L'Avenue Verte

How do those two compare with yours @RonnieOatmilk @theflatboy

I'd probably use Crossrail+Thameslink to avoid some of the London shitness. Depends if it leaves early enough to coordinate with ferry.

I'll DM you my routes in a min, but we essentially cherry-picked some of the Avenue where it was quite direct, and then used normal roads for the rest as we were on a tight schedule and wanted to reduce distance over the leg - I realised also I described it wrong in the earlier post (I was thinking of a different ride to Paris!), we did one leg to Newhave, then overnight ferry, then one 110 mile leg to Paris. So 2 days not 3!

I have done many times being french, for a few years i would always divert via Versailles to make it 200km and to enter paris from the south. can dig this out for you if you want to have options for the less enjoyable entry into paris

We pretty much did the 'Western' one as you have it.

Just throwing this out there but a return to Ouistreham (Caen) and ferry to Portsmouth could be an interesting alternative?

Nope I don’t have a route to Caen but I do have London to Portsmouth.

I have a route to Caen. Basically seine, then across through Honfleur, then coast to Caen. It's quite nice tbh.

Ooh nice, can you share?

Edit: Here's my route to Portsmouth

https://ridewithgps.com/routes/48191293

I'd absolutely recommend this. Coming into Paris from that direction is a delightful mix of forests and parks with the occasional street until you're virtually in the centre.

When I did this, we stayed overnight in Gournay-en-Bray, then headed south at La Houssoye towards Marines and Pontoise, crossed the river and headed for Foret domeniale de Saint-Germain, etc. Would recommend.

https://en.francevelotourisme.com/itineraire/gps?type=rapide&points=%5B%7B%22coordinates%22%3A%5B1.0791444%2C49.9246182%5D%2C%22label%22%3A%22Dieppe%20%2876200-76370%29%2C%20Seine-Maritime%2C%20Normandie%2C%20France%22%2C%22input%22%3A0%7D%2C%7B%22coordinates%22%3A%5B2.7658362999999997%2C48.8798792%5D%2C%22label%22%3A%22Chessy%20%2877700%29%2C%20Seine-et-Marne%2C%20%5Cu00cele-de-France%2C%20France%22%2C%22input%22%3A1%7D%5D

I did this in one go overnight to get to the Olympics - really good route think I preferred it to the Westerly one and lots of segregated paths, including 25k through a forest (tarmac) where I nearly hit two wild boar at 3am!

absolutely, it's the way that offers most sights.

@Hippy both your routes have their merits.
on the second one i would re-route between 110 and 175 miles, no point going all the way east to Senlis and returning west to enter paris again. But entering paris along the north east canal is interesting, you can find it further east, maybe in Claye-Souilly

Senlis?

I mean it's clearly a less direct route but I presume it was designed that way for a reason?
We could use one route in and the other route out, perhaps.

it was designed that way to follow some cycle routes. so from km0 to km160, you are on an almost segregated cycle way, it's practical if pretty unremarkable, the oise being one of the most drab counties.

To return west on the V32 is a weird choice, probably personal reasons. At KM 175 i would jump/stay on the eurovelo EV3 , which does what i described above and arrive in paris from the north east

edit : if open i'd recommend visiting just off the canal upon arrival
https://www.stolengarage.cc/en/home/

Coolio. No plans yet but I'll revisit this thread if/when we plan a proper visit. I've got some starting point routes now. Cheers all.

https://ridewithgps.com/routes/48203048

I've quickly updated a route, mixing the best bits of all the routes i have done over the years. that one should be a cracker, finishing at Arc de Triomphe.

I sent ICC on a group trip some years ago on something very similar and they enjoyed it.
At the time some of the avenue verte sections were not as well prepared for bikes as they are now.

Nice - bookmarking that for sure!

Nice one. Snatched for later.