Shall we go to France?That's what I asked Duncan the day before we set off. As usual things were not planned to the last detail way in advance... after setting off not quite as early as planned (12 midday rather than 4am) we left the car at my aunties "near" Dover which turned out to be quite a way from the port! 3 hours and a not insignificant amount of very short but very steep hills later we arrived in time to catch the 8:40 sailing. After a brief trip into Dover to find food (one last english kebab) and finding that our computers time was way out we raced back to the ferry just in time.
CalaisUpon arrival in calais we thought about our next move. The train station was shut so no chance of a sleeper train to paris so it was a game of hunt the campsite. This was shut so we crept in past the security guards and setup camp. After a sleepless night on may part worrying about being thrown out we left early in the morning to get breakfast at the train station.
Where shall we go? - We decided to catch a train to
Clermont-Ferrand and after a second breakfast set off on the way to somewhere a little more scenic.
190mph and Race across Paris2 hours to Lille and then a short hop on the (very fast)TGV took us to Paris Nord. We then had a rush hour race across the city to the Gare de lyon. We made it with minutes to spare! So much to take in and cars / pedestrians everywhere... madness.
We arrived in Clermont-Ferrand about tea time and set off to find our first campsite in the surrounding hills. A brief shower at this point was the only rain we saw for all the trip. The campsite was great (20 Euros)compared to Calais. Someone was in our allocated spot but considering the previous nights shenanigans we thought it would be bad Karma to dob them in so setup nearby. It was here that we discovered how crap ultralight leave shampoo is...
"moi, je suis en Ex- Professionelle"That night we enjoyed a feast of steak and snails in a local restaurant complete with bemused waiters (we ordered a beer as an aperitif!) They redeemed themselves with a fantastic cheeseboard of local products - more cheese later... After the meal a old chap wandered over to admire my bike - he wasnt interested in Duncan's modern Taiwanese job ;0) "moi, je suis en Ex- Professionelle" he said and proceeded to ask about my 30 year old bike and new components. He seemed to think Duncan was crazy to use a double chainring - more of that later too... Were we climbing the Puy-de-Dôme mountain? he asked, so with a challenge like that we decided to have a go the next day.
After a relitively early start (10:00am) we set off for the Puy-de-Dôme only to fin that it was "pas possible" we argued in vain so decided to make for the town of
Mont-Dore to the south west. Queue a fantastic day touring in the small villages around the department(like a County) of the Puy-de-Dôme albeit with the dreaded mountain taunting us at each turn. After stopping at a local Cheese farm (cheese was Saint Nectaire), we consumed a feast of cheese, wine and local pate for lunch. This had us sleepy in the afternoon but the volcanic scenery was amazing. I think we did about 60-70 miles that day
Mont-doreAfter setting up camp in the local council campsite (clean and cheap at 10 Euros) we enjoyed pizza from one of the local restaurant. The service was really friendly and the old lady enjoyed practising her English on us. The town of Mont-Dore was set in a valley and it rained a bit that evening while we were eating but thankfully subsided later on. The next morning I was offered sweet tea by some fellow campers whist Duncan snoozed. They were climbing in the local area and were interested to hear about our trip.
"Magna Chambers"We climbed out of Mont-Dore, headed East through the Haute-Loire department and spent another day passing through picturesque French villages with obligatory war memorials and coffee stops. The landscape was still very much volcanic with magna chambers very much in evidence. One particularity scenic spot at the Lac Pavin was especially memorable although there were a lot of flies so we didn't stop too long. The afternoon riding involved numerous amazing Gorges and empty roads. In the UK these would compare to places like Cheddar and be packed with tourists but around here there were just a handful of locals.
Some fast descents led us to the town of Issorie which we skirted around before some "tour de France" roads through fields of sunflowers. Stopping at villages for water, coffee and food, we made good progress and decided that it should be possible to reach the Alps with a couple of days to spare.
That evening, after running low on energy and water we camped at a beautiful site high in the hills. The local town was closed up for the holiday season so we ate in the camp-site restaurant which turned out to be a very good move s the portions and quality were great. Another bonus was that I found some real shower gel which was luxury compared to the shampoo leaves...
Dirty sausagesThe next day was spent along similar lines to the previous two with Gorges and beautiful French countryside. Dirty, but award winning sausages were purchased to supplement our diet of bread and cheese. We ended up high above the Rhone valley at another beautiful camp-site (6 euros!). That evening we walked to the local village and ate at a unremarkable looking hotel resturant. The food turned out to be fantastic and we had about 5 courses for peanuts..
View of the Alps.Next morning we headed back into the village for coffee and our staple diet of Pan au Chocolate and Croissants only to turn the corner on the high street to a most impressive view of the Alps. Way in the distance we could just about make out the outline of the mountains we were aiming for across the Rhone valley. After coffee and a fast 45 minute descent followed by some steep climbs we arrived at the Rhone river. A quick tour of the town of Tournon Sur Rhone looking for shops - thanks Duncan ;0)and a lunch stop on the edge of the bridge and we set off up a huge climb. The climb was immense and my standing for 20 secs, sitting for 20 secs approach soon started to break Duncan but he carried on to the top determined to "man up" as he put it. The weather was hotting up and after a quick stop to buy ice cold water from the supermarket we carried on towards the Villard du lans gorge. This was another immense climb through dramatic scenery which took over 1 and a half hours before we stopped to bathe our legs in the ice cold river. There were motorbikes everywhere and some of the roads were quite narrow complete with rocky overhangs and tunnels. We had been aiming for Grenoble but decided to stop in the village of Lans en Vercours as our legs had taken enough for one day. The campsite was in a small village 5 minutes from the town but again most of the restaurants were shut so we ate at the campsite's outside pizza restaurant.
