9 days en France 24th June-2nd July 2017 report

Thursday 29th June

 

Early start as we had to strike camp and load the bikes, ready to get on our way. This was going to be a long day as we had a plan in mind. The weather was grey and it was spitting with rain. One visitor to our pitch was at least happy about this:

 

 

 

After packing up quickly, we paid for the site, which worked out at 10 euros a night each if I remember correctly. After getting our shizzle together we headed off for the usual Mcd's breakfast. Looking out of the window I was secretly hoping for better weather as we headed out of Millau. It did come later, thankfully. The plan was to head to across the Ardeche and over the Rhone Alps and to Saint Jean en Royans, perfectly placed to ride the Combe Laval.

 

 

 

After a quick detour up a mountain , we ventured North East and revisited the Gorges Du Tarn. It was really stunning riding through there, personally I loved it. The houses built on the sides of the gorge were really impressive. Would love to go back one day. The D996 was a particular favourite road of mine, bend after bend with spectacular views. Also, the weather was improving.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Now, this is where the drama of the day happened. Not very long after we stopped to take those pictures, we were happily motoring along when we saw an accident that was being attended by emergency services. We passed it and kept riding. A little further down the road a truck with a trailer appeared around a bend in the opposite direction to us with its anchors on. Clearly it was going too fast for the bend. Unfortunately the trailer jack-knifed and with lots of tyre smoke, the rear of the trailer started heading towards Tony who was in front of me but had pulled over as far as he could. The trailer missed him by inches. I don't even want to think about the possible consequences, as I was directly behind Tony and it would have taken me out too. The truck driver carried on driving as did we but it shook me up a little.

 

 

 

We really did the scenic (twisty) route and when we stopped for a breather at 1pm next to this Chateau in Bedoues we had covered only about 40 miles from Millau as the crow flies. We really needed to crack on. Stunning twisty scenic roads are one thing but we had a destination in mind. But hey, that's the beauty of not pre-planning a tour and being able to change plans on the fly. We started the next leg to the Ardeche, taking in a pure riders road, the D901. One of the highlights of the entire 9 days for me. It was a fast road to ride, great scenery and none of that fencing nonsense to keep you from falling off the side. We loved this road so we clocked up the miles with grins on our faces, only stopping to take pics at this spot at Saint-Andre-Capceze.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Time was getting on and we were hungry so we continued on the D901 to a place called Les Vans, finding a little cafe with the happiest, bubbly young waitress I'd ever met. Great coffee. After leaving Les Vans we got our heads down and kept going, crossing the River Rhone and seeing mountains, (proper mountains that is) until we got to Saint Jean en Royans at around 19:15. We booked in at the Camping Municipal. http://www.camping-saintjeanenroyans.com/FR/

The guy there did us a deal, about 16 euros for both of us. Nice little campsite actually, no bells and whistles but did the job. As it was late the fella had recommended a restaurant called La Taverne so we walked into the quiet town and had a nice meal of freshly line caught sea bass. Very nice in fact. I was excited to see signs for the Combe Laval which we would be riding the following morning. We had planned to ride it before getting to the campsite but with tiredness and rain in the area I think we made a wise decision there.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The town was typically French. Walking back to the campsite we were pleased the sky was clear so hopefully no rain overnight. It didn't. I slept like a top that night.

Edited February 24 by rob m

Thursday was an interesting day.. it was also by turns utterly terrifying and fantastic... tedious and a joy. we had it all.

Leaving Millau.. i took a wrong turn and almost immediately realised i had gone wrong.. this was hammered home when the sat nav kept on nagging me to do a U-turn... despite the fact I had told it not to do U-Turns.. avoid them. So... I knew we were heading in the wrong direction.. about as wrong as it was possible to be.. but, it wasnt a total loss.. we climbed a mountain we hadnt touched and had a great view from the top.. and again as we came back down.. another road to add to the list of 'must do again someday' (its a long list).

