Calling Wapping!!! Ideas West Coast of France -> RDGA -> West Coast.......

Looking for recommendations in regards to riding from St. Malo to RDGA (Annecy)..., then return journey from Vercors To Cherbourg. To make Life easy on the day of crossing, I am provisionally looking at staying in Caen, as we can sleep in, then take a leisurely bimble to the ferry, for or sailing departure at noon.

So My wife and I are setting of on a trip in September, we have three full days to reach the begging (our starting point) of RDGA. Looking at the maps, as the crow flies, it is circa 600 miles. even the most stupid will know, that on average it is 180-200 mile days without touching motorways, and will easily result in 9-10 hour day in the saddle, at French pace dictated by 50mph limits and endless villages.....

Us both being veggies, lunch stops need to be planned very carefully, hence stops in bigger cities and as a bonus, a short sight seeing and a history lesson (where possible) for the SWMBO.

The current plan is:

Day 1. Ride from St. Malo (0815 arrival) -> Le Mans (lunch here) -> Orleans for the first night stop.
Day 2. Orleans -> La Charité-sur-Loire (lunch here) -> Chalon-sur-Saône for the second night stop.
Day 3. Chalon-sur-Saône -> Annecy (lunch here) -> La Clusaz for the night and to rendezvous with friends.
Day 4-5. Ride RDGA together.
Day 6-7. Wife and I do our own thing and enjoy (hopefully) the sunny beach in Antibes for two nights.
Day 8. Antibes to Rencurel (Hotel Le Marronier) and to rendezvous with friends agin. It will be a long old day to get there, but we have no option...
Day 9. Enjoy Vercors or have a day off the bike
Day 10-12 are our 2.5 days to get to Cherbourg Ferry. So essentially I am looking for recommendation to stay and to visit places, without repeating on same places we have visited on the way to RDGA. As mentioned earlier, Caen is a very likely destination to stay for our last night on the continent. so let me call it 2 days to get to Caen.

Wife loves scenery, nature, architecture of old and a bit of history.

Many thanks Richard.
As you seem to be quite well versed in the continental travel department, it was therefore an obvious choice to call upon you.

EV

EV, that looks like a good jaunt. I’ll be back to you ASAP

One possibility is to head NW from Rencurel towards & past Montlucon. I found the Livradois Forez National Park rather lovely when I rode from Vichy to Le Puy.

Halfway is near this Logis Hotel https://goo.gl/maps/cgNy2gX2jSkGav2E8 with Italian restaurant nearby.

Day 2, bimble up to Caen through Blois which would be a nice lunch stop on the Loire.

Do you really want / need to return via Caen?

Vercors to St Malo ?

I had a look but unfortunately

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Wapping said:

Do you really want / need to return via Caen?

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Not really Richard, but seeing as we have ti be at the port a good hour + prior to noon sailing, I did not want to get up at the ungodly hour and spend next 3-4 hours blasting on the autoroute, just to get there. I am certain that SWMBO wouldn’t be overly pleased either. The following 5-6 hours on the ferry would be a bit shit frankly.

Have you got other suggestions in mind?

Arsey said:

Vercors to St Malo ?

I had a look but unfortunately

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Goodun that! Thanks for trying!! (sorry there isn’t a KTM thumby)

wessie said:

One possibility is to head NW from Rencurel towards & past Montlucon. I found the Livradois Forez National Park rather lovely when I rode from Vichy to Le Puy.

Halfway is near this Logis Hotel https://goo.gl/maps/cgNy2gX2jSkGav2E8 with Italian restaurant nearby.

Day 2, bimble up to Caen through Blois which would be a nice lunch stop on the Loire.

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Sounds good, will have ganders. Thank you.

Days 4-5 might be a bit rushed? Simon Weir's Bikers Europe suggests 3 days for RDGA, you'll be wanting to stop for photos, admire the view, awesome lunches etc

Just a thought

EVskij said:

Sounds good, will have ganders. Thank you.

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If you come through Le Puy give me a shout, if I’m not at work I’ll put the kettle on

Wapping said:

Do you really want / need to return via Caen?

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To which I’d add, do really want / need to return via Cherbourg?

You are correct, However we aren't doing the entire thing, and have done a similar jaunt a few years back in 2 days. plenty of time for pics, countless pee and coffee stops.

Orinoco said:

Days 4-5 might be a bit rushed? Simon Weir's Bikers Europe suggests 3 days for RDGA, you'll be wanting to stop for photos, admire the view, awesome lunches etc

Just a thought

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leadfarmer said:

If you come through Le Puy give me a shout, if I’m not at work I’ll put the kettle on

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You are a star! will certainly give you a shout if we are in the area.

