Through France to Barcelona

Anyone tried this. Advice on routes would be welcome

Hi andyq
I assumme you are from the U.S.
i'm from the UK and cvcled from Bilbao In Northern Spain To St Malo in north France and what a fantastic experience. Going From Barcelona would be great because you will take in the Pyrenees mountains. I could mail you the route i took and suggest a route around or over tne pyranees, which ever your preference in riding. there is some loverly scenery in both france and spain. I an on this U.S. forum Site becuse I am looking to contact anyone who has been riding The Blue Ridge Parkway so if you know of any sorts do let me know.
More than happy to help and advise you on your venture as i lovd it and can,t stop talking about it . do keep in contact.
Andy Corkill

Thanks Corky
I'm also from the UK (not clear how I stumbled on to this forum) and can't help I'm afraid on the Blue Ridge stuff. However, I would much appreciate details of your Bilbao-St Malo trip. We're thinking of finding campsites along the way but I fear these may be lfew and far between in Northern France.
AndyQ

Hi Andy, I've cycled extensively in France since the '60's, mostly camping. I have cycled in virtually all parts of the country except the lower Atlantic Coast near Biarritz. I have no experience in Spain. In France the news is good. Not only is it hard to find an ugly road in the country, but many, many towns, even small ones, have campgrounds. You're going to love this trip. If the town is not large or well situated enough to draw many tourists and thus have a privately run campground then very often the town itself runs a camp. This camp is very often the the town athletic field. I've camped in these many times, gone in town for dinner - my Visa is my kitchen - and come back to the camp to watch the town teens playing a soccer game. If you want to see some of these camps click here: www.todmoore.net

Thanks for this. Your web site looks great - I will dip into it for ideas on places to visit en routew
Many thanks

Hi Andy,

There is a fair few routes from holland through France to Barcelona. I know at least 2 of them have guidebooks/ maps to go with them (unfortunately only in Dutch. If you 're interested I could find out a bit more or you could have a look / post a question on the forum section of

http://www.wereldfietser.nl

aDutch website for worldcyclists.
Drop me a line if you need any help with the intricacies of the Dutch language.

Best wishes,

Daan

Hi

Greetings from France itself.

Everything you've heard so far is spot on. This is a lovely country for cycling. It does vary hugely from one area to another, though, so which way you ride will affect the nature of your ride.
If you ride down the western edge of France, for instance, your ride will be a lot flatter than riding through the Massif Central and it foothills towards the centre. You will have lots of pine forests (especially in the Landes, the largest forest in Europe) but, after a few days, not al lot of stimulation.
The Massif is harder and more remote and you'll make far slower and more tiring progress. But you'll feel you've seen and experienced something far different from home.
Eastern France is harder to travel, especially close to the Alps, because the Rhône valley is tightly packed, heavily built up and heaving with traffic. The valleys also tend to run at 90 degrees to your intended direction, so you'll be riding across the grain. Do go that way if you wish but certainly avoid July and August.
The Pyrénées are lovely wherever you cross and the choice is yours. The northern side of France, though, is quite the opposite: flattish, open, rolling, often windy and, to be honest, often rather dull. Little is more disspiriting than a day of headwinds across the plains of Picardie or a rainstorm in the Nord area between Calais and Lens (where the tourist people are so stuck for highlights to advertise that the motorway-side signs point out slag heaps from the old coal mines!
(But do visit the graveyard at Sallaumines, Lens, and pay homage to Maurice Garin, first winner of the Tour de France.)
You'll find camp sites almost everywhere in France. Many are shown on Michelin maps (or, at least, villages with sites are indicated by a little tent icon). But these are just a fraction of what's available and around one in three villages will be able to help. Happily, the French for a camp site is 'un camping'!
Final hint (ask if I can help you more): if you need water, stop at any cemetery. They all have fresh-water taps.

happy days

les