France Trip Report - pic intensive!

Got back from a week in France last week and thought I’d stick something up about what we did etc.
Four of us left Plymouth on the ferry for a weeks riding and camping. No real plan, but the poor weather in Roscoff made the decision for us – to head south asap.
We got as far as Pont Chateaux (not far north of Nantes) on the first day through some fairly heavy showers, went via some nice roads at first, followed by a boring stint on a dual carriageway. Stayed at a small campsite as recommended in a camping book we had. It was cheap and basic, just what we wanted. The owner even chopped us some bits of wood for our side stands, and took a bread order for us which was promptly delivered to our pitch before we woke up the next day.
Day 2 we aimed for Bordeaux and ended up at a campsite in Cazaux, South of Bordeaux. Was a fairly dull day of long straight roads and dual carriage ways.


Day 3 we spent most of the day going through forests and got down to Capbreton. Was a nice area with loads of cyclists, and a few stretches with nice bends, but again, was mostly straight lines. We got turned away from one of the municipal campsites as it was full, but got in another one in the town.


We decided to stay there for 3 nights, and spend days 4 and 5 in the Pyrenees. Was nice to not have to pack up each morning, and have a chance to do some riding without luggage.

Not exactly sure where we went, but it was awesome. We went towards Pamplona, over a couple of mountains, through a load of tunnels, in and out of Spain. Was a great mix of single lane tight first and second gear roads over mountains, and bigger, faster 3rd / 4th gear roads.










Day 5 was similar, although this time we went through the mountains to San Sebastian. Spent a few hours there. Lovely city.



Like this up and down a couple of mountains, lots of big drops on the sides, and in Spain some pretty nasty surfaces. You can tell when you change between France and Spain as the road surface changes instantly.



This is the tail end of some Miguel Induran race (ex Tour De France winner from Pamplona).

Spot the chopper. Were 3 of them and a plane dealing with the fire.






Days 6 and 7 we headed back north without anything really exciting happening. Stayed somewhere near Mortagne sur Gironde and Quimperele. Both nice quiet campsites.





Day 8 we got from Quimperele to Roscoff along some lovely roads. Just as we got to Roscoff the skies opened up, which was bloody lucky!


Camping was cheap all week, 4 nights cost around 5 euros each, and the 3 nights in Capbreton cost 10 euros. Fuel varied from 1.15 to 1.35 euros a litre in France, and about 1.03 in Spain.
The French motorists are much more biker friendly, always pulling over to let you passed. Although their indicating at roundabouts is bizarre and they are evil for tailgating.
Whilst the more boring sections or riding weren’t very inspiring, we still had a laugh so it was all good fun. Although next time I’d be tempted to go straight down to Santander so we can get further into the bigger mountains. That or find the least painful way to get into the Alps.

[DarrenSV650S]

Great pics and write up. Looks like you had fun

There's a train that will take you and your bike down to the south of France, to skip the boring motorways. But it's stupidly expensive

Looks class

Did the SV cope ok against those other bikes? I presume from your avatar you have a gixxer but I have a complex about taking the "little" SV overseas...

I've got the K6 GSXR (blue headlight fairing).

The SV coped fine, had no problems with any of the bikes. The bmw was the slowest, but riden by the fastest rider who also navigated. We were all faster by the end of the week, with no sign of any chicken strips!

The mountains were a bit like one bike track day!

Only problem we had was with a broken Arai visor pod, but a bit of duck tape solved that.

Wow, great pics, and the trips sound incredible!

I love biking in France!

excellent

Cracking pics and seems liek a great trip.

Looks like you had a cracking trip. If you go to Spain again, let me know. Hilary and I have been going over on the bike(s) every year for the last 15 years. We either go from Plymouth to Roscoff and down, as you did. Or we get the Plymouth-Santander ferry.

It is interesting to read your observations of how roads and peoples attitudes change between the two countries. We have always found the Spaniards to be nicer and the roads to be better.

Where did you cross the border going into Spain?

[hindle8907]

kool looks like you had a good time i want to do somthing like this one day .

Awsome! me and the girlfriend are doing something like this in May next year, great to see others experience of the same to know what to expect