France (all)

Vagabondages autour du monde d'un apprenti voyageur.

Un ou deux ans de voyage au programme pour découvrir l'Europe du Nord, l'Asie et l'Afrique du Nord différemment.

Prochaine étape : la traversée de la Russie en hiver

Vagrancy around the world by a apprentice traveller.

One or two years to discover in a different way north Europe, Asia and north Africa.

Next step : from St Petersburg to Vladivostok during winter time

Per un paio d'anni, praticamente ogni domenica mattina durante il nostro giro in bici, il ritornello è sempre stato quello e cioè l'idea di un viaggio in bici che durasse qualche giorno e non solo le quattro, cinque ore domenicali.

Le strade di casa nostra ormai percorse in bici decine e decine di volte cominciavano ad avere l'orizzonte della cyclette in camera e dunque la domanda diventava sempre più martellante ``Nemo in Francia in bicicreta ??'' (Andiamo in Francia in bicicletta ??). Non ci è voluto tanto tempo per organizzare questo ``over 50 tour'' con lo spirito del cicloturista o ciclo viaggiatore e cioè con il preciso intento che velocità e media oraria non dovessero essere la nostra preoccupazione. Perché in Francia? Perché l'idea è nata per raggiungere la città di mia moglie Valence (Drome) un centinaio di km a sud di Lyon e perché in Francia si mangia bene e perché in Francia c'è del buon vino e perché in Francia i ciclisti sono veramente rispettati.

A tour along Rhein, Alsace, North of Switzerland

This is the website and travelogue of The Project VELAIA. 22 year old velosopher, environmentalist and often minimalistic outdoor adventurer Daniel N. Lang has decided to go around the world by recumbent and upright bicycle after finishing an epic journey of more than 17.000km from Paris to Beijing as a rider of the Beijing to Paris 2007 Carfree Rallye, following coastlines for hundreds of kilometers, crossing deserts during mid summer in the Middle East, Central Asia and China and climbing some of the highest passes of the world under extreme conditions in the starting Tibetan winter.

After Eurasia he cycled Australia, New Zealand and the United States and is now on a tour through the South American Andes, starting in Caracas, Venezuela and cycling his way down to Chile at the time of writing this (beginning of September 2008).

This November, Simon Evans and Fearghal O'Nuallain will begin the first Irish circumnavigation of the globe by bicycle. Their unsupported expedition will cover over 30,000km, passing through 30 countries and some of the highest, lowest, driest, coldest, warmest and loneliest places on earth. In doing so, they will be promoting the positive contribution that cycling can make to mental health and the environment, raising 100,000 euro for Aware and highlighting climate change.

A seven day cycle trip from Nice in France to Santa Susana on the Costa Brava in Spain, a fabulous cycling adventure of 457 miles mostly keeping right on the coast and including some off road tracks such as the 'digue a la mer' going through the Camargue National Park to the seaside town Saint Marie de la Mer.

Wir haben uns in diesem wunderbaren Landstrich fünfzehn Tage lang von dem hier herrschenden Wind voran treiben lassen. Schöne Landschaft, guter Wein und die romanische Kunst geben einen guten Rahmen für eine vergnügliche Fahrt.

This was our first tour of the season and we have new bikes. In the Internet we saw a site describing a new bike route connecting Prag and Paris and decided to follow the French section. After cycling from here to the Rhine, we rode through Alsace-Lorraine, the Champagne Region and enter Paris along the Canal de l'Ourcq. We followed river valleys and canals, but still were in for a lot of climbs before we reached our goal.

Eine Radreise, die uns von München nach Augsburg, Stuttgart, Karlsruhe, Nancy, Bar le-Duc, und schließlich nach Paris führte. (1050 km).

A complete blog describing a ride across the Pyrenees from Hendaye on the Atlantic coast to Cerbere on the Mediterranean coast. 4 and a bit days diarised for 11 cyclists and 1 support car. The pain, suffering, cols and route are all described.

A collection of tours that will eventually link up as a global circumnavigation. Fast riding with little luggage.

¡ Mira la bici ! c'est un site entièrement monté avec la pipe et le couteau, consacré au voyage à vélo couché et qui parle de ce premier périple en 2007 à travers l'Espagne entre Toulouse et Gibraltar.

Mais ¡ Mira la bici ! ( ``Mate le vélo!'' en espagnol) n'est pas seulement le carnet d'un voyage à vélo couché à travers l'Espagne, c'est aussi le point de convergence entre le voyage à faible empreinte environnementale, la photographie et le vélo couché.

