directions_bike by Chris Riches -

Feins to Guipry

The journey from Feins to Guipry was very flat and scenic alongside the Canal d’Ille-et-Rance and the Vilaine river, with a vertical ascent of only 370ft, mostly on an off-road path without any traffic. The route went through Rennes which turned out to be a good place to stop for a galette for lunch. There were many people out on various rivercraft but fewer and fewer cyclists as I got further away from Rennes.

Checked in for €8 to the municipal campsite at Guipry in the evening.

Distance: 54 miles

Maximum temperature: 33 degrees C

Canal d’Ille et Rance

Chevaigné

Le Pont Réan

Bruz

directions_bike by Chris Riches -

La Tranche-sur-Mer to La Rochelle

The conditions were perfect for the ride to La Rochelle, and it was nice to find that almost the only traffic found on the wide roads consisted of other cyclists. There were an increasing number of cycle tourists now going in both directions. The route was mostly inland and passed through numerous enormous sunflower fields and a nature reserve.

The approach to La Rochelle was along a straight canal, and I was staying in hotel a few miles to the east of the city, which I reached by mid afternoon.

La Rochelle, where Germany would establish a submarine base during the Second World War, was founded during the 10th century and I was very keen to see the city. I cycled in to the city centre to visit the beautiful, picturesque harbour and well preserved old town area, which had an incredible charm about it.

Distance: 42 miles

Maximum temperature: 23 degrees C

Sunflowers at La Faute-sur-Mer

Flat inland landscape, utilising the solar panel for charging phone

La Rochelle harbour

La Rochelle harbour

La Rochelle old town

directions_bike by Chris Riches -

La Rochelle to La Palmyre

Having spent the previous day in Île de Re, and cycling back to La Rochelle in the evening to stay in the municipal campsite there – having found all the campsites I enquired in Île de Re to be full – it was time to leave La Rochelle and continue the journey south.

La Rochelle harbour is renowned for it’s sailing yachts, which I saw in abundance when leaving the southern part of city, passing through Les Minimes. Apparently this is the largest marina in France for pleasure boats.

Further down the coast outside La Rochelle the tide was quite far out and there were places selling oysters and mussels. I passed through some low key resort areas, and around the edge of Rochefort, where I stopped in a very large Decathlon store to get some bicycle things.

The most direct route south would require taking a small boat across the Charente river, as the adjacent transporter bridge was closed for refurbishment and the main bridge seemed to be for motorists only. All the other passengers were cyclists too, taking the same shortcut.

After passing through the marshland near Marennes I cycled over a bridge crossing the estuary of La Seudre and the beach on the other side fringed with thick pine forest became visible. I cycled through the pine forest for a while and then reached the campsite at La Palmyre where I pitched the tent in a large clearing amongst the pine trees and pleasant aroma of incense thanks to a neighbouring camper. Later in the evening I cycled a few miles down the road, passing the zoo and Club Med, to find a pretty long beach with honey coloured sand. On the way back to the campsite, along the seafront path, I noticed a convoy of jet skiers.

Distance: 61 miles

Maximum temperature: 23 degrees C

Leaving La Rochelle

The largest marina in France for pleasure boats at Les Minimes, La Rochelle

Beach at La Palmyre

Jet ski convoy

directions_bike by Chris Riches -

La Palmyre to Soulac-sur-Mer

The most direct route down the west coast involved getting a car ferry across from Royan to Pointe de Grave. To avoid that would have meant a large detour, almost to Bordeaux, so I cycled the short distance to Royan and arrived by ferry in Pointe de Grave at lunch time.

When the sea became visible from the cycle path there was the most surf that I had seen so far on the trip, and the main beach at Soulac-sur-Mer looked very appealing. The area looked like a nice place to stay and I found a campsite which I checked in to around 3pm. It had access to a beach where people were kitesurfing and enjoying the surf and it was a relaxing place to spend some time.

