Here are a few of my reflections and lessons learned about cycling in France.

First of all, this was a mid budget trip. Hats off to all of you that cycle around Europe on a shoestring budget, camping. That wasn't us. I've got a job so time was limited, but my job also means I could afford to stay in a hotel or chambre d'hotel each night and eat out rather than eating camp food. That said, accommodations were very reasonable. The whole trip was set up for us by Andy and Jane Johnson of fellowvelo. Given our time frame, budget and goals, I credit Andy and Jane with making our trip exceptional. But if you want to camp, you could easily just pick a eurovelo route and go with minimal planning and have a great experience.

Here are my lessons learned:

• Cycling through the French countryside was wonderful.
• Cycling along the Atlantic and Mediterranean coasts was not as good as the countryside. It was fine, but not a lot different than cycling through tourist towns on the California or Oregon coasts.
• Stores are often closed for several hours at lunch, and on Sunday afternoons, and on Mondays, and on holidays, and at other random times for reasons unknown.
• If you see an open boulangerie, stop. The next one might