and a lot of french people are very nice.
4) see some stuff, there is loads in france to see, I am going to see some war related things as its a minor interest of mine.

We are staying quite near the north coast this time as I dont want a 9 hour slog home, it would put a bitter end to a good week,

get some practice in with a pillion, the more miles you do with a pillion the better and more relaxed you will be.

Travel light, you can always buy some more stuff out there but having too much stuff will annoy you.

enjoy yourself, Ill let you all know how I get on when i get back...

Should be a laugh.

[Roberrrrt]

Thanks for the advice guys, L3nny, think that might be pushing it with a pillion bearing in mind it's my first Euro trip!

Been looking into it further, and when you consider that I live up in Yorkshire, the worst bit of the trip will be the M1 slog down to the south, which will take a full day's riding either end of the trip, plus a night in a hotel at each end.

SO, we figured it might be more relaxing to nip to Hull on the friday night, overnight ferry to Zeebrugge, wake up refreshed and ready to roll. This would also allow us to call into places like Brussels (where we might not normally choose to visit) on the way to the recommended eastern part of france.

Can't wait! :smt048

Ooooo, another question - leathers (and waterproofs in luggage) or textiles?

[sauluk]

Tricky question that. I wore leathers on the last trip and at 30 degrees they suck, plus my waterproofs took up most of a tail pack, and when it did rain you'd get a bit wet before you could safely pull over and fumble the waterproofs on.

In my opinion, you either stuff the waterproofs and get wet if it rains or wear textiles. Since you're taking pillion I'd suppose you won't be riding like a loony so good textiles should be spot on.

I'm debating whether I should get some new textile kit for my trip as black forest can go through 4 seasons in a day. Leathers just arent practical but have better protection

[G]

If it's just getting away the don't rule out the north and west coast of france... Brittany is beautiful.

[dyzio]

Things I remember from last time.

1) dont plan every inch or you will be so set on getting it done you will loose any sense of adventure
2.) dont try riding 4000 miles in a week, you wont enjoy yourself.
3.) use rural B roads when you can, france is beautiful and a lot of french people are very nice.
4) see some stuff, there is loads in france to see, I am going to see some war related things as its a minor interest of mine.


Should be a laugh.

What he said :thumright:



SO, we figured it might be more relaxing to nip to Hull on the friday night, overnight ferry to Zeebrugge
Can't wait! :smt048



I've done this last year, next time I'd also look at the Newcastle - Amsterdam crossing, prices are similar, but at the Hull - Zeebruge crossing, the ferry was pretty empty and the crossing was a bit boring compared to the previous one.

[Luckypants]

SO, we figured it might be more relaxing to nip to Hull on the friday night, overnight ferry to Zeebrugge, wake up refreshed and ready to roll. This would also allow us to call into places like Brussels (where we might not normally choose to visit) on the way to the recommended eastern part of france.

Good call, it's what I used to do when I lived in York.

[Old Git]

Roberrrrt, we have just done the same, came back on Sunday afternoon, 9 days out & both of us loved the first trip but........
Beware the big miles. I had taken advice and most said something around 250miles a day is good.
This is OK as long as you want to do Motorway / big N roads.
We wanted to do the smaller scenic D roads, the bendy ones and no way could you do it for a week.
We did 280 on day 1 about 230 day 2 and were forked.
Average speed on the smaller backroads going through towns and villages was way low.
When I go again, will be planning 150-175 a day max to give us time to stop and look, anthing more than this (in my opinion is bonkers).
8996
8997
8998
8999

PS one of the best places we stayed at on the way back was Caen, we were really surprised, fantastic architecture and bars/resturants full on the evening (sat) we were there before we can back.
Will be one place i will be heading to again for sure.
9000

So random pics of the trip. Many will say that many many more miles can be done, which may well be true, but from experience you have to consider the passenger, especially if they are only there for you and not as a 'dedicated' biker.

Have a good one.

[L3nny]

+1 on the mileage. It's nice to see a lot of things but 200 miles a day on windy mountain roads is enough.

Loving the panniers on the Aprilia are they custom made brackets?? Would love some side panniers on my Fireblade, I know it's wrong but hard luggage is so much better.

[Old Git]

Lenny, thanks yes the brackets are err,,,,,, custom.
To be honest, I am tighter than a ducks asre, so made my own.
Guys on the AF1 forum had made various patterns in drawn aluminium tube.
Did some calculations, and tensile strength of standard half hard copper pipe, yessss the same as you use in the bathroom, is not far off a similar strength.
Since I have reasonable capability with copper & fittings, made the frames in 15mm copper pipe, mounted to the bike using standard 'P' clips off ebay.
They have proven to be very strong in use, wife stuffed loads in & they did not move not one inch.
Bought the cases, made the frames incl. everything for less than £75
OK, maybe you could not have 40 litre cases hanging off each side with copper, but I didn;t want suitcases, just enough to do the job, remain waterproof & be secure. Plus I hated strapping & un-strapping the soft panniers.
All in all worked a treat. Go make yourself some frames fella.

[L3nny]

Good work OG, you look like the world's fastest mobile DJ ;)

[Roberrrrt]

Thanks for the replies guys, very insightful! Unfortunately for me, looks like Eurotour is on hold for us this year, maybe next year if funds allow!

[Weetabix]

Join Bike Club France and get posting! We are all over France - mainly ex pat Brits. You could easily arrange to meet some of us while you are over here if only just for a coffee.