TA Muchly

EV

Wapping said:

To which I’d add, do really want / need to return via Cherbourg?

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Yes, as timing does not allow it and ferries already booked (albeit Flexi pass). Alternatives? we have a good 2 hour jaunt from Portsmouth to get back home. SWMBO wouldn't want to be on the bike at midnight.

Return date is the 16th of September at noon.

wessie said:

One possibility is to head NW from Rencurel towards & past Montlucon. I found the Livradois Forez National Park rather lovely when I rode from Vichy to Le Puy.

Halfway is near this Logis Hotel https://goo.gl/maps/cgNy2gX2jSkGav2E8 with Italian restaurant nearby.

Day 2, bimble up to Caen through Blois which would be a nice lunch stop on the Loire.

Click to expand...

leadfarmer said:

If you come through Le Puy give me a shout, if I’m not at work I’ll put the kettle on

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That route wessie isn't all that bad a suggestion. It means that we will have to nudge north of 250 miles a day (not exactly a bimble if you take 80km/ph speed limits into account) for two days on the trot and arrive at Caen late in the evening. Meaning having to stop for a meal before we get to a Hotel. the alternative is to jump onto A28 -> A88 autoroute out of Le Mans and then N158 toward Caen, to make up time, as I doubt there will be all that much to see after that....

However, this would give us a chance to discover different parts of France and to possibly meet Mr. Leadfarmer, and sample some of his finest beverage.

Something to mull over. Not that any other route would make it any shorter or quicker unless one does ignore everything there is to admire and bombs it across the country using autoroute.

EVskij said:

That route wessie isn't all that bad a suggestion. It means that we will have to nudge north of 250 miles a day (not exactly a bimble if you take 80km/ph speed limits into account) for two days on the trot and arrive at Caen late in the evening. Meaning having to stop for a meal before we get to a Hotel. the alternative is to jump onto A28 -> A88 autoroute out of Le Mans and then N158 toward Caen, to make up time, as I doubt there will be all that much to see after that....

However, this would give us a chance to discover different parts of France and to possibly meet Mr. Leadfarmer, and sample some of his finest beverage.

Something to mull over. Not that any other route would make it any shorter or quicker unless one does ignore everything there is to admire and bombs it across the country using autoroute.

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Personally, but it would just be me and no self loading luggage, I would have a nice day going west via Le Puy and settle in the Volcanes at somewhere like Le Mont Dore (source of the Dordogne) then get on the autoroute at Clermont Ferrand on day 2. Then give it some welly up the péage before collapsing into a McHotel.

My preference is to maximise the number of scenic days and then have one sacrificial day using the autoroute to get to a port. You are going to have half a day floating across the Channel to rest and 400 miles on the autoroute is "not that far" if you break it down to 5x 80 mile chunks. 1 hour riding, 10-20 minute break/argument. If you start at 9am, you can be in Caen for 5pm.

EVskij said:

....

However, this would give us a chance to discover different parts of France and to possibly meet Mr. Leadfarmer, and sample some of his finest beverage.
.

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Have a draft beer machine and a pool to cool down after a long ride

Le Puy en Velay has some interesting things to visit and as Wessie says the area around Clermont Ferrand has plenty to see and do around the “Chaîne des puys”, the motorway north is also better than the one through Lyon

Calling Wapping!!! Ideas West Coast of France -&gt; RDGA -&gt; West Coast.......

The trouble with Cherbourg, is that it’s at the back end of nowhere. Once I was in Rencurel, on the eastern side of France, I’d have looked at returning via Calais. In other words, turning the jaunt into a crudely shaped U, with Caen and Calais at the ends. But hey, it is what it is and it looks like a great trip, EV.

I’m with Wessie on the idea of having one sacrificial day on a motorway, as it gives you more flexibility somewhere else in the holiday. For example, I once went on a great D road jaunt that would inevitably find myself in Dijon at around lunchtime. I knew I had to be in Calais by early evening to catch the train home. Rather than alter everything else, I just bit the bullet and joined the motorway after a quick lunch and was in Calais in time to catch my train. But, if that’s a no go idea, let’s look at what’s doable.

