Paris- Chartres-Mont-Saint-Michel-Saint-Malo-Rennes-Nantes-Orléans-Paris

This cycling trip took us through the following regions of France. Île-de-France, Normandie, Bretagne, Pays-de-la-Loire, Centre Val-de-Loire, Île de France. The best part of the trip was that we could actually use mainly official cycling tracks as well as some minor roads with very little traffic.

Thursday, 02.08.2018

Early in the morning we drove from Luxembourg to Paris. There we had some trouble to find a long term parking, we were told to leave our car in Massy-Plaiseau, parking of the TGV. So we prepared the bicycles and quickly joined the cycle route V40 going from Paris to Mont-Saint-Michel. Our first destination was Rambouillet, since it was already 14:00h when we started. Leaving Paris by the “véloroute, vélocénie “V40 was much easier than I thought. On our way we decided to make a short detour to visit Versailles. This took us much longer than we had calculated. About 20 km before Rambouillet Gaston got horrible cramps. The weather was awfully hot and, he probably did not drink enough. So the last km turned out to be real nightmare (calvaire). We planed to arrive in Rambouillet at 18.00 and finally reached our Hotel at 21:30. Unfortunately the cramps went on till late in the night.

  

 

Friday, 03.08.2018

Due to last night’s cramps, Gaston had extreme muscle soreness. So we decided to make a very short leg and have a longer rest in Chartres. This turned out o be a good decision so that we had plenty of time to visit Chartres with its famous Gothic cathedral. 

In Chartres we took the decision to start the coming days as early in the morning as possible to avoid the high temperatures.

Saturday 04.08.2018

We left Chartres by 06:30. The old medieval city by early morning light is a pleasure for the eye. Notre Dame Cathedral over towers the city and the little cobblestoned streets create a mystic atmosphere.

On our way we had the occasion to admire the beautiful castle of Frazé. 

FRAZÉ

The following part of our journey turned out to be very green, with many little brooks and lakes, on the whole a beautiful and refreshing scenery. The last 15 km, where the cycle path followed small hilly roads, without a lot of shade and a temperature exceeding 32 °, were rather strenuous….After 76 km we arrived at Nogent-le-Retrou, where we stayed in the Hotel Lion d’Or.

NOGENT-LE-RETROU

Sunday, 05.08.2018

After leaving Nogent-le-Retrou, again early in the morning, we went on cycling on a wonderful “voie verte” (in France, the “voies vertes” are cycling routes that follow an ancient railway track), Here we did not suffer from the heat at all, since we were riding in a kind of green tunnel. 

On the way we took some pictures of the “manoire de la Vove”. After 86 km we arrived in Alençon. In the late afternoon we spend some time at "Alençon plage" a kind of artificial beach with numerous attractions.

ALENçON

   

DOMFORT

Monday, 06.08.2018

After an early breakfast we headed towards Domfort. Here we met a rather hilly cycle route. The major attraction was the visit of the  castle “Château de Carrouge”. A Domfort we stayed in the logis de France, This charming medieval city is situated on a hill and holds one of the oldest churches build of reinforced concrete.

CHÂTEAU DE CARROUGES

  

Tuesday, 07.08.2018

Departure at 06:20 without breakfast. We ride along on another “voie verte” and arrive in Avranches, 24 km away from Mt. St. Michel. We leave our luggage in the hotel ride towards Mt. St. Michel. The crowd here was overwhelming. After leaving the bicycles at the beginning of the dam, we took a shuttle that brought us to the entrance of Mt. St. Michel. The weather suddenly turned thunderstorm-like as we started a quick visit of this famous World Heritage site.

On our way back to the hotel the sky became all black, and we were trapped by a huge storm. At one point the wind was so strong and stirred up so much dust that we rather could not see anything. Broken branches were lying all around, and we were happy to arrive safe and sound in our hotel in Avranches.

