Generic Touring Thread

Just got back from a nice weeks touring around Northern France, first time I've had time to get away on the bike for a while, so was nice, few photos and details below.

Overview
The route was along to Newhaven, ferry to Dieppe, down to Paris along Avenue Verte, a day in Paris, along the Seine a Velo to Elbeouf, then to Honfleur and finally along the coast to Caen. About 435 miles in total, over seven days.

Rigs
There were three of us on the trip.

Me. I was riding my Awol setup in 'instagram' mode with front panniers and rear sausage bag. Mostly for the handling, which was fantastic and rock solid.

Next up was Andrew riding his inappropriate Giant with makeshift basket and pannier setup.

Lastly, was Mike on his Digger, with the pannier / Drybag / bar bag approach.

Day One - Portsmouth to Newhaven - 60 miles
First day, we met up just outside Portsmouth before riding along the NCN2 (sometimes 22) to Newhaven to catch the ferry, via Brighton. It was a gorgeous, hot sunny day with a tailwind all the way along the coast. We gave ourselves plenty of time to adjust the bikes as needed, stop for coffee and settle in. Arriving in Newhaven with plenty of time for fish and chips and a look around (not much to see, wouldn't bother). The ferry people made us wait to go on last onto the ferry.

Bikes on Beach

Late Night Ferry

Day Two - Dieppe to Dangu - 82 miles
Arriving early at 5am French time, it was dark, cold and foggy. Nothing was open and no time on the ferry to grab anything, it was a long 25 miles to the first town with an open Boulanger for brekkie, mostly on an old train railway.

After breakfast, we carried on along Avenue Verte which is very pleasant, stopping for lunch, coffees and enjoying the scenery and experience. We stopped at a lovely cafe where we were greeted with a friendly Scot, who served up the coffees and shortbreads. We arrived in Gisors a bit early for dinner, but too late to hang around, so we carried on to Dangu via a Lidl, and setup camp. The manager put us on a peninsula in a lake on our own, with lovely views, where we cooked dinner and pitched up.

Cafe Jaune

Camp Spot

Day Three - Dangu to Paris (Maison Lafiette) - 45 miles
Day three, it rained. All. Day. Nonstop, reasonably heavy. Very miserable, morale was low. We planned to go into Paris on Tuesday afternoon after dropping our kit off at a campsite in Maison Lafiette, but it was so grim with a few off road sections on the Avenue Verte that made everything muddy, we ended up getting a cabin at the campsite and relaxing there, before wandering into town later for a few beers. The cabin was reasonably cheap, and it was a live saver cleaning and drying all our wet stuff. Paris would have to wait.

Bikes on a bridge.

Day Four - Central Paris and out to Médan - 45 miles
The rain passed overnight, so we headed into Paris in the morning to see the sights. Another shorter day, but what it lacked in miles it more than made up for with scenery, and hair raising riding around the centre. First we headed to the Modern Arc, then the Arc De Triumph, the Trocodaro to see the tower, then followed the river to tick off Notre Dame, stopping at some Parisian cafes to soak it all in. After than we started the route home following Seine a Velo, stopping in Medan after a pretty manic day. Headed back a bit to Villenes-Sur-Seine for some posh grub.

Eiffel Tower

Modern Arch

Day Five - Médan to Le Petit Andleys - 66 miles
Carring on along the Seine a Velo, mostly rural through a few popular spots like Giverny. The route here got quite off-road, lots of gravel, muddy paths etc. Took a detour into Aubergenville as its twinned with where I was born to see a sign. Not really much to talk about other than it was pretty pleasant rolling along. Arrived in Le Petit Andleys, where there was a fantastic castle up on the cliffs, set up the tents, had a swim, then dinner at Cafe Lippo, which I would THOROUGHLY recommend. Absolutely fantastic food and atmosphere.

River Seine

Suspension bridge in town at night

Day Six - Le Petit Andleys to Pont Audmer - 65 miles
Continuing the Seine a Velo, the weather took a turn for the worse again. Lots of miserable miles in the driving, often sideways rain. Heads down with only the Tarte Citron's keeping us going. Thankfully the route was mostly on tarmac, through lovely valleys and villages. Nice campsite just outside town, we walked back into town for dinner where the local delicacy seemed to be puff pasty dishes (Which were great).

Lots of Barges going up and down the river was interesting to see

Day Seven - Pont Audmer to the Ferry Home- 55 miles
Last day of the tour, we left the Seine a Velo at Elbeouf and picked our way across to Honfleur for lunch, which was beautiful, if somewhat busy. The sun was out in force on the last day so everything was much nicer. Carried on along the north coast, occasionally popping up to the beach to see the sea, before heading to Ouistrehiem for the ferry back overnight.

Honfleur

Pegasus Bridge

Summary
All in all, a great route with loads to see, lots of campsites and places to eat.

The Avenue Verte was lovely, if a little lonely at times. We didn't see many other people at all until close to Paris. Maybe it gets a bit more popular over Summer?

Paris was fantastic to ride around, if a little sketchy at times as they're in the middle of building loads of new infrastructure.

The Seine a Velo is not an overly road bike friendly route. Large amounts are off road and I wouldn't have wanted to be on 25 or 28's. It also doesn't get close to the river all that often, with quite a few detours inland which seemed a shame, as it'd have been nice to follow the banks for a bit more. Likely there isn't the paths (yet) to do so.

Forgot to pack my camera, so had to make do with the phone, there was lots of great scenery and buildings to enjoy, so would recommend that if you're into it.