As luck would have it the first part of our journey.. it was supposed to be about 180 miles.. was along the Gorges du Tarn.. again. But.. as it turned out it was the opposite direction to the first time.. so we saw it from a different angle so to speak.. and it wasnt long before we turned off and were climbing up onto the plateau and heading north east... down the other side and the terrain changed.. it became very hilly.. and as a side effect the roads became very twisty... very. and this for mile after glorious mile. I dont like to think about the lorry that nearly took me out.. it happened so fast and was over before it really sank in what had happened.. but afterwards I was thinking.. that was my death back there... had I not stopped exactly where I did.. just carried on a few feet more... or been riding just a few mph faster it would all have been over. ooerr.

anyway.. it wasnt and so. before long we passed a sign that welcomed us to the Ardeche and the Monts d'Ardeche national park.. so what was that? our 3rd national park? and we were on our way to the 4th. Map says yes!!

The entire journey aside from the near death experience was a joy... and it became stunning when we began our descent to the Rhone valley and there spread across the horizon was the Rhone Alps.. looking really quite picturesque with snow on the peaks and everything... so after lunch it was down into the valley and then a shock to the system.. traffic. cars.. lots of cars. and trucks and other inconveniences... we were crossing a main artery from the med.. from marseilles etc north.. and it was really tedious until we were across the river and back to normal.. hardly any cars at all.

Then came a dash across the flood plain heading for the hills. it had been a pretty gorgeous day weather wise.. but in the afternoon it got very hot.. so, it was quite a relief to be climbing into the hills again and then it got better... it must have been raining a little earlier.. there was signs of rain everywhere.. though the roads were largely dry. but.. it was cool. fantastically cool after such a hot day... and it stayed cool all the way to our destination.... have to admit it was quite bizarre to be in this particular village.. a place i had been looking at only a few weeks before when i did my 'a road in france' post... and then as we approached the campsite there was a sign saying Combe Laval.

The campsite was great... a mid range municipal. not the height of luxury.. but passable.. and very very quiet. The walk up into the village later.. the same. it was all so quiet. found the restaurant and it was really nice. beer - horribly expensive.. but we were by this time used to that and past caring.

A great end to a really good day.. we were now in the Vercors. Another stunning region of France.. not so well known.. but.. oh my, so lovely.

 

 

 

Looks alright that does!

Friday 30th June

 

Beautiful morning when we woke up on the campsite.

 

 

 

The male toilet stuck with French tradition. I'm not sure if the bog brush was for the toilet...or somewhere else. Anyway, I used the ladies, which had the added bonus of toilet roll

 

 

 

First destination on our minds was the Combe Laval, as listed on the Dangerous Roads website:

http://www.dangerousroads.org/europe/france/302-combe-laval-road-france.html

 

The road to get there just kept rising and rising. We saw a couple of cyclists on the way but that was the only traffic. It was very quiet. There were some spectacular views near the top.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

There it was, the Combe Laval. I remember watching the youtube videos and thinking it looked insane... but it wasn't really. Although I wouldn't have wanted to ride it in the rain with lots of traffic coming from the other direction! It certainly felt a little dangerous but the sun was beating down and there was virtually no traffic so I was quite chilled riding it and we had plenty of opportunities to stop and take pictures. A lone German biker said hello to us and was parked up taking pictures as we were. For me, I thought the road was too short. I could have easily ridden a few more miles of it had it been there. But it was still very impressive.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

At the top there was a sign which, speaking as a Pink Floyd fan, made me smile.

 

'Welcome my son, welcome...'

 

 

 

As we ate breakfast (guess where ) in Chatte, I looked out of the window as I always do at the weather and it looked gorgeous. Happy days. Tony programmed a route into the sat nav and we decided we would head for the town of Pontarlier, just west of the Swiss Border. After leaving the Vercors region we would head through the Jura mountains. Exciting, another area to tick off the list.

 

 

 

As Tony had promised, we stopped at a town called Bevenais and I managed to see the snow topped Alps in the distance. SO close but yet so far As the Tour De France was about to start the towns and villages in the area were getting ready for the racers, with cycling jerseys hung up like flags. So we must have been on some of the course, not that I would know.

