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hippy
@frank9755
I've just done this as a DIY.
https://ridewithgps.com/routes/43485365
It was a 5-day / 1500km jaunt from Dieppe down to and along the western French coast. A consolation present to myself for missing Krakow-Tarifa, doubling as research for PBP by riding round Rambouillet, and my summer holiday, checking out where we are going down the west coast. Riding down from home to Newhaven the evening before made it up to 1600km in 5 days + 1 hour.
I rode it pretty full on - and needed to to get back in time for moules, frites and beer at Dieppe before rolling on to the ferry.
Mostly pretty flat, but I engineered a couple of climbs on the first day to keep it interesting. I love riding in France. It's so empty. Really long evenings in summer, light almost until 11pm. Obviously, need to fill your boots if you see a food shop that is open.
Took bivvy kit - which I needed for the ferry as no cabins - but found hotels each night. No hassle taking bike into room each night.
Route was pretty good but not perfect. Lots of beautiful villages and mostly quiet roads. But I will never go on another voie verte - so boring, just completely flat, straight and surrounded by trees, and give way to side roads every couple of kms. And it was a mistake to route close to Nantes as lost loads of time. The other big cities worked well for hotels, though (stayed in Laval, La Rochelle, Poitiers, Chartres).
What I love is the time-efficiency of it - nip down to Newhaven in the evening and start riding at 5am, get 5 full days in, and back home for breakfast on day 6. No faffing with bike boxes, etc.
La Rochelle was stunning - loads of people sitting outside cafes and restaurants round the old port in the centre, all singing at midnight when I went past.
No photos - too lazy and too little time!
Not sure if I'll get it validated as I was going to do the full thing as a 1600 but then chopped off the UK leg to make it simpler, but I think I forgot to change the start date, but not the end of the world!