Contents: Tours (3)
Reports by Suze
All descriptions are in English, unless otherwise noted.
Tours
| Solo, Atlantic to Mediterranean: Pyrenees & Corbieres Tour
tour started September 2011, submitted 3 October 2011 In September 2011, I spent a leisurely, though sometimes challenging, three weeks riding solo across France, from Bayonne/Biarritz, on the Atlantic, to Narbonne/Gruissan-Plage, on the Mediterranean. In between, there were three fabulous Tour de France climbs in the high Pyrenees; gorgeous valleys in their foothills; prehistoric and Roman ruins; medieval walled cities; romanesque cathedrals and abbeys. I certainly won't forget the many wonderful, friendly, helpful, delightful people I met ... and the superb food I enjoyed along the way. The Pyrenees are for me a cycling paradise. |
 |
| Provence and Languedoc Tour, 2009
tour started May 2009, submitted 2 January 2011 I had long dreamed of visiting France, of seeing the southern countryside, eating what I imagined to be totally delicious food, and experiencing ancient and medieval art and architecture. I had longed to know something of an older culture than ours in Massachusetts. New England is old in the United States, but very young in the world. When I turned 60 I decided to do it, to finally visit France, and when there to travel on a cycle. I had ridden in the 1970s, but gave my Fuji ten-speed away long ago. I hadn't been on a bike since about 1980, but in August 2007, on a whim, bought a new bike and a year later rode it solo around Lake Champlain in Vermont. My husband wanted to go with me to France, so in May 2009 we rode from Avignon, France, in a looping tour of about 500 miles, mostly very flat, visiting Roman ruins and ancient cities. It was his first cycle tour ever, and so I planned an easy trip, staying in bed and breakfasts or hotels, saving time for visiting museums and historic sites. This trip went from major city to major city, with some very beautiful riding in between. It included a ride the length of the famous Canal du Midi, running from Agde to Toulouse. We traveled from Avignon to Orange, then into the Luberon, west to Arles, south to the Camargue, west again along the Mediterranean to Sète and back inland toToulouse. The journal was written after my 2010 visit to the Cévennes in France. |
 |
| Cévennes: Solo Cycling
tour started May 2010, submitted 22 October 2010 This is a description of my nine-day solo trip, in May 2010, in the Cévennes mountains of France. The trip was mostly camping, but no cooking. My goal was to see the Cévennes, mountains full of history and culture, their geography older than the Alps or Pyrenees. There was a good mix of climbing, mountains, medieval towns, villages, rivers ... always gorgeous and fun riding, but not a very high mileage. I wanted to learn something of the area, its culture and history, without being totally exhausted. In all it was about 300 miles, about 14,000 feet of climbing. I rode from Montpellier to Albi, with a loop up the Gorge du Tarn and down the Gorge du Jonte. |
 |