Wednesday, 08.08.2018

From Avranches we cycled along the Atlantic coast line towards Saint Malo. St. Malo was crowded, as always in the summer. We could not visit the old city centre because we did not want leave our bicycles with the luggage unattended. In Juan Les Guérets, outside of St. Malo, we found an B&B hotel, and drove back to St.Malo by bus. …….

SAINT MALO

Thursday, 09.08.2018

The heat is gone, followed by heavy rain. From our hotel we drove towards Dinan on “véloroute V42” following the river Rance. The scenery was very beautiful but the cycling was extremely painful. In fact, we drove on non concrete path mainly covered with a sandy coating. Due to the rain out bicycles sank into the sand so that we progressed only very slowly, despite our strong efforts. In Évran we decide to leave the cycle path and went on to Rennes on the normal concrete road. We checked in at the B&B hotel In Saint-Grégoire, north of Rennes, where we fortunately had the opportunity to clean our bikes.

Friday, 10.08.2018

In Rennes, we joined the river “la Vilaine” and follow the “V42” through a very beautiful landscape with many small lakes. The weather was rather cold, and we suffered from a rather strong wind blowing in our face as well as from a bumby cycle route. After 102 km we arrive in our hotel, Bel Hotel, in Redon close to a “zone d’activitée”. In the evening we took our time to stroll through Redon and see the nice timbered houses. We ended up in a nice “crèperie” with lovely food.

Saturday, 11.08.2018

In Redon, we leave the “V42” and continue on the Euro-Vélo “EV1”. The “EV1” follows the "canal de Nantes à Brest". 30 km before Nantes we stop following the channel and decide to go around Nantes in an easterly direction. In Nantes, we had to struggle our way through a huge crowd heading for an important (I presume) football match. We checked in at an Ibis hotel, The only hotel with no room for our bicycles, so that we had to leave them in front of the hotel.😣

Sunday, 12.08.2018

ANCENIS

In Nantes, we joined the EV6 going along the river Loire. The EV6 is the cycle route we took years ago to travel to the black sea. With lovely weather and a beautiful scenery cycling was at its best. We drove past the castles of Oudon and Ancenis. Aux Ponts-de-Cé close to Angers we found a nice Kyriad hotel.

Monday, 13.08.2018

We continue our way along the Loire. At a certain point the cycle way went straight into a channel beside the Loire. As I desperately searched for the right route. Jacqueline pointed out to a small boat which turned out to be a self-trailing ferry. 

After our ferry-experience, we drove towards Saumur. The following kilometres the Ev6 leads along the beautiful “Châteaux de la Loire”,Rigny-Ussé, Langeais, Villandry. After a ride of 125 km we arrived tired but happy in Tours, where we checked in at another nice Kyriade hotel. Dinner at the Thai Pytaya, a Thai restaurant.

Tuesday, 14.08.2018

In the early morning we cross Tours and have a glimpse of the Gothic cathedral. We continue our way along the Loire and drive past the castle of Amboise, Blois and arrive after 109 km in Beaugency (hôtel La Licorne) about 30 km before Orléans.

Wednesday, 15.08.2018

After Beaugency we cross Angers along the riverside. For some kilometres we follow “le canal de la Loire”, afterwards we leave the river Loire and cycle on secondary roads (EV3) to Montargis.

Tuesday, 16.08.2018

In Montargis we join the River Loing and follow the channel of the “Loing” via Fontenay-sur-Loing, Nemours up to Veneux-les-Sablons, where we meet the River Seine. Here we cycle past some beautiful Manors. After Melun the cycle path EV3 starts to get terribly bad, so that we were glad to arrive in Corbeil-Essone after a ride of 115 km.

Friday, 17.08.2018

We leave Corbeil-Essone early in the morning. To join the parking place in Massy we had to browse the suburbs south of Paris. This was not an easy matter, but with the help of the “cycle navigator” of google maps we managed to be successful.

Tour : Sarre- Strasbourg- Palatinat (Pfalz)

04.06.2018

Saarburg via Luxembourg, Manternach, Wasserbillig, Trier, Konz

Hotel Wirtshaus am Pferdemarkt.