Et puis parce qu'internet m'a été d'une aide précieuse pour la préparation de mon périple, ces pages vous en diront un peu plus sur ce petit bout de chemin et donnent le maximum d'informations sur ce voyage en particulier, sur le voyage à vélo en général sans oublier deux ou trois mots sur le vélo couché.

The travel diary and the technical features of the trip are also available in English

Rodadas es un manual para aquellos que quieran iniciarse en el cicloturismo. En esta página encontrarás información sobre cómo elegir tu material, trucos para solucionar algunas de las situaciones con las que se enfrentan habitualmente los cicloviajeros e información sobre iniciativas cicloturistas en España y allende de los mares.

Además, te contamos nuestros viajes a través de Europa (en junio-octubre 2005), Escocia (2003) y Holanda (2002).

This is the exciting journal of my cycling adventures in the wild lands of Europe. Will my knees hold up? Will I simply be too lazy and return after a week? Will I make it to Istanbul in time to host a WILD party? Read on......

Die Suche nach einer neuen Herausforderung führte uns diesmal ins Grenzgebiet von Frankreich und Spanien. Es stand nichts geringeres auf dem Programm als die Pyrenäen von West nach Ost zu überwinden. Wir starteten in Bilbao und radelten zwei Etappen am Atlantik bis zur Grenze nach Frankreich. Auf der französischen Seite fuhren wir dann in die Pyrenäen. In den Bergen konnten wir viele bekannte Pässe abfahren. Zudem erlebten wir äußerst gastfreundliche Franzosen und grandiose Landschaften.

Das Wetter spielte auch fast immer mit. Bis auf zwei Tage hatten wir den gesamten Tag über Sonnenschein und Temperaturen von knapp 40°C im Schatten. Auch eine durchgebremste Felge, Mückenschwärme am Mittelmeer und die zahlreichen Stunden bergauf konnten uns nicht unsere Motivation nehmen. Nach zahlreichen anstrengenden Bergettappen hatten wir das Mittelmeer erreicht. Von dort war es nicht mehr weit bis nach Barcelona wo wir unseren Urlaub mit einigen Cocktails entspannt ausklingen ließen.

Erst hatte ich vor, die Tour-de-France-Strecke (einmal rund um Frankreich) abzufahren. Aber für dieses Vorhaben konnte ich keinen begeistern. Als zu strapaziös wurde mein Plan bezeichnet. Ich war mir mittlerweile selbst nicht mehr sicher gewesen, ob eine komplette Runde nicht zu viel für mich ist. Ich plante also um. Es entstand die Idee, zum Tour-de France-Finale nach Paris zu fahren. Stilecht sollte die Fahrt von unserer Haustür [in Jena] starten. [...]

Wir hatten nun acht Tage Zeit, bis nach Paris zu kommen um Zabel, Ullrich, Armstrong ... zu sehen. Mehr als 1000 Kilometer lagen vor uns. Die gnadenlose Sommerhitze forderte ihren materiellen und körperlichen Tribut.

Im Herbst kamen Robert und Conrad auf die spontane Idee eine Radtour zu starten. Aufgrund der fortgeschrittenen Jahreszeit kamen nur noch mediterane Gebiete für die Tour in Frage. Nach einer Nachtschicht vor dem Rechner und über den Atlanten entschieden wir uns für Korsika. Die Insel galt als gebirgig jedoch schreckte uns das nicht ab, denn umso schöne Aussichten erhofften wir uns von den Gipfeln. Auf der Insel angekommen erwartete uns zuerst bedeckter Himmel. Die Wolken verzogen sich jedoch bereits am zweiten Tag und so hatten wir traumhafte Aussichten am Cape Corse.

I'm at one of those grave intellectual impasses that have been known to bring even greater minds than my own to a standstill. I have an orphan sock. Trivia, you say. Ha! I think not.

The cause of this problem is surely the work of that Slovakian KGB Agent, foolishly disguised as a laundress in Svolen. She stole it, I'm sure. Probably for a DNA sample to impress her superiors in Bratislava. They've been following my every move since the kustoms agent in Warsaw asked me the purpose of my visit to Poland. When I answered ``vacation'' the disbelief on his face gave him away. What, doesn't anyone go to Poland on vacation?

But back to the real problem, the orphan sock. The purists among cycle tourists would say, ``Throw it away, it's excess baggage. And while you're at it, cut three inches off that over-long toothbrush handle.'' But the Calvinist in me says, ``Save it. It's a good sock, nearly new.'' I've already reduced the weight of my baggage by losing its mate. Maybe I'll lose another and be back to even and lighter still.

