This, the second posting of my 2023 European cycling tour, takes me across the Aisne and Oise regions of north-eastern France along their excellent network of bicycle paths and then along the Normandy coast to catch a ferry to England at Cherbourg.
Category: France
Touring by pedelec eBike in France
#107 The Eifel and the Ardenne
The start of a new cycling season in Europe: I collect my bike from my friend’s house near Wesel in the German Ruhr and head south to Aachen where I pick up the Vennbahnweg rail trail and then carry on through the Belgian and French Ardennes to the champagne capital of Reims.
#101 The French Riviera and the Italian Riviera Ponente
I meet the Mediterranean coast at Saint Raphaël and head east, cycling the remaining ¾ of the Côte d’Azure (aka The French Riviera) to the Italian border at Ventimiglia. Then, in Italy, I cycle the Italian Riviera di Ponente, (or the ‘Western Riviera’) to Vesima, just before Genoa. This, guys, was a superb cycling experience,…
#100 The Rhône and the Luberon Trail
Cycling along the Rhône to Valence is something I did, in the opposite direction, only 5 months ago and it was just as good the second time around. And the bits I hadn’t done before, along the Luberon Trail in Haut Provence, were even better.
#99 The Jura and the Ain River
I cycle through the Jura Region of Eastern France. The main centres were Arbois, Lons-Le-Saunier and Poligny, with mountains, forests, and the Ain river gorge in between. I continue on down the River Ain to its confluence with the Rhône and then on to the city of Lyon. In Lyon I wait 6 days for…
#98 The Meuse River
After 5 days crossing delightful southeast England and then the uninspiring Flanders region, I had finally arrived at ‘La Meuse’, at the place where the river leaves France and enters Belgium. Except I was going to go the other way – Belgium to France – upstream along the designated cycling path ‘La Meuse À Vélo. …
#97 Kent, Flanders and the Ardennes
I collect my eBike from a friend’s home in Wanstead, London, and decide to go to Italy by skirting around the eastern rim of France. At map scale, it looks like an almost straight line across Kent, Flanders and the Ardennes, but when you drill down into it you’ll see there were quite a few…
#90 The Upper Rhône
The second half of my trip up the Rhône where it meanders and zig-zags east towards Geneva and Lac Léman was even better than the first half.
#89 The Camargue and Rhône River
I depart Cap d’Agde and head off in the general direction of Germany along Eurovelo 17 , also marked Via Rhôna. I pick up the Via Rhôna/ Eurovelo 17 at the ancient and beautiful port city of Sète, cross the western delta of the Rhône River known as the Camargue and follow the Rhône up-river…
#88 Languedoc-Roussillon
After 2½ years locked out of Europe due to the Corona virus pandemic, I finally get to collect my bike in southern France and go eBike touring around the Continent once again. The vague plan is to head north, arriving in Scotland around mid-May. But first I follow the Canal du Midi south-east out of…