05.06.2018

Saarburg-Sarreguemines en longeant la Sarre (Hôtel Saint Luc)

06.06.2018

Sarreguemines-Saverne en suivant le canal de la Sarre jusqu’à la jonction avec le canal Nancy –Strasbourg. 

Près d'Arzviller nous avons rejoint la Vallée des Eclusiers. L’échelle d’écluses d’Arzviller/Henridorff est un des sites remarquables du réseau des Voies navigables de France. Construite en 1853 afin de permettre au canal de la Marne au Rhin de franchir le seuil des Vosges, elle était constituée de 17 écluses réparties sur 3,8 km. Fermée à la navigation depuis 1969, date de la mise en service du Plan Incliné de Saint-Louis Arzviller

07.06.2018

Saverne-Hagenau avec une courte visite de Strasbourg. A cause de la pluie et de la boue, un tronçon qui longe le canal s’est avéré en véritable parcours du combattant

08.06.2018

Hagenau-Pirmasens. La traversée de la « Pfalz » fut  très épuisante. Les orages qui ont éclatés durant l’après-midi nous ont forcés de raccourcir notre trajet. (Hôtel Best Western à Pirmasens)

09.06.2018

Pirmasens-St.Wendel. Après Dahn il a recommencé à pleuvoir. Nous sommes arrivés très tard à St. Wendel à cause de la pluie et à cause d’une piste cyclable mouillée où nos vélos ont souffert beaucoup. A l'hôtel  "Le Journal" nous étions heureux de retrouver une belle et grande chambre pour sécher nos affaires. Après le souper nous avions l’occasion d’assister à un festival amusant dans les rues de St. Wendel. Un musicien avec sa guitare 12 cordes nous à particulièrement épaté (Volker Hassler www.12saiter.de)

10.06.2018

St.Wendel-Saarburg en passant par Saarwellingen pour rendre visite à nos amis Petra et Werner Becker.

11.06.2016

Saarburg-Ehlange Pour ne pas emprunter le même chemin de retour, nous avons choisi de remonter le long de la Leuk. Après avoir passé la frontière la piste cyclable était tellement trempée que nos vélos se sont enfoncés dans la boue à tel point que les roues des vélos ne tournaient plus du tout. Nous étions forcés de nettoyer les vélos dans un lavoir à Aspelt. Quelques kilomètres plus loin un orage très violent a éclaté. Il a plu tellement que les routes étaient complètement inondées. 

A hauteur de Huncherange l’eau arrivait jusqu’à hauteur des hanches des habitants. Étant donné que notre domicile n’était plus qu’à une dizaine de km, nous avons décidé de serrer les dents et de rentrer malgré le fait que nous étions trempés jusqu’aux os.

Roundtrip Luxemboug; Lorraine-Champagne; Ardennes-Bourgogne; Franche-Comté

01 Ehlange –Verdun 09.08

The goal was to start our bike trip at home, key under the doormat and finish the loop back home again.

On our way to Verdun we met a French cyclist who talked about a  more historical route to Verdun. He indicated us the way and even accompanied us part of the track…We passed old, destroyed villages and the famous “Tranchées”

02 Verdun-St.Dizier 10.08

From Verdun we followed the river Meuse (vélorouteV54) for about 20 km. In Villers-sur-Meuse we left the V54 cycling track and headed eastwards (V54b) to Bar-le-Duc and onto St Dizier (EV16). 

After leaving our luggage in the hotel we had some time left to visit the town-centre by bike.

SAINT DIZIER

03 St Dizier-Troyes 11.08

“Journée des Lacs”

In Saint Dizier we took the track « véloroute EV16 » (going from London to Strasbourg) and went along the “Canal d'Amenée du lac de Der” to the lac du Der-Chantecoq.  Futher on we met the “Lac du Temple” and the”Lac d’Orient”.

 After a nice meal and despite the fact that we had cycled already more than 100km we decided to visit Troyes, its beautiful cathedral as well as the old town with its charming timbered houses.

