This June a friend of mine and I plan on completing the second half of his retirement ‘Full lap of France’ from 2020. The original plan was to arrive in Caen, travel down through Normandy, Brittany, the western side of France to Pau, traverse the top of the Pyrenees and up to Millau. From Millau, across to Provence, then up to Chambery, then across to the Morvan, then Verdun and back to London via Calais. In short, a full circle.
As it later transpired, he then had a date clash, meaning that he had to get back to London from Millau, whilst I stayed on to complete the second half, as originally intended. We then planned to complete the second half together in 2021 but Covid and other commitments put paid to that idea. 2022, straight after Le Mans in June, will see us finally complete it.
If anyone vis thinking of doing something similar or just looking for ideas to come back from Millau via Calais, this might suit them.
GO TO POST 8
The file contains several individual routes but they download together OK. Here it is displayed in Pocket Earth on an iPad. It’s the black line. You can ignore all the other colours, those are just trips or whatever I have made at other times.
This shows our two days of jaunts in Provence. Again, ignore the blue lines, that’s just other stuff.
Here’s the day out in Verdun:
Note:
A. It is not the same as the half lap that I did in 2020, as I have amended it a bit. Not least, it starts from a gite, a bit south of Le Mans.
B. In 2020, I went from Millau to Apt in Provence in one day. This time I have divided it into two.
C. In 2020, I went on D roads all the way from Apt to Chambery on N and D roads in a day, then from Chambery to the top of the Morvan the next day. This time I have swerved Chambery completely. The revised plan now goes Apt to Rencurel in a day and then on the diagonal to the top of the Morvan, the next day. Other than that it’s largely the same.
D. Yup, I take some motorway between roughly Rencurel and Macon. This is to do nothing more than to skip around Lyon. I did the same when I came across from Chambery to the Morvan. You can of course do it on N and D roads or on foot walking backwards, if you fancy it. It just suits me better this time around to pick up the motorway. Other than a short motorway stretch into Montlucon, I think it’s all N and D roads all the way.
E. The jaunt includes some camping in Provence (we plan on three nights there) and two nights camping at Verdun. Other than that, it’s private (non-chain) hotels.
F. The trip also includes two days out, riding around in Provence (Mont Ventoux, for example) and a day out seeing some of the sites of the Verdun battlefields.
Is it perfect? No, of course not but I think it’s not bad. Amend it or bin it as you see fit, nobody will mind. The green dots on the black line are our stops.
As it later transpired, he then had a date clash, meaning that he had to get back to London from Millau, whilst I stayed on to complete the second half, as originally intended. We then planned to complete the second half together in 2021 but Covid and other commitments put paid to that idea. 2022, straight after Le Mans in June, will see us finally complete it.
If anyone vis thinking of doing something similar or just looking for ideas to come back from Millau via Calais, this might suit them.
GO TO POST 8
The file contains several individual routes but they download together OK. Here it is displayed in Pocket Earth on an iPad. It’s the black line. You can ignore all the other colours, those are just trips or whatever I have made at other times.
This shows our two days of jaunts in Provence. Again, ignore the blue lines, that’s just other stuff.
Here’s the day out in Verdun:
Note:
A. It is not the same as the half lap that I did in 2020, as I have amended it a bit. Not least, it starts from a gite, a bit south of Le Mans.
B. In 2020, I went from Millau to Apt in Provence in one day. This time I have divided it into two.
C. In 2020, I went on D roads all the way from Apt to Chambery on N and D roads in a day, then from Chambery to the top of the Morvan the next day. This time I have swerved Chambery completely. The revised plan now goes Apt to Rencurel in a day and then on the diagonal to the top of the Morvan, the next day. Other than that it’s largely the same.
D. Yup, I take some motorway between roughly Rencurel and Macon. This is to do nothing more than to skip around Lyon. I did the same when I came across from Chambery to the Morvan. You can of course do it on N and D roads or on foot walking backwards, if you fancy it. It just suits me better this time around to pick up the motorway. Other than a short motorway stretch into Montlucon, I think it’s all N and D roads all the way.
E. The jaunt includes some camping in Provence (we plan on three nights there) and two nights camping at Verdun. Other than that, it’s private (non-chain) hotels.
F. The trip also includes two days out, riding around in Provence (Mont Ventoux, for example) and a day out seeing some of the sites of the Verdun battlefields.
Is it perfect? No, of course not but I think it’s not bad. Amend it or bin it as you see fit, nobody will mind. The green dots on the black line are our stops.