Short Trip to France / Belgium

Wegby

Active member
UKGSer Subscriber
Joined
Jul 18, 2010
Messages
375
Reaction score
15
Location
Sussex
Following a successful trip earlier in the year to St Valerie sur Somme with my other half who passed her test last year, we recently ventured a bit further into France, heading down to Pont a Mousson and stopping at St Quentin on the way down, and Chimay on the return leg. I thought I’d share details of where we stayed, as they all had good offroad parking, which is one of the considerations I have when booking hotels.

It’s a short ride from where we live in Sussex to Le Shuttle and if all goes well, we can be riding off the train within 2 hours of locking the front door. On the outward journey, I usually try to get a crossing that leaves before 8am, as it’s usually fairly quiet; UK customs was a bit busier than normal, but once through and into the departure lines, all seemed a bit quieter.

PXL_20220711_105544936.jpgPXL_20220711_110054317.jpgView attachment 543076PXL_20220712_080613136.jpgPXL_20220712_115220086.jpg
Aiming for St Quentin on day 1, I’d planned a route from Calais that was around 125 miles, intentionally keeping the total for each day under 180-200, to allow mid-afternoon check in and the chance to have more of a wander around our destination than seems to be the case when I’m out with the usual group I ride with. All was going well until we reached Coulomby (about 25 miles from Calais), where a Vide Granier closed the road in the direction I was aiming for. I tried to cheat the system by going down a closed road – often a bike can sneak through – but not this time, as there were metal barriers the whole way across the road. It almost ended in disaster and embarrassment (for me), as when I was turning around on a particularly nasty camber, the front wheel slightly skidded on some gravel, overbalanced and I almost dropped it, only just managing to hold it upright until my girlfriend parked hers and came to my rescue. I guess I hadn’t been following the maxim of ‘a well-ridden GS’…

Despite the detour, the rest of the day went smoothly; a quick stop in Peronne for a coffee and light lunch before arriving at the Hotel Memoprial in St Q. (Hotel Mémorial – Hotel Saint Quentin Aisne (hotel-memorial.com)). It’s got private parking out the back, where the bikes can’t be seen from the road, the room was a good size with a decent shower and breakfast the following was good value at €15 for both of us.

The following day, we were headed for Pont a Mousson, about 170 miles from SQ and equidistant from Metz and Nancy. En route, we stopped off at the Varennes Pennsylvania Monument, an impressive tribute to the fallen of the US during WWI. There’s a museum next door, which would have been worth a look had it been open, so instead we continued to Verdun for a coffee and a bite to eat by the riverside.

40 or so miles later, we’d arrived at L’Abbaye des Premorres ( The hotel | Premonstratensian Abbey (abbaye-premontres.com) ), an impressive 18th century structure, which now holds various exhibitions and does a good job as a 3 star hotel. Bike parking is also pretty secure; they have electric gates round the back, which when opened, presents a truly impressive façade, along with a less than welcoming gravel driveway. Successfully navigating the gravel (managed not to embarrass myself today), we parked up, unloaded and completed check in.

The room was a decent size and bizarrely had a small kitchenette with it, but no plates or cutlery. The main part of the town is only a few minutes’ walk from the hotel, and there are a few decent bars around the main town square (which is more of a triangle), Place Duroc. We eat in Restaurant Pierre Bonaventurethat evening and the food was fantastic. It opened at around 7:15 and almost immediately filled with locals. If you’re staying in Pont a Mousson, you really ought to try to get a table here.

We were at the Abbey for two nights, so the next day we decided to have a shorter one on the bikes. Following a bit of a ride round, we ended up in Luneville; there’s a big chateau there (although to be fair, where isn’t there one in France), with neatly presented gardens that it seems you can just go and have a wander around. We had a coffee before heading back via Nancy, which was busy and hot. By this time it was in the mid-30s, so Nancy was relatively brief and we headed back to PaM and amused ourselves with a picnic on the banks of the Mosel with a bottle of wine.

On day 4 we were heading for Chimay in Belgium. I’ve been through here a few times before and know some fantastic roads in this area (N810 from Bouillion to Corbion, D1 feom Montherme to Rocroi, and a favourite is the N589 from Regniowez to Chimay). Lunch was a stop next to the Hotel de la Poste in Bouillion, followed by a short ice-cream accompanied walk around the town, before we were riding some of Belgium’s finest roads.

Prior to checking in to Home - Villa Adelaide (villa-adelaide.com), we headed through the town to ride the Circuit de Chimay ( Circuit de Chimay — Home - Circuit de Chimay ); it was fortunate we did this on arrival, as the circuit was gearing up for a race weekend, and as we passed it the following morning, the start/finish straight was closing for what I assume were the first practice sessions.

The villa was check in by key-code; the owner had tested this to me while we were on the road. They’d left the garage open ajar for us to put the bikes in, but it seemed pretty quiet around there, so wouldn’t expect the bikes to be in any danger if they were left outside. The quality of the room was excellent and it was easily apparent that they’d put a lot of thought and effort into the design and décor.

We found a friendly bar a few minutes walk away, just past where one of the locals decided to have a slash in front of his scooter. When in Belgium, I suppose…

Returning home the next day, we stopped in Arras for lunch, before continuing the slog that seems to e Northern France. To be fait, from St Pol sur Terniose, there’s a reasonable route via Fruges, Desvres and Guines, which fortunately still had an open Carrefour, despite our return being on Bastille Day. Cramming what cheese, pate and other provisions we could into the panniers, our next stop would be the all-too usual queues at customs. It wasn’t a particularly long trip, but she performed faultlessly on the 850+ miles we’d done in the last 5 days. The GSA did ok too…

Hope the info / links on the hotels proves useful. Guy

(trying to upload a few photos - they're not quite going where I'd intended - but at least the right way up...)
 

Attachments

  • PXL_20220712_120411460.jpg
    PXL_20220712_120411460.jpg
    261.8 KB · Views: 141
A couple more of Bouillion and Chimay...
 

Attachments

  • PXL_20220713_111538946.jpg
    PXL_20220713_111538946.jpg
    262.9 KB · Views: 134
  • PXL_20220713_141201648.jpg
    PXL_20220713_141201648.jpg
    266.6 KB · Views: 138
  • PXL_20220713_191230866.jpg
    PXL_20220713_191230866.jpg
    263.2 KB · Views: 141
We stopped in Pont á Mousson in late May for lunch in Place Duroc. We had lunch in a more modest place with a very limited menu as much was out of stock! It looks a nice place and the route from Reims to the Nord Vosges avoiding motorways was pretty good.
 
The stand out thing about Pont a Mousson is it smelled like Sheffield in the 50’s. Coal and steel, a real industrial flashback. Best eatery for me was a pizzeria near the Abbey run by a French guy and his wife who hailed from Leicester.
 


Back
Top Bottom