Troyes

04 Troyes-Tonnerre 12.08

From Troyes we cycled southwards along the  Véloroute EV56 (Troyes – La-Charité-sur-Loire) to join the EV51 (Tour de Bourgogne). Here we cycled along the Canal de Bourgogne following the track up to Tonnerre. Since we had some problems to find an hotel we decided to stay in Tonnerre because it was the only hotel available in the area. In the evening of our tour through Tonnerre we visited the famous “Fosse de Dionne”  which is a exsurgent spring of the Vaucluse, at an average flow rate of 311 liters per second . 

Tonnerre

05 Tonnerre Préci-sous-Thil 13.08 

On our way to Préci-sur-thil we had some heavy  rain showers. Again we had some trouble to find an hotel. We therefore left the Canal de Bourgogne and got to Préci-sur-Thil  Hotel  Terminus. The owner of the hotel had explained that we could spend the night there but food wouldn’t be available since the hotel’s restaurant was closed. We were rather desperate, there was no restaurant whatsoever in the village.

I had already set my eye on the last package of crisps as my dinner when the lady knocked at our door and suggested to us to bring some food from the next village, where she herself went for dinner. Never so pleased with kebab catering in my life!

Préci-sous-Thil

06 Préci-sur-Thil- Dijon 14.08

After breakfast we cycled back to the Canal and headed towards  Pouilly-en -Auxois where the canal flows through a tunnel, whereas we ourselves had to cycle over the hill.

Pouilly-en Auxois

On our way to Dijon we passed several nice villages like  Vandenesse-en -Auxois  and the castle of Châteauneuf overlooking the Burgundy Canal.

Châteauneuf-en-Auxois

In Dijon we found a nice Hotel (B&B) right in the centre of the town. Since they had no place to store our bicycles, they gave us the room for disabled persons, so we could take our bikes with us.

Dijon

07 

07 Dijon-Ray-sur-Saône 15.08
After a laborious crossing of Dijon , we entered the «  véloroute Charles le Téméraire » that follows the Saône up to Épinal. We finished our cycling-day in Ray-en-Auxois at the comfortable guest house “Chambres et tables d'hôtes  Le Tilleul de Ray”.  Supper at “ Chez Yvette”, where a friendly owner tried her best to satisfy a vegetarian and succeeded very well!

Ray-sur-Saône

08 
08 Ray-sur-Saône-Epinal 16.08

This was our longest cycling daytrip, about 145km. When we arrived in Fontenoy-le-Château  we hoped to find an hotel nearby. Unfortunately nothing …..

Fontenoy-le-Château

So 
So we cycled on along the “Canal des Vosges” As we had no chance to find an hotel in the surroundings we headed on to Epinal. This was pretty tough since we had no food and barely half a litre of water left. When we arrived at Ibis hôtel in Epinal we ere exhausted but quite happy that we had made it to the end!

Epinal

09 Epinal-Nancy 17.08

Here we met the Mosel and cycled along the river up to Nancy where we followed the “Canal de la Junction” which brought us right to the centre of Nancy, where we stayed in the Hotel Ibis Nancy Sainte Catherine .

In the evening we roamed around the beautiful “Place Stanislas” and found a nice Indian restaurant for dinner. 

Nancy

10 Nancy-Thionville 18.08

From the centre of Nancy we  followed one last time the “Canal de la Junction” that brought us back to the Mosel. When we arrived in Metz it started raining cats and dogs. We managed to handle the rain until we arrived in Thionville. Here we were all soaked and decided to check in at the Hôtel Kyriad Prestige. In fact it was the first hotel we saw when we entered Thionville. The friendly man at the reception didn’t mind that I dripped the wooden floor all over. He gave us a nice room that we thoroughly enjoyed!!!  

11 Thionville-Ehlange 19.08

 Finally the last track back home from Thionville!! Instead of taking the most direct way we decide to cycle along the Moselle towards Mondorf-les-Bains. We keep an eye on the sky, threatingly black….

But just arriving on the spot, still dry, the sky opens and the expected rain comes down in buckets….