 

 

 

We headed North towards the Jura mountains. The roads were really good but as the altitude climbed it got colder and at one point I was shivering. Then the rain came, not torrential so it wasn't too bad. Another thing, we hardly saw another car throughout apart from a couple of locals who shot past us as we were clearly holding them up One thing that we noticed was the that houses started to take on a Swiss look and feel and I saw cows with bells around their necks so we were close to the Swiss border. At a junction in a small town, we looked to our right and saw a Swiss Border Control so we thought we were still in France, which we were...but not for long. We managed to ride back into Switzerland just after that and managed to sample a little of the country, stopping in L'Abbaye, next to Lac Du Joux.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

It had started to rain quite heavily but it didn't last too long. We made our way to the border along a fantastic road and the sun came out which warmed things up again. Through the border control and on towards Pontarlier. There was what seemed like miles of traffic that we had to filter through and eventually got to the main town where we filled up with fuel and then went to the local Lidl for supplies. It was conveniently situated next to an Abattoir which stunk . We got to a campsite called Camping Du Larmont: http://www.camping-pontarlier.fr/fr/

 

It was decent enough, so after pitching up we went to a recreation room they had with TV and a microwave. Early night that night while it stayed damp/wet outside.

 

 

 

Saturday 1st July

 

After a quick pack up while it drizzled with rain we paid for the site. 8 euros each for the night. While eating breakfast at you-know-where and wishing Chinatown was open, we decided to head to Epernay, east of Paris, avoiding any autoroutes.

 

 

 

This was one of those get your head down and crunch some miles type day. Which we did. We rode around Besancon, through Chaumont and Saint Dizier and onto Epernay. It rained a large part of the way. One highlight was seeing two Eurofighters practicing manoeuvres alongside the road we were riding. Lots of cars had pulled over and were filming it but we kept riding although it was cool seeing them riding almost alongside us then climbing rapidly and circling around again. Wouldn't be allowed in the UK It looked as though they were having fun.

 

 

 

We arrived in Epernay at around 7pm-ish. We stayed at the Camping Municipal. I really liked the feel of this one, really friendly staff and a well kept campground. Usual going rate for the night. After pitching up and having a very brief chat with 3 UK bikers, we headed into the town. Apparently Epernay is the centre of the Champagne region and this was apparent as we walked around. Some impressive buildings in the town and war memorial in the centre. Nice place. It was busy as there was a Champagne celebration weekend going on.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We had a kebab for dinner and a few beers back at the campsite. Our last night in France.

 

 

 

 

 

Sunday 2nd July

 

Not much to say about Sunday as we took the Peage back to Calais. We got there early, mid afternoon which was good as it was mega busy but we still managed to get an early train.

 

 

 

 

 

Whenever I get to this point, just before I get on the train, it always feels bitter sweet. Half of me wants to stay but the other half really wants to get home and to my comfortable bed. On the train we chatted with other guys who had been on their own adventures.

 

When I got home I reflected on the whole 9 days. It was a brilliant tour, no major issues and we were lucky with the weather most of the time. Great roads, great scenery, great company and lots of laughs along the way. I loved it.

 

What is surprising is how much I spent while over there. Taking into account food, fuel, peage charges, campsite fees and incidentals I spent £750. Not bad for a whole 9 days on holiday

Edited February 24 by rob m

I've really enjoyed this thread! Thanks for sharing

Combe Laval.. the D76 was definitely one of the highlights of the week... and speaking purely for myself.. it has to be one of the highlights of my entire riding career. Any photos you might look at cannot do it justice... awesome is a word thats horribly overused on biker forums.. but this place truly was/is awesome... like a giant took a cleaver to a mountain and split it in two like a log... looking over the wall straight down a 1,200 foot clif to the valley below and then down the valley where it opened out to the landscape beyond. Its another place i would suggest be on your bucket list... even if you dont want to ride along it... just ride to the sign and park your bike or car there and have a stroll along the road. If you're as lucky as we were that day.. you'll have it all to yourself. as Rob says there was just a lone german biker and a couple of cyclists... a car pulled over at the far end and that was it.

