In case you hadn't heard, I managed to cycle from London to Paris a few weekends ago. Yes, in a weekend! I took Friday off from work and got back Sunday evening.

In planning I thought about going to Calais and then onto Paris via the famous battlefields of the Somme, Agincourt and Crécy but thought it would take a lot longer and actually the countryside isn't that interesting along that route. So I decided on London to Newhaven with a ferry to Dieppe - a 4 hour channel crossing.

London (Friday)

Setting off!


The route I followed from West London I would record on bikely.com or myride.com but it never takes into account cycle routes or paths. Anyway, no matter, I essentially followed this route from somebody called "Dr Rob" who it seems did the L2P in July. I liked the sound of this route purely because it avoided the main roads and also avoided any NCN nonsense routes with seriously rubbish routes and signage. This did not prevent me from encountering morning rush-hour idiots in Richmond (various hand signs, aggression, speeding, getting very close to the bike etc.) You know the score. It was stressful but held my own and concentrated on the fact I was off to nice France.

Bikely.com



Bikely.com is rubbish mainly because you can't print routes from it. Instetad you have to make screen shots of the route and then paste it on to MS Word and afterward printing it off. In order to save paper I did screen shots of the route which didn't have enough detail on it and I got lost at around Horsted Keynes.

However, I ditched the route and just got onto the A275 and then the main Lewes Road (A26) which headed down to Newhaven. It wasn't pleasant, fumes, speeding cars, no views - plus it rained. But it got me to Newhaven about 2 hours before the ferry embarkation.





Dieppe

I got off the ferry at Dieppe about 11.30 pm, went up the wrong road, turned back, spoke bad French to a copper then went into the town proper. And on first appearances I thought it was very pleasant - went over a few bridges and saw lots of people mingling outside bars. I then took a route up a long hill to a campsite. It was closed when I got there, but lots of people hanging around at the close of a bar next door. I asked a British couple and they said just camp up. I did, in the pitch dark beside some other tents and cars. Woke up, had a shower, left the campsite the next morning without paying.

Avenue Verte



The Avenue Verte, which starts in Dieppe - is a 40 km cycle route following a disused railway line. Unfortunately it took me a good part of an hour to find the beginning of it. Despite havin a good map it was NOT well signposted and I actually passed it a few times and some cyclists. It didn't help that a French guy misdirected me. But there was just no decent entrance signage anyway, you know Departee or Velo this way.... Anyway here's a route map:


I found it quite boring to be honest as I preferred riding through villages and seeing the sites and locals. Interestingly there are plans to extend the route all the way to Paris by the 2012 Olympic Games in London. I just hope they decide to take it through some nice places, but cycle paths divide people I suppose.

Here are some pictures I took along the route...




From Avenue Verte to Paris (Saturday)

The cycle route ended at Forge-Les-Eaux so I then followed a route given to me by a guy called Jack from the online CTC Forum. Having done the trip twice before he's been very helpful in giving me advice abut my trip - so he gave me a map route from a professional lot doing it a while back.

From Forges to Gournay I avoided the main D915 and Jack suggested I do the D921 to St Samson and then the D21. Highly recommended, some really tranquil countryside and great French villages.

From Gournay I headed to St Germer de Fly (pronounced Germay) which has an important and very ancient Cathedral/Abbey.


A bugger of a hill then followed and I took the opportunity to take a rest by the side of the road, eat a little (alot in non cycling terms) and enjoy the view and my achievement so far...





...and after that hard slog I got to Le Coudray-Saint-Germer which was where I camped for the night and it was onl 6 Euros.

The Last Day - to Paris! (Sunday)

On Sunday morning I finally left the campsite at 07.15; later than expected because the campsite had locked us in and I then had to carry bikes and panniers over some fences! It was a bit of a downer with the rain being so heavy for most of the morning but I grew to appreciate the deserted roads and the literally sleepy villages. They ominous grey skies also gave a stark beauty to the Frech countryside, sometimes quite an eerie experience! You can see this in the video I made:



Here are the next places I next went through...

You really have to pay attention to the route map all of the time otherwise you do what I did. I took a wrong turning at Saint-Crépin-Ibouvillers and was in Lormaison before I realised my mistake. I turned around and took the longer route onwards to Villeneuve Les Sablons and then passing through Hénonville and Haravillers. It was by now about 10 am and up to this point in the morning I had been eating bananas, strawberries and chocolate, good high calory stuff for cycling. I ended up getting some breakfast further on at a boulangerie in Grisy-les-Plâtres. Some bread with melted cheese on it and a Suisse cake thing which was nice and sweet. The rest of the journey...

You know you're in Paris when you see this...


Summary

Overall it was a nice route, the weather played nice too until Sunday morning going towards Paris, but hey ho, I was prepared and it ended up being a pretty atmospheric ride what with the ominous clouds.



I cycled around the city streets and it was a real delight to be honest. The roads were practically deserted and the new cycle lanes incorporating the wildly successful velo system separated me from any traffic there was. I had a gander at the Paris map and cycled from the Arc De Triomphe to Le Trocadéro.



And yes that is a baguette in my hand and a bottle of Kronenbourg Red holding down the map.

I had a few hours to kill before my Erostar train so I spent a few hours hanging out at Les Invalides which is where Napoleon is buried, having never previously visited it.



And 'ol Boney himself ...



I think L2P is probably one of the highlights of my year and I'm sure I'll look back in life and have fond memories upon that first trip to Paris. I disappointed myself with no visits to churches (they all looked closed anyway, the French disinterested in the Church I expect).

People at work are impressed by what I've done - my fitness, stamina, audacity and also lack of any charity involved! I'm impressed with myself I have to say, quite chuffed really. France is very geared up for touring – I think I'll need a new saddle before anymore trips, my backside got sore and I might get double handlebar thingys (butterfly handlebars) for any other business.