Distance: 22 miles

Maximum temperature: 23 degrees C

Beach next to the campsite in Soulac-sur-Mer

Kitesurfing at Soulac-sur-Mer

Main beach at Soulac-sur-Mer

directions_bike by Chris Riches -

Dune du Pilat to Cap de L’homy

The Dune du Pilat was very enjoyable and could have stayed longer but it was nice to get back on the bike again and cycle down the coast. I was informed that it was a public holiday in France and places would be busy.

The route was quite varied passing alongside a few lakes, surf beaches and significant forest in the inland sections.

Stopping at the spectacular beaches of Biscarrosse and Mimizan broke up the ride, there seemed to be some kind of event occurring at Biscarrosse with a large gathering of people on the seafront.

I reached the seaside village of Cap de L’homy by the early evening, where I visited the beach and stayed at the campsite.

Distance: 63 miles

Maximum temperature: 29 degrees C

Biscarrosse Plage

Biscarrosse Plage

Lake at Ispe

Cap de L’homy

directions_bike by Chris Riches -

Lourdes to Estaing

Keen to get up in to the fresh air of the Pyrenees, I left Lourdes at 8am and cycled southwest directly towards the Spanish border. It was a very clear morning which enabled an improved view of the distant peaks and fortunately there was a dedicated cycle route out of Lourdes which ran alongside the river. It started off fairly flat and then the gradient rapidly increased as the road wound it’s way up through the valley.

Some of the mountains in the distance now had shear rock faces rather than the mainly green, vegetation covered ones that I had seen so far. This gave them a more dramatic appearance.

On the peaceful ride up to Estaing I passed the sign for the Pyrenees National Park, it was still early and cool which made for pleasant cycling and the views were excellent.

Was pleased to find that the campsite I planned to stay at had space available and gave a generous discount to hikers, which they also applied to cyclists. It’s location in the valley provided good views of the surrounding mountains and it’s construction was in keeping with the local style.

After locking up the bicycle and enjoying lunch at the campsite, I joined the GR10 path (which stretches from the Atlantic to Mediterranean coasts) and walked up to the 1461m summit of Pic de Pan. I had just seen this path on my map and had no idea what the terrain or difficulty would be like and in places it was hard to follow because the route was unclear. At the top the views were epic in all directions, and the vertical drop looking down was staggering.

On the descent back towards Estaing I passed an Auberge where I hoped to be able to get a drink, they were closed but kindly refilled my water bottle.

Distance: 16 miles

Maximum temperature: 24 degrees C

Estaing, Hautes-Pyrénées

18th century church on the way to Pic de Pan

Views of the neighbouring mountains

View from Pic de Pan

View from Pic de Pan

directions_bike by Chris Riches -

Toulouse to Carcassonne

Decided to cycle from Rebastens-de-Bigorre to Tournay, and take the train from there to Toulouse where I spent the night.

Toulouse is the fourth largest city in France and the biggest city that I’d visited so far on the trip. The distinctive, intricately decorated red brick buildings and wide open spaces in the centre gave it quite a different feeling to the other French cities that I’d seen.

It made a nice overnight stop on the way to Carcassonne and had an afternoon boat trip on the Garonne river, and the old parts of the city were interesting to look around. The tourist information office provided a useful map of the Canal du Midi.

Early the following morning, after a Torsade pastry, I cycled to the Canal du Midi which had a good cycle path adjacent to it and it was easy to follow in a southeasterly direction out of the city. Within the city and surrounding area it was fairly busy with commuters, and after about 7 miles the landscape around the canal changed to open fields, where the path would become less busy.

The tailwind from the west increased throughout the morning. As I approached Carcassonne the canal path narrowed and I used some small, more direct roads instead. Some of these passed right next to vineyards. Once I’d checked in to the campsite which was fairly close to the walled city, I had a look around that and the main city area, both of which were very pleasant. Carcassonne is the largest walled city in Europe, among those that still have their defensive walls intact.

Distance: 64 miles

Maximum temperature: 27 degrees C

Place du Capitole, Toulouse

Le Pont Neuf, Toulouse

Toulouse

Canal du Midi

Vineyards near Carcassonne

Castelnaudary

Carcassonne walled city, parts of it temporarily had yellow patterns mounted on the monument to celebrate UNESCO status