A great start to a fantastic day... later in the Afternoon we climbed the Jura mountains on the french side.. just west of Geneva. so high it got very cold and it was obviously ski country... but again this was a great ride.. mile after mile of deserted roads with only the odd car here and there.. and then nothing at all. later another highlight for me.. riding into the "Watch valley"... Vallée de Joux past the most incredible watch makers. Patek Philippe, Blancpain, Jaeger-LeCoultre, Vacheron Constantin, Audemars Piguet and my own personal favourite Breguet. And as if that wasn't glamour enough... we ended the day ogling bottles of champagne €400 a bottle. (sigh)

The whole 9 days was pure pleasure.. I got a good look at areas of France that I had never seen... nor even really thought about to be honest. But.. they are all bookmarked as places to revisit.. or take my friends to as and when we want a change from the usual week in the Eifel. In fact.. theres a slight chance we will be back down that way in another 4 weeks. As of now the plan is to go to the Austrian Tyrol. But.. if the weather doesnt play ball.. then central southern france is our plan B... and having sampled it. I would have no hesitation in going there again if push came to shove.

What Ive learnt is that getting there is easy enough.. day one to Avallon in Burgundy and then day two through the Morvan and across to the Auvergne is easily done... or further south to the Languedoc... maybe try a different campsite.. some research needed for that... one with a decent supermarket close by for cheap beer!!! And those gorges to ride... and mountains to climb... and Moolies to eat. And roads from hell to avoid

I spent about the same as Rob... it was actually a fairly expensive 9 days but that was mainly due to the abysmal post brexit value of the pound.. as well as the pretty much standard €5 for a beer. we likes our beers at the end of a hard days riding. Austria should be cheaper. beer is generally €3 and of course petrol.. is much cheaper. today the equivalent - £1 a litre

so.. France was great... really fantastic. next.. Austria and the Alps 31 days to go.

mmmm... and maybe... just maybe... THIS!!! just to scare them witless. (cause im nice like that!!)

 

Edited August 3, 2017 by Gerontious

Looks like a good trip, half the pics aren't loading for me which is a shame.

Looks like a good trip, half the pics aren't loading for me which is a shame.

 

They all show on my iPhone but the page did take some time to load.

Loaded okay here too, Firefox on PC.

Looks super, though €5 a beer? Am I reading this right?

€5??

when we went to Spain on the bikes, about 10 years ago, we went over the Millau bridge,

we stuck to motorways/toll roads because we had a long way to go, but even they, after millau,

were amazing!

Knee down. on a motorway! luggagged up! brilliant!

And the scenery was fantastic!

I really really want to do it again

Loaded okay here too, Firefox on PC.

Looks super, though €5 a beer? Am I reading this right?

€5??

 

It was an outrage.

BTW is your sig pic from the autobahn last year?

Oooh yeah those roads are geat. I remember going round le bourg d'oisans which is slightly east of that one I think, in the 205 up similar cliff hanger roads. Had to stop to adjust the distributor as it didn't like the steep hills and cheap petrol.

Some of the pics didn't load for me either first time round, but normally after a refresh they did, sometimes not, but refresh again... and they worked.

21 days to go for us, this is wetting my appetite, getting me thinking.

And france does seem expensive to drink out, but they do have some good biére artisanale, which normally don't go much below 8%.

Yeah, don't know what it is with the pictures, it's been a bit iffy with me today. I'm using imgur now after jumping ship from photobucket recently. I have to say this never happened with photobucket when I posted pictures but now they want to charge mucho mazola for the privilege so I left. It's a shame because I preferred PB.

By the way, all pictures were taken on iPhone 7 Plus. For me, there really isn't a need to take a 'pro' camera with the quality of phone cameras these days.