Annemasse,
St Cergues, col de Cou to Habere Poche, down to Orcier,
Thonon
les Bains, back up to Bellevaux to St Jeoire, to Filinges: easy riding very
pleasant
Provence: such a nice place with cigalles
singing in July, fields of lavender blooming in Spring, it can be raining all
over France except in Provence....so many roads to so many pretty places, you
ve got to see them all.
South of Avignon: St Remy de p[rovence,
Les beaux de Provence, Maussane les Alpilles , Mouries, Eyguieres. Parc
national des Alpilles
Aix en Provence to Pertuis, Ansouis, St Martin de Brasque, La Bastide des
jourdans, Manosque, St Martin de Bromes, Allemagne, Riez - from Riez to Puimoisson et la begude
Blanche very pretty –
From
Riez to Moustiers to les Salles Verdon. From there best to ride the Gorge du
Verdon via route des cretes in the morning and return via Tunel du Fayet and Aiguines in the
afternoon,
Then
from Salles down to Aups, Villecroze to Draguignan, nice ride to Grasse up to
Vilaute down to Comps, Montferrat.
Cheap
hotel in Castellane with bike cover: Studi Hotel – fridge in room and balcony,
they own the Plein Voile Hotel on the other side of the Gorges du Verdon a
Salles sur Verdon
Mt Ventoux is a must ( I rode from Cadenet to Lourmarin – busy – to
Apt no traffic nice windy road, then to Sault, up Cold des Tempetes, down to
Malaucene, back up via Bedoin to Le Chalet Reynard ).....
and
so are the spectacular Gorge du Verdon.
The
route Napoleon is interesting between Cannes and Digne, on the way from
Castellane you can go through the Alps into Italy
From
Digne, interesting road to the lac de
Serre Poncon a savines le lac, the Napoleon Road from Digne to Gap is
uninteresting withtraffic and trucks and many
radars. From Sisteron to go west to Serrres, Nyons, down to Carpentras
is nice.
Grenoble
to Gap, to St Die : nice and scenic
Ardeche
Bolene
to Pierrelatte : on the Rhone Valley South of Montelimar a field of nuclear
power station
Bourg
St Andiol to Vallon Pont d Arc: nice and easy
St
Andiol down the Gorges d Ardeche, very scenic
Vallon
Pont d Arc to Ruoms, St Maurice to Privas,
Les Olieres, St Saveur, St
Martin, to Agreve, St Bonnet, all wild country. Watch out for storms.
Cevennes:
Uzes
to Anduze, follow cornice des Cevennes, great road, no
traffic, follow signs to Mont Aigoual, road uneven, cold and windy at the top,
weather station museum, free entry
Down
to Valleraugue, to Ganges, great road, other option road to Le Vigan or to Meyruen
to join the Gorges du Tarn. Al very nice.
Following
a very hot summer, high evaporation over
the Mediterranee will cause heavy rainfalls over the Cevennes, Ardeche and
Provence, watch out for flooding in September
Perpignan to Ile sur Tet
: visit les Orgues
Maison
dhote, Le Magnolia, center of town: large locked garage, beautiful home
Nice
restaurant on the Ram place, outdoor: La
casa del Ram – vende biere locale artisanale l Alzina – very nice beer.
N116
to Andorra: scenic but broken bitumen no fun on the bike. From the Spanish
border, Puicerda, very nice road to La Seu d Urgell, Sort, Esterri lots of
corner but good surface, to Salardu, steep
climb , lovely....down to Vieillha, Bosost
up the col du Portillon to Luchon
Bagneres
deLuchon to St Beat, up to The Mourtis ski station down towards col des
Ares....very nice windy road.
Bagneres
de Luchon to Col de Peyressourde to
Arreau, then Col d Aspin to Campan : easy and scenic
Campan
to Cold du Tourmalet, very good road to la Mongie and Pic du Midi, then narrow
with lots of cyclists , very steep dangerous descent on the other side to Luz
St Sauveur. Very scenic to Cirque de Gavarnie
Argeles
Cazaux to Col de l Aubisque, another renowned road, lots of hair pin
corners, camper vans and cyclists..
caution.
