France in Retrospect - Grampies Go in Circles Summer 2013 - CycleBlaze

October 7, 2013

France in Retrospect

France Pros

Multiple bakeries, plus other services in almost every town.
Drivers give you enough clearance
Stone villages, oozing character
Ancient buildings, interesting churches
Interesting coastal areas
Grapes and wine
Network of D roads that mostly can be used for planning your own route
Very welcoming people. Everyone without exception will greet a cyclist on the path.
Reasonable prices for groceries, camping, etc.
Can take bikes onto at least some trains
Wild camping seems often possible, and safe
Same Euro currency as most other countries
Super food, even processed food in supermarkets is good (or even great)

France Cons

Relatively few dedicated bikeways. No shoulders on D roads
Not all (perhaps not even most) trains take bikes
Noisy, polluting, speeding, little scooters
Whole country closes randomly, plus also for at least two hours mid day and definitely all Sunday.
Toilets without paper or soap, urinals in the open while sinks are closed in, squat toilets.

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