France, October, where?

Nevis2

Looking for somewhere within reasonable driving distance of Calais/Zeebrugge for weeks cycling this October - Alps could be too cold/too far, no idea where to start looking, thought of Vosges, would like to find somewhere with a good road cycling life & interesting areas to explore - any ideas please!

ddraver

If you can pick the week then Vosges or Borgogne would be great (though not perfect). However if you want to guarantee Sun then you need to go South. My parents have both had great camper van trips to Provence or (recently) Luberon which apparently has a fantastic network of marked routes

JesseD

For Sun go south, for cycling culture go to Belgium, buy a Tom Boonen mask and Etixx-Quick Step kit and they will treat you like a rock star.

diy

midi Pyrenees will be reasonably warm still and if you fancy a break from cycling there are some great paragliding schools that don't charge much for lessons/courses.

Have you thought of renting a motorhome? Its mostly free for motorhomes to camp in France out of season and even if you do have to pay its normally no more than 3-10 euro a night.

mercia_man

You really need to be south of Ventoux at this time of year to have the best chance of good weather. I've just returned from camper van trip there and the weather was glorious - mid 20s and blue skies. Stayed at Beaumes-de-Venise and had great rides along southern slopes of Ventoux, Gorges de le Nesque and the Dentelles de Montmirail. A hugely popular area for cycling.

Better chance still of good weather even further south. Plenty of good riding in the Luberon area. Like Ventoux, it's within relatively quick and easy reach of Calais, Dunkirk etc for a shortish cycling break.

These parts of Provence are much more likely to have decent weather at this time of year than Alsace and the Vosges. With good French motorways, getting to Provence takes around three hours more than getting to Alsace.

diy

Any good aires worth recommending? I assume you stayed at campingcar aires.

mercia_man

[url=http://www.bikeradar.com/forums/viewtopic.php?p=19714123#p19714123]diy[/url] wrote:

Any good aires worth recommending? I assume you stayed at campingcar aires.

I use aires on the way down and up and then tend to stay on official sites, such as the excellent and cheap Beaumes-de-Venise municipal or Mt Serein high up on northern face of Ventoux if I want to do two or three days riding.

I use the superb All the Aires France guide from Vicarious Books. Google them. It has maps of locations, postcodes, a pic of each aire, details of facilities, size etc.

Ones I can recommend include Watten and Arques which are both a short drive from Dunkirk and the A26 motorway so really handy for catching an early morning ferry or staying after catching an afternoon ferry. Dunkirk is a better option for me as ferries there are cheaper than Calais (DFDS booked through Caravan Club), it's easier to get in and out of and there are no migrants trying to get into lorries.

There's a lovely aire at Aubignas in the Ardeche, close to Montelimar. It's high up in the hills, with extensive views overlooking a picturesque village built of dark volcanic stone. It even has a little toilet block and the local council asks you to put three euros in an honesty box. Beautiful narrow and hilly lanes for cycling round there.

Another good aire is Chichiliane, off the D1075 south of Grenoble. This is on a village green up in the mountains (can be cold at night) with a good ride up the Col de Menee. There's a public toilet a short walk from the aire in the village and also a fantastic artisan bread shop which sells a special "sportif" bread packed with nuts and dried fruit.

Southern Burgundy is a good area for easy cycling with many kilometres of voie verte cycle routes. There's a pleasant aire at Artaix near Marcigny. It's on a canal basin, on grass surrounded by trees and is a popular picnic area at weekends. Boats park up there ovenight. There's a toilet block and free electricity. Another beautiful spot. I love aires!

Lookyhere

[url=http://www.bikeradar.com/forums/viewtopic.php?p=19713571#p19713571]Nevis2[/url] wrote:

Looking for somewhere within reasonable driving distance of Calais/Zeebrugge for weeks cycling this October - Alps could be too cold/too far, no idea where to start looking, thought of Vosges, would like to find somewhere with a good road cycling life & interesting areas to explore - any ideas please!

We ve stayed in Bossendorf, a tiny little village, half way between north and south Vosges of the A4, so about a 6hr drive from calais.
i thought it was a beautiful area, miles of empty roads in all directions, strasborg is a nice day out too.

diy

Thanks Mercia Man, I've got those guides and the France Passion one where you can stay on vine yards for free, though with the quality of Aires being so good, I didn't use it.