London to Paris: Route Advice

We did it a few months ago.

1st night we slept on the overnight ferry from Portsmouth to Le Harve
2nd night we shared hotel rooms in Louviers
Got there on the 3rd day.

Take plenty of inner tubes. One of us did the final lap round the Arch de Triumph on bare rim.

So where did you guys stay once you arrived in Paris? I'm thinking of camping but one of the campsites in Paris haven't got back to me. :(

Hostel it up. 3 ducks is great, nice and cheap and there are plenty of travellers there to go drinking with.

Off to Paris on the weekend using the 'Donald' route, I can't wait!!

Got back last Sunday from doing this route. Brilliant route got lost in Possie (couldn't find forest tracks) but ended up going down a nice 14% hill.

I'd also recommend if you are cycling back from Paris to not bother with the forest tracks, we just followed the main road back to Possie and saved ourselves some time. Their main roads really aren't that busy either (not like ours).

Can you use Donald's route in reverse without having to make any changes? And where did you stay on the way to/back from/in Paris? Questions questions questions! :)

Wools - Yep you can use Donalds route in reverse without any changes, we did on the way back once we got into Poissy.

On the way to Paris we camped in a national forest :

http://maps.google.com/?ie=UTF8&hq=&hnear=Norfolk,+United+Kingdom&ll=49.378797,1.892395&spn=0.04761,0.295601&t=h&z=12

This place was huge, we walked for an hour once we dropped our bikes off and still didn't hit the other side. We decided to camp a little off the track, leave no mess. You wouldn't have known we were there. Slept in bivy bags.

Then the second day rode into Paris - got there a day early spent the night on a bench under the Eiffel Tower, wouldn't really recommend it, but it was an experience.

Once we spent that ever-so comfy night on the bench (with about an hours sleep) we grabbed some coffee and baguettes and rode to our campsite which was about 10 miles from the centre of Paris:

http://maps.google.co.uk/maps?q=48.93791,2.141376&num=1&t=h&sll=48.938401,2.15435&sspn=0.012009,0.0739&gl=uk&ie=UTF8&ll=48.945166,2.141819&spn=0.040588,0.077162&z=14

From there we rode into Paris for the day and rode to all the usual 'sights'. Then packed up on the Friday rode to Poissy from our campsite (not the Donald route) then once we arrived in Poissy we followed the Poissy route to Marines, grabbed coffee and food and rode to the forest again.

That sounds totally ace. More questions! Which bivi bag did you go for? And were you happy with it? Sleeping on a bench sounds like a nightmare but it definitely sounds like an experience! Coffee and baguettes. Mmmmm....

I think the ones we used were the Rab storm bivi bags. Very very happy with them, stuck a self inflating sleeping mat (400 grams, well worth the weight) and sleeping bag inside and I could have slept anywhere (apart from that bloody bench!!)
They are quite breathable as well but I never bothered doing the top of the bivi up as it was quite warm.

Anyone got advice on routes for the London to Paris?

im thinking of doing it in the next couple of weeks (october 2010) aiming for 1 massive push, so between 24-48 hours... anyone interested?

I'm planning on cycling from London to Paris, looking for ideas on routes, any suggestions?

im thinking of doing it in the next couple of weeks (october 2010) aiming for 1 massive push, so between 24-48 hours... anyone interested?

Last time I aimed for a massive push I had to throw away my party pants.

If you want to go a bit quicker, ride down to Newhaven, take the crossing to Dieppe and from there you should have a fairly straight run in.

Anyone got advice on routes for the London to Paris?

im thinking of doing it in the next couple of weeks (october 2010) aiming for 1 massive push, so between 24-48 hours... anyone interested?
I did L2P earlier in the summer with the target of 24 hours. We took a fairly direct route from Calais, which was pretty hilly. We didn't make the target time as one of the team was feeling pretty rough so we eased right off the pace. See this thread.
I could be convinced to do it again.

If you want to go a bit quicker, ride down to Newhaven, take the crossing to Dieppe and from there you should have a fairly straight run in.

http://maps.google.com/maps?f=d&source=s_d&saddr=london&daddr=paris&hl=en&geocode=FXjUEQMd5BL-_yl13iGvC6DYRzGZKtXdWjqWUg%3BFVt-6QIdi98jACkPt-IGH27mRzFglIxow4ILBA&mra=ls&dirflg=ht&doflg=ptk&sll=50.16403,1.384715&sspn=5.004292,9.876709&ie=UTF8&ll=50.176898,1.109619&spn=5.00282,9.876709&z=7

It's only ~300k + Ferry

And I think there's less coming off the coast as well.

I'm speaking to Kristian at the moment, did you do it with him?

If you could be convinced to do it again i'd love you to get involved. im looking for company and feeling really excited about the prospect of this adventure.

newhaven/dieppe route looks good, getting in to paris as close to 24 hours as poss.

do any of these dates work for you?

23rd or 30th oct or 6th nov?

Yeah I did it with Kristian and a non-forumenger. We took the Dover-Calais ferry which meant we ended up with 260 odd miles on the clock. 300k would be much easier, and should be doable in 24 hours.

I can't do 23rd Oct, but apart from that I should be available.

Going to Paris with the missus for shit and giggle as soon as possible, preferably before the month is out.

We're going to Paris and back on the bike, does anyone know a good place to stay in Paris that allow us to keep our bike indoor and reasonably priced?

also, is there's any good B&B halfway between Paris and Dieppe?

^ Would also like to know the answer to this.

2nd night we stayed in a friendly 2-star hotel in Gournay En Bray (http://www.lecygne.c.la/)

Put a little write-up together at: http://l2p.fjor.info/

Missed this, will have to e-mail that hotel soon.

smack bang inbetween Dieppe and Paris too, should make it easier and it's on the way.

We're going to Paris and back on the bike, does anyone know a good place to stay in Paris that allow us to keep our bike indoor and reasonably priced?

We stayed at the Formula 1 in the north of Paris, they let us put the bikes in the luggage room for 5 Euros. Only the receptionist has a key, and they let us lock the bikes in the room so it's fairly secure.
The hotel is ok if you just want somewhere to sleep and shower, not if you're looking for a good breakfast!

Sound good, yeah just somewhere to shower and sleep, and be able to go to Paris for a couple days, ta!

Might be worth checking with them if you're there for a few days, we were only there for one night and had turned up at about 2am looking very tired.

I'm speaking to Kristian at the moment

looks like i'll be coming with you guys too.
interest from dancingjames too.