Antibes to Rencurel is (depending on which way you go) not less than 250 miles and not much over 300, so that’s OK, Rencurel to Cherbourg is (again depending on which way you go) is between 550 and 800 miles. Your ferry departure from Cherbourg is fixed for noon, meaning you probably need to be there by 10 AM, so a run in to the port that morning of no more than two to two and half hours is probably your only option. The challenging bit is just to break up the 550 to 800 miles between Rencurel and, say, Caen in two days, in order to have half a day to catch the ferry home.

Do you definitely want a day off or spent doing the the Vercours? I only ask, as sacrificing a day off there gives you a full extra day for Rencurel to Cherbourg’s 550 to 800 miles. If you do and it’s got to be two days to get to, say, Caen, then I’d look at roughly:

Day one: Rencurel to say Bourges, which is 250 miles

Day two: Bourges to Caen, which is again roughly 250 miles

All avoiding motorways but not taking every goat track.

Then your half day from Caen to Cherbourg.

That looks about right. It’s broadly the same as Wessie’s. That’s not surprising, as the route (assuming two days) has to be roughly a diagonal from the centre of the clock hands at Rencurel, out on an almost straight diagonal to Caen at roughly 10 o’clock.




For planning any decent schlep across France, I always turn to the Michelin 726 map. It’s great as it cuts out all the ‘little stuff crap’. Sometimes too much detail on a map just serves to confuse. I cannot recommend it enough.

Calling Wapping!!! Ideas West Coast of France -&gt; RDGA -&gt; West Coast.......

But, being one to never give up on alternatives, here’s an idea. It’s a bit more two sides of a very flat triangle, than the almost straight diagonal Wessie and I have proposed.

It’s Rencurel to roughly Auxerre to Caen.



Rencurel to Auxerre is roughly 280 miles but I’d sling in some motorway (about 125 miles only) to skip past Lyon and up to say Macon. Then sort of on a diagonal to roughly Auxerre, across the western edge of the Morvan. Or, if you left Rencurel early after your day off, you could swerve a bit to the east, to go through the Morvan, which is great. Then pick up the A6 motorway west to skip into Auxerre or somewhere around there. Auxerre itself, is quite a nice town.

Auxerre to Caen is roughly 250 miles, avoiding motorways and goat tracks, so that works, too.

PS Why would I take the motorway past Lyon up to Macon? You want to miss Lyon, France’s second city if possible. It’s a great place but can be very busy. You are inevitably stuck by the Rhone river valley. You can D and N road it but they spent lots of money on building motorway for very good reasons. Accept their reasons.

Here’s what I sort of have in mind for the Rencurel to Auxerre bit:



And the bit of motorway I’d take to miss Lyon, to got to Macon:



Here’s the Morvan centre I’d maybe take:



I am doing Rencurel to Quarré-les-Tombes in the Morvan in June. I will be taking the motorway past Lyon to Macon, simply as I want to spend some time in the Morvan before arriving at my hotel. I am then returning to the UK via Verdun and Calais, whilst you’ll be heading to Cherbourg.

Here’s Auxerre to Caen, which I simply asked ViaMichelin for, setting the preferences to:




It’s actually pretty good as it avoids goat tracks. I quite like ViaMichelin as it’s routing algorithms are usually pretty good; certainly good enough to give you something to play around with.

wessie said:

Personally, but it would just be me and no self loading luggage, I would have a nice day going west via Le Puy and settle in the Volcanes at somewhere like Le Mont Dore (source of the Dordogne) then get on the autoroute at Clermont Ferrand on day 2. Then give it some welly up the péage before collapsing into a McHotel.

My preference is to maximise the number of scenic days and then have one sacrificial day using the autoroute to get to a port. You are going to have half a day floating across the Channel to rest and 400 miles on the autoroute is "not that far" if you break it down to 5x 80 mile chunks. 1 hour riding, 10-20 minute break/argument. If you start at 9am, you can be in Caen for 5pm.

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Self Loading Luggage, Can be a problem Especially as KTM isn't as comfy as GSA was. I am not against the ride on the motorway if need be. Having a bimble through the national parks, certainly makes for much more fun and as you say, we can always make up the lost time by boxing through the more boring bit on the motorway. Something to mull over and to play with on the map.

Thank you for advice.

leadfarmer said:

Have a draft beer machine and a pool to cool down after a long ride

Le Puy en Velay has some interesting things to visit and as Wessie says the area around Clermont Ferrand has plenty to see and do around the “Chaîne des puys”, the motorway north is also better than the one through Lyon

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Definitely an interesting proposition and sounds good, as I can't recall ever being in that part of France. We would be going ever so slightly back (south west) on ourself though. I'll get back to you on that one.