One for the Bikers and France.

[The Singing Stalker]

Right then chaps, next year I am planning to pop over to France for a week In may on the bike with a friend, Thinking about going and staying somewhere in the Loire Valley. I tend to avoid cities. Think Paris, Le Man etc.
I am thinking Amboise or Blois? A pretty medieval town would be nice with good food and somewhere to stay with the bikes. Not looking at expensive.
Anybody got any recommendations for towns. Or somewhere else? Not going to do the alpine passes as it is just to far in the time we have.

Good roads to ride? I don’t want to go too far south as want to have some time of sightseeing so Loire valley seemed about right.
Really enjoyed my trip there this year so gonna go back with hopefully a bit more french in my vocabulary.

 

[kes]

Worth having a look at the series of 'the worlds best bike rides' with Henry Cole - must be some recommendations in that as well maybe?

 

[opticron1]

We stayed at a campsite at Sully-sur-Loire, the campsite was ok, but it was a short walk into the town and visited one of the Richlieu Palaces - as well as decent food! We tend to avoid cities wherever possible as well, Langres to the East is quite a decent fortified pile with a decent municipal campsite, then of course the logical thing is to head North and avoid Paris by going through Champagne or even further East to the Verdun area, before heading back to the ferry ports. We're planning on a similar trip in June for a couple of weeks, but as ever will depend on the weather - we don't pre-book anything so if the weather is better somewhere else, that's where we head for!
One book we do use is Collins, "The best rides" Motorcycle Atlas France. Quite detailed, but gives you a bit of guidance as to the better riding routes.

 

[Bavarianbrit]

Motorcycle or bicycle?

 

[willowbank]

Tandem... eh up.

 

[The Singing Stalker]

Motorcycle, and not camping. Did enough of that over the years. Onsuite with a bar close to hand. We were paying about 30 to 40 euros per night b&b this year. We even stayed in some really nice hotels and a lovely chateau as well. It was ridiculously cheap. Not complaining at all.

 

[The Singing Stalker]

We stayed at a campsite at Sully-sur-Loire, the campsite was ok, but it was a short walk into the town and visited one of the Richlieu Palaces - as well as decent food! We tend to avoid cities wherever possible as well, Langres to the East is quite a decent fortified pile with a decent municipal campsite, then of course the logical thing is to head North and avoid Paris by going through Champagne or even further East to the Verdun area, before heading back to the ferry ports. We're planning on a similar trip in June for a couple of weeks, but as ever will depend on the weather - we don't pre-book anything so if the weather is better somewhere else, that's where we head for!
One book we do use is Collins, "The best rides" Motorcycle Atlas France. Quite detailed, but gives you a bit of guidance as to the better riding routes.

That looks interesting and doable. I will have a good look into that. We used Calimoto to select the routes and it does a great job of picking the biking roads from one spot to the other. The downside is you find yourself avoiding fuel stations and shops as it will keep you in the countryside if possible.

 

[nic531]

consider the lower ardennes.... some fantastic roads. used to be a hotel cobalt near Dinant where the local bike old bill used to leave routes that they trained on for visitors to try. pity the hotel has now closed down.

 

[Max]

Hot on noise in Europe especially France, almost a no go for Harley’s.!!!

 

[Franchi Matt]

Hot on noise in Europe especially France, almost a no go for Harley’s.!!!

Tell that to the Hells Angels PS - two strokes have also gotten the chop too

 

[enfieldspares]

Right then chaps, next year I am planning to pop over to France for a week In may on the bike with a friend, Thinking about going and staying somewhere in the Loire Valley. I tend to avoid cities. Think Paris, Le Man etc.
I am thinking Amboise or Blois? A pretty medieval town would be nice with good food and somewhere to stay with the bikes. Not looking at expensive.
Anybody got any recommendations for towns. Or somewhere else? Not going to do the alpine passes as it is just to far in the time we have.

Good roads to ride? I don’t want to go too far south as want to have some time of sightseeing so Loire valley seemed about right.
Really enjoyed my trip there this year so gonna go back with hopefully a bit more french in my vocabulary.

Check if you need a Crit'Air sticker as even some lesser cities require them.

Le site officiel de la vignette Crit'Air (certificat qualité de l'air) - Ministère de la Transition écologique

Le seul site officiel à délivrer la vignette Crit'Air (certificat qualité de l'air), établie en fonction des émissions polluantes du véhicule.

www.certificat-air.gouv.fr

I used to work the Loire Valley circuit and Amboise has a good market on a Sunday (in the car park alongside the river plus you've Chenonceau nearby as well as Amboise and Clos Luce in the town. Tours is a good centre as you've Chinon and Villandry, Azay le Rideau and Rigny-Usse and Etc., etc.

A nice drive might be Calais via the A16 via Boulogne-sur-Mer over the Pont de Normandie to Hinfleur and then down to Rouen. You could visist some D-Day beaches before heading inland to Rouen. Then Rouen via the James Bond setting for Thunderball of Chateau d'Anet. Taking in Chartes. You a choice of the old RN or, nowadays, the autoroutes. Coming back you could see Vaux le Vicompte, Fontainebleau and if on the old RN a preserved Concorde. Overnight in Paris and you've Versailles and possibly Le Bourget to visit.

If you were mad enough you could drive what's left of the traces of the old French Grand Prix circuit near Rouen!

As far as hotels and etc. then the internet is a good friend.

 

[Smellydog]

All the roads are good in France. You can eat your lunch off most of them. The only place I got a Michelin macadam snotted up on a Yamaha tdm two up!
Ma lady n' me lost in France. Yellow leathers.

 

[opticron1]

That looks interesting and doable. I will have a good look into that. We used Calimoto to select the routes and it does a great job of picking the biking roads from one spot to the other. The downside is you find yourself avoiding fuel stations and shops as it will keep you in the countryside if possible.

We also used booking.com for accommodation when we were in need of somewhere soft and squishy to sleep - rather than roughing it in the tent! Found some good small Hotels that way and also some really good deals with the bigger groups like Best Western. Some of the biker bunkhouse places are ok, but it depends if you want to share with other folk.

 

[eggy74]

Not as far as the alps but the vosges area is a great place to spend a few days with lots of interesting old villages and great roads

 

[tozzybum]

Formula 1 motels if money is a concern. Bed for the night but that's it .
Cut out the middle man ,booking.com charge extra.
We joined Accor hotels website, they own ibis and a load of other hotels.
You get a discount as a member and points towards free stays and its free no fees.

 

[downwind]

Formula 1 motels if money is a concern. Bed for the night but that's it .
Cut out the middle man ,booking.com charge extra.
We joined Accor hotels website, they own ibis and a load of other hotels.
You get a discount as a member and points towards free stays and its free no fees.

We've used booking.com for years, usually good selection with customer reviews that are generally honest.
Our go-to chain hotels now are Ibis, not the cheapest but usually very good value for money.

Not as far as the alps but the vosges area is a great place to spend a few days with lots of interesting old villages and great roads

The Vosges is a great area to tour

 

[Bell308]

dont forget the compulsory helment reflectors and hi vis....

 

[nic531]

Formula 1 motels if money is a concern. Bed for the night but that's it .

dont bother with formula 1 they have gone extremely downhill and are often in a right state and not in good areas. often now i use the Ibis Budget and mostly they have seemed good. currently about 50 quid a room for 2 persons

 

[downwind]

dont forget the compulsory helment reflectors and hi vis....

Reflective helmet stickers not required, hi-vis is