French road trip ideas/suggestions.

[securespark]

What's your usual route across?

 

[Brigadier]

 

[securespark]

We used to do the Portsmouth to Cherbourg route on the catamaran in 3 hours in the Summer and head for Brittany.

We stayed at my sister's place which was SE of Quimper.

Brittany is great if you love anything apple-y: Apple pies, Tarte tatins, ciders etc...

Then you could go Lorient, Nantes, Bordeaux.

Or, if you go across the channel, Le Mans, Tours, Poitiers.

All depends on your budget and how much time you have.

 

[Brigadier]

Or, if you go across the channel, Le Mans, Tours, Poitiers

Portsmouth to caen.

Then SS's route.

Onto Angouleme iirc, and into the dordogne.

Superb

 

[carmanmemoranda]

We were thinking of going around our anniversary (July 7th) and/or Mrs Motties birthday (July 14th). We've always wanted to be somewhere in France on Mrs Motties birthday as that is on Bastille day and we'd like to see how they celebrate. Might need some advance checking on that.

If you're going on bastille day, make sure you have somewhere booked

 

[Burnerman]

Some of my fave routes:

Plymouth or Portsmouth to Santander then across the lower Pyrenees to Carcassonne, back through Beaune and the Massif Central;
Portsmouth to St Malo then down to La Rochelle and the rest of the Vendee;
Portsmouth to St Malo then head for the Loire Valley, then maybe to the Dordogne but not the Lot and Garonne;
Portsmouth to St Malo then up to the Normandy beaches;
Hull to Zeebrugge to visit the WW1 battlefields, Ypres and down to the Somme (alas that ferry is no more)
Hull to Zeebrugge heading for Strasbourg on the way to Switzerland;
Hull to Zeebrugge heading for Provence and maybe the Mediterranean coast

I was just working it out yesterday......I've done 56 biker trips to France and Europe, starting in 1992!

Regards
John

 

[Murdochcat]

Which crossing do you have in mind?

If I went to that part of France I’d go via inland across Normandy into the Loire, then loop via Lot and Dordogne, then back. There is a huge amount to choose from which if you go in June you can avoid the masses

The Puy du Fou is worth a visit too

 

[Mottie]

Which crossing do you have in mind?

Going to be the Chunnel.

 

[Murdochcat]

Great motorways from the Chunnel to the Loire avoiding Paris

 

[securespark]

Just about to add, we have done the Vendée, and the Loire Valley, in both cases, a friend of Mrs S had properties there.

Do avoid July and August if you can, as it's pretty much the annual hols for everyone in France. Traditionally in days gone by, there was a lot of work in the fields in Summer and everyone mucked in, not just those in the industry. And that tended to be August, so everyone took their holidays then. But these days, with mechanisation, fewer bodies are needed on the farms and it seems to have morphed into a July/ August holiday.
Purists still like to holiday in August, though, and it being a busy time does not seem to put them off.