Grenoble, Alp D'huez and cheating.The next morning we treated ourselves to a huge feast of cakes and pastries. So much that I couldn't eat all of mine! A great 1 hour switchback descent into the outskirts of Grenoble had us pass numerous roadies who were on their way up. A long busy main road section took us to the base of the Alp d'Huez climb in le Bourg d'Oisans. After a stop for lunch and coffee we started the climb and our timers and made our way up the famous 21 corners. This was an all out effort against the clock and 1 hour 12 minutes later I reached the top with Duncan a few minutes back. on the way up there were photographers taking pictures and handing out cards to the many riders. There was an amazing view on the way up to the top and although it was a relatively short climb it felt like a great achievement to have made it complete with panniers and a 40lb bike. After a rest at the top we decided to come back down on the old road which turned out to be very quiet and great fun. By now it was getting into late afternoon but we decided to press on up the Col du Glandon, another of the fearsom tour du france climbs. On the way up we passed some Belgians who told us that they didn't know when the next camp-site was so when we reached a small village with a bar and guest house we decided to call it a day and stay in a proper bed for once. The room was luxury compared to our usual sleeping arrangements and it had exclusive use of a kitchen and shower room. We scraped enough money (just!) together to pay for our room and a basic evening meal of savoury crepes. A great nights sleep even if it did feel a bit like cheating!
2 Tour de France climbs in one dayThe next morning Breakfast was basic but, in typical French fashion, turned out to be plenty and really nice. We were glad of this as we continued up the Col du Glandon and then continued up to the Croix de la fer. This took over 2 hours which combined with the 2 hours the night before made this one of the largest climbs we tackled. Marmots were whistling in the nearby fields and we managed to get a good shot of one in the distance. Towards the top of the Croix e la fer we were passed by a old chap on a custom road bike. Duncan was very excited and asked if he could take some pictures "for his inspiration..." and we stopped at the top to take a closer look. After another fast descent we started the longest limb of the tour - the Col de la Madeline. this took about 4 hours from start to the top, most of which was in 32 degree heat and lowest gear. Talking of low gears, Duncan was starting to regret his gear choice (and laughing at mine) of a double at the front and his cranks were starting to creak badly. We didn't hang around for long at the top as we were short on food and drink. Duncan managed over 54 mph on the descent - rim melting stuff! The descent into Bourg St Maurice was fantastic, quiet roads, bends, switchback and cool tunnels. We were shattered when we reached the valley floor and started to look for somewhere to stay. As with most camp-site searches this didn't take long and we were soon set up in another friendly part of town. Almost as soon as we arrived the French couple opposite offered us some tea and home made cakes - lovely! The meal that night was rather fancy and we had a great local aperitif.
The next day we rode to Moutiers and after a coffee in the town centre decided to book our tickets home. The plan was to get the sleeper train to Paris then be back in Calais for lunchtime the following day. The sleeper wasn't until 10pm so we had time for a short ride around the local area. The short ride soon turned into another epic climb to "la sauce" (as in mint sauce the mountain biking sheep!) which took about 3 hours though some picturesque villages and close to Val Thorens. We came back to Bourg by another fantastic road and were so hot we decided to cool off in the river. after a few expensive (5 euros) beers in the town centre we needed to eat but all the restaurants were closed for Bastille.The only shop open was a petrol station but this sold everything we could have needed including local wine so we were rather jolly when we finally got on the train. We had to have bunks rather than cheaper standard seats as we were with bikes but our cabin was empty so it was not so bad and we got a decent nights sleep before arriving in Paris.
Fig Rolls on the Champs ElyseesWe had allowed a bit more time in Paris this time so that we had time to take in some sights before catching the TGV to Lille. Arriving at 6am we were soon riding along the empty (apart from the odd tramp)banks of the river Seine. It was amazing to be in such a busy city with the sun coming up and the place deserted and the buildings looked amazing in the morning sun. We stopped at the louvre and rode along to the Champs Elysees. This was getting ready for the tour's arrival the following week and looked amazing with the french flags all along the side. We rode up almost as far as the Arc de Triomphe before it started to get busy so we turned off up a side road to climb through the streets of Paris to the Gare d nord station. It was another race against time as we were running a bit late but after the climbs of the Alps it seemed easy.
we stopped in Lille for a couple of hours and looked for shops selling stamps only for Duncan to forget to post his cards... Arriving in Calais we had and early lunch at the station restaurant before making our way back to the ferry and England.
The last 25 miles from Dover to my aunties were made easier by a huge tailwind and the steepest hill of the whole trip came in the last 200 yards to her house! Of course, she had forgotten that we were coming so i had to find the spare key before we could load up.
We had done it and both agreed that the best part of the trip was that we hadn't planned it at all - just going with decisions on the road.
Photos of our adventures can be viewed
here