Laruns
to Cold du Pourtalet: road is narrow, broken bitumen, pass the Sapnish border,
great road to wherever you want to go in Spain!
Nice
Auberge on the French side near Oloron
at Gurmencon. Le relais Aspois. Closed on
Sunday. Top cooking, garage for motorbikes
Road
from Arudy to St Christau winds through
thick forests, narrow but scenic
Oloron
to Col de Somport; excellent road with overtaking lanes, long tunnel 9km long into Spain
Arudy
to Lestelle, Lourdes, turn right at the bridge to Omex, Seus, Juncalas, Artigues, Bagneres de Bigorre:
narrow roads, tiny villages, very scenic
Bagneres
to Capvern, nice views ov er the
Pyrennees, turn right follow signs to Gouffre d Esparros, narrow road , scenic, no traffic.
Then
to Labarthe de Nesthe, Montegut, St Bertrand de Comminges to Moleon Barousse up
the mountain and down to Luchon.
Arreau
to Tunnel de Bielsa: many trucks. Tunnel
is one way,poor lighting, remove your sunglasses before entering; good opportunity to overtake the traffic at
the lights. Nice road in Spain to Ainsa, take minor roads between Toria,
Biescas and jaca to discover old villages.
Pays Basque: mostly a wet area, when
sunny it is magnificent.
Pau
to Mourenx, Navarrenx , Mauleon Licharre to St Palais, to Iholdy, Irissarry,
Biddaray
Friendly
Hotel Noblia, home cooking
Between
St Palais and St Jean Pied de Port, Hotel Pecoitz in a remote village but
closed on Fridays!
To
Cambo, over the mountain to Urdazubi via Ainhoa, nice road, scenic, to
Elizondo, can go back to St Jean via col d Ispeguy
Elizondo
to Pamplona: great road, up to Roncesvalles, to St Jean; great corners and
scenery
Or
before Burguete, turn right to Aria,
Escaroz, Ochagavia to Port de Larrau to France
Or
from Escaroz to Isaba to Col de la
Pierre St martin, nice forests on the French side, dry on the Spanish side.
Pays
Basque , the mountains are not as high as in center Pyrennees, the riding is
quite pleasant.
Riding
theMassif Central and Haute Alpes was cancelled due to bad weather in July.
The Roads: Looking at the road map
Red is a route national,
often busy, trucks, not well maintained as they lack National funds
Orange and
Yellow
are major country roads, often in very good condition, financed by the
conseiller General of the area
White is a minor road at times
in a better condition than a route
nationale, particularly in touristic areas or joining rich communes
Le Journal
des Motards written by the readers -give you
pages of addresses for Relais Motards and hotels with a garage
Join
the Chevaliers de la Route for 35 euros and you will meet members all over
France, if you breakdown you can call members in the area who will assist you.
BP28
83481 PUGET/ ARGENS Cedex
Attention:
Spring: wide tractors and trailers slow and taking the
whole road – Farmers own the roads
Vineyards
area: crushed grapes carried on trailers
are loosing juice , slippery roads and roundabouts
Autumn:
hunting time, deer, wild pig attacking vehicles even cyclists. Do not go into
forests on Wed, Fridays, Sat , you could get accidentally shot
Car
moved to the side of the road to let you overtake, thank them by putting your
right leg out
Drivers
think that motorcyclists don’t need much room and they have no idea about road
positioning for cornering or about avoiding pot holes. As much as they give you
space to overtake when they come in front of you, they will take part of your
side of the road, at time most of your side, expecting you to squeeze close to
the edge of the road and push you into the grassy unknown terrain
Truck
drivers are not road friendly at all, they cut corners and sometimes need the
whole road + road shoulder to turn
corners so are buses..
