June 26, 2018
The Best and the Worst in our Tour de France
The great thing about a bicycle tour is that it includes so many different aspects, from the road conditions to the food, accommodation, people you meet, history, politics, architecture, art, museums you find, to the bike repair shop you found, or not. To try to go through and identify the best and worst of all this would be a big job, and maybe not all that useful. But still there are at least regions or sections of the tour that deserve special mention, as either great or as problems. For the fifteen stages of the trip, we certainly had expectations about what was going to be best. How did it work out for us? Let's scan the route in order from beginning to end picking out the best bits, then we'll go back around fingering the worst.
We had high hopes for the Alsace Wine Route, and yes, it was good. In fact the northern bit was great. That's where you are up in the vines and traveling from one beautiful perched village to another. However in the southern part the route moved away from the hills and the vines and you just sort of looked over to them from the flats. Less exciting. Even so we would do it all again, especially as it only took three days.
The next really good region was Provence. Filled with flowers and warmth, it had the great Saturday market at Arles, the legacy of Van Gogh, the perched villages like beautiful Rousillon, and the dramatic setting of the Luberon mountains. If you include the Camargue - Rhone river delta - in Provence - with its white horses and black bulls - then Provence might be unbeatable as the best part of the Tour.
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6 years ago
People count too in this, so we have to reflect on the many wonderful folks who were part of the Tour for us. There was Didier and Corinne and Goran and Stephanie in Paris, all the B&B and hotel hosts across the country, and of course Marvin and Erika in Amsterdam. But Nantes was a real highlight, because we were reunited with our dear friend Michel, and his cycling friends, and because we got to meet Gabin and Marceau, young children of old friends Aurel and Chloe, who also live near Nantes.
Brittany was all new to us, and it blew us away with its coastal sea views, rhododendrons, and stone buildings. It is also a strong candidate for best of this tour.
For emotional and historic impact, the World War II beaches and WW I trenches are the most intense. This probably peaked in the Somme valley and Ypres, Belgium, where is was impossible to put aside the enormity of what happened there 100 years ago.
Finally, North Holland. This is one giant nursery/garden filled with adorable houses and the aroma of hay and manure. Outside of frantic Amsterdam, the peaceful and numerous bicycles add an immense charm. Touring around this with Erika and Marvin was a true highlight.
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Those were the best of the places and people on our clockwise swing around France. The entire region is wonderful, and we felt most welcome in almost all parts of it. So what could we find to complain about? The answer is "cars", the root of all evil for the cyclist, or at least the failure of cycle paths to keep us away from them, and vice versa.
First up on the rogue's list is the section of the Via Rhona for 20 km before and after Lyon. No signs, and no way to avoid traffic. If we ever come back, we will use a train to get in to and out of Lyon, which admittedly is a great city to visit. Just not on a bike.
Another one that promised great things and does not deliver is the Canal du Midi. This is basically a dirt track that surely forces you out and on to D roads. We found some pretty good D roads, but it was a lot of work. Had we documented our D road route we would have a way through for next time. But it's only a way through. Nothing really spectacular in this section.
The Normandy Coast, including the roads behind the D-Day beaches and the bridge at Le Havre are among the worst for cycling. D514 near Arromanches is narrow and twisty, with crazy drivers. But it is eclipsed by that devilish Pont de Normandie over the Seine, and the dangerous ride into Le Havre. That's on our list for a place never to return to. On the other hand we just got an email from a friend who rather likes Le Havre. A chacun son gout!
Generally speaking, northern France is not cycle friendly. Roads are narrow, cycle ways few, and drivers practice "suicide passing". We felt a huge sense of relief when we passed into Belgium, which is very close to Netherlands in cycle philosophy.
That's our list of the worst. It was far outshadowed by the best, so that overall we had a grand time. Two of those "best" regions would have nevertheless given us a hard time without the e-bikes. Brittany in particular would have been impossible. So watch for the next page (coming) with more thoughts on e assist.
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6 years ago
The idea of following some of the Maple Leaf route is of interest to us but reading your best and worst post gives us some caution about riding this Northern section at all! If you had it to do over again, would you stay on the EV4 coastal route or go inland as you did?
10 months ago