Un viaje en bicicleta siguiendo los paises que rodean el mar mediterraneo, hasta turquia, y paso de georgia y azerbayan saltando el mar caspio a kajhastan y desde alli hasta los juegos olimpicos de pekin 08, atravesando uzbekistan, kyrsjystan y china desde el oeste hacia el este, un viaje de 6 meses de duracion que acaba de comenzar y se puede seguir en la pagina web www.carabancheltobeijing08.com un viaje en solitario recorriendo la antigua ruta de la seda y como fin unos juegos olimpicos, que viento nos empuje en nuestras pedaladas!

A three-week cyclotouring trip across France (mostly camping) from Bordeaux to Lausanne, passing through Périgord, Limousin, Creuse, Canal du Centre in Burgundy, crossing the Alps in Jura, through Pontarlier and Vallorbe. Lots of nice pictures; practical informations about traveling and camping in France, and flying there with a bicycle. Especially useful for budget travelers who don't mind pedaling long hours in a beautiful country.

Here is a trip that takes me to places I have dreamed about for 35 years. Mountains, Glaciers, Volcanoes and Easter Island.

Now includes my 2007 tour of Australia.

A four week autumn tour from southern England, across France from the English Channel to the Mediterranean and around the north-western coast of Corsica.

The trip included visits to world-famous monuments such as Mont St Michel and Pont du Gard, beautiful mountainous landscapes of the Massif Central, the striking limestone cliffs of the Ardeche Gorges, and scenery which inspired the painters Monet and Van Gogh.

In 2007 I and the tourmate of mine, Peter Riskó planned cycling in the Pyrenees. The tourist version of the RAID PYRENEEN seemed to be ideal for us. It is 790 kms long, has ca. 18000m heightdifference with 28 cols and we had 10 days for it. Before starting the Raid Pyreneen, we spent 4-5 days in the Pyrenees, in Andorra and visited such climbs as Port Cabus (2300 m), Port d'Envalira (2408 m) and enjoyed the Tour de France feeling. We had fantastic memories at Cirque Gavernie and then in the valley of Cirque Troumouse, where we saw waterfals, and small clouds coming up from the bottom of the valley not much before sunset. I enjoyed very much the legendary climbs of the Pyrenees as the hard (11% for 4 kms) Col du Marie Blanque, Col d'Aubisque, Col du Tourmalet... which we waited very much. With a little bit clouds around us the surroundings of the col was so fantastic which made the Col du Tourmalet one of the most memorable col for me through my 15 years bicycling.

The second half of the Raid went through lower mountains, but we had Col de Mente and Portet d'Aspet, Port de Pailheres as legends. It was a good feeling, that we cycled where famous bicycleracers climbed a few decades before us. Our last day was memorable again with the beautiful Col de Garavel, the mediterranean Col du Palomere with the sight for the sea and the last 20kms along the sea through a few tourist village.

Planète D. is our volunteering and filming world tour on the tandem bike. It’s that simple.

We cycle.
We film, edit and share videos.
We volunteer for NGOs.

A new cycle journey. I want to cycle from Vienna to Nice, a complete crossing of the Alps from east to west. Then I have to cycle a bit further to Avignon. The idea is to zigzag as much as possible to fit in as much exciting backroads and extraordinary landscapes as possible. Jeroen van Meijgaarden will join me the first two weeks. Then I will be on my own to complete the crossing of the Alps.

For our two-week tour we choose the little corner of France tucked in between the Pyrenées Orientales and the Mediterranean: wine growing country, rich in history, near the Spanish border. Having just recovered from a knee injury in early summer, I can now put my knee to the test with hills and a loaded bike.

Cycling along Canal du Midi and Canal de Garonne from Mediterranean sea to the Atlantic Ocean. Nice pics and travelogue.

For people living in the South of England this is an easy tour to get to and makes a perfect first cyclecamping tour. No days over 40 miles, easy terrain and lots of history and beautiful countryside. Though done in 1997 nothing has changed. Especially for those terrified by some of the tours posted here:-)

La Francia è un paese solcato da canali navigabili e ogni canale possiede almeno un'alzaia o un sentiero di alaggio. Da queste considerazioni è nato il progetto di un viaggio lungo un canale di navigazione.

Abbiamo scelto una via d'acqua breve e facilmente raggiungibile dall'Italia, il canale dal Rodano a Sète, prolungamento del più famoso e lungo Canal du Midi che da Toulouse conduce sino al Mediterraneo. L'alzaia del canale dal Rodano a Sète è completamente sterrata, con fondo a tratti mal tenuto. A volte corre su una sponda, a volte sull'altra della via d'acqua: occorrono un po' di esperienza, di intuito e di fortuna per non imboccare sentieri che si perdano nella campagna.

In cambio si ha il privilegio di vedere la Provenza e la Camargue da un punto di vista privilegiato e sconosciuto ai più.

Sono rimasto stregato dalla bellezza della Terra durante le lunghe camminate effettuate nelle ``mie'' Alpi o i brevi sentieri percorsi tra le migliaia di cascate del parco di Plitvice in Croazia. Ho avuto la sensazione di poter rallentare lo scorrere del tempo nelle interminabili giornate in sella alla mia amata bicicletta, percorrendo le strade sterrate nel mezzo della pampa patagonica così come salendo e scendendo per le dolci colline toscane e siciliane. Ho anche imparato ad apprezzare la capacità, l'ingegno ed il genio artistico umani, visitando alcune splendide capitali europee, la vivace Rio de Janeiro, le caotiche San Paolo, Buenos Aires, Los Angeles, la surreale Las Vegas e la inarrivabile New York.

Tutto questo cerco di raccontare nelle pagine del mio sito web.

My first tour without a firm objective. I knew I wanted to start from my front door and meet up with my family somewhere in the Ardèche. Barcelona seemed like a reasonable intermediate destination, but the rest was pretty much à la carte.

The resulting -less thorough than usual- planning was noticeable, as the route featured more major roads than I would normally prefer, and even turned around and bit me on the day two when I needed a train to complete the second half of the route.

However, there were still plenty of opportunities to bask in the quality of the French road network and many pleasant surprises, as towns I had given scant regard while planning the route turned out to be fantastic places to visit.

In theory this was second stage of a three part trip that was supposed to cover Europe from Nordkapp (the North Cape) to Sicily. The plan being to pick-up from where last year's trip left off in Copenhagen and head south to Freiberg in Germany and then onwards to Venice via the Alps.

The bike was damaged on the flight over, leaving me with a limited selection of gears and the tour happened to coincide with a heat wave the like of which no-one could recall. Most of the trip took place in temperatures close to or over 40 degrees celsius (104 fahrenheit)!

Things got worse at the half way point (just south of Frankfurt) when the loss of my mobile phone, money and credit cards forced me to abandon the trip a day later at Strasbourg. It was only a total stranger's act of kindness that allowed me to get that far.

Another Easter holiday four day, partially supported, mini-tour extending last year's London - Paris trip onto Geneva.

Once again the weather was still what you might expect in April, with the added bonus of snow and freezing rain in the Jura region, but at least last year's constant headwind had subsided into a mere crosswind.

A four day tour from London to Paris over Easter to try and get my fitness back on track for a bigger trip later in the year.

Despite the less than perfect weather and near constant headwinds this was a really enjoyable trip, if only because it totally dispelled my preconceptions of the French and their attitude to us Brits!

This blog (still ongoing) describes our experiences, both good and bad, of cycle touring around Europe. It was a long planned trip - about 15 years before coming to fruition - and we decided that as we were between jobs and countries (from Dubai on the way back to NZ) we would explore some of the places we had always wanted to visit and get a culture fix too!

Euskal Herriko itzulia / The tour around the basque country / La vuelta al País Vasco / Le tour au Pays Basque

Read about my adventures by bicycle around the world,taking in Europe, the Near East, India, South East Asia, Australasia, and the USA on Route 66.

For something a little less ambitious, I have prepared details of a three-week tour of the beautiful landscapes of central Portugal.

Or if you prefer a central base and some day rides, read about my routes on the Spanish island of Mallorca - a cyclist's paradise, with warm weather, flat hinterland, stunning mountain climbs, and huge ice-creams!

Journey from south UK to northern Poland on a bike and a recumbent trike. We stayed in Poland for a few weeks and then travelled home via Denmark.

We left our jobs and sold our house to go on this trip - part of the reason for going was to explore whether we'd like to live in another country. The other reason was to satisfy my craving for long distance touring.

The page contains travelogues and pictures from a number of bike trips across Europe, Ontario (Canada) as well as Kansai and Kanto regions of Japan. The trip across European continent has entries written from the road and together with photos it provides the description of the trip day by day. The trips across Japan give a lot of information about local areas (places to camp, onsens, roads, what to see, etc.) as well as many photos. There is also some general information on cycling, wild camping and hiking in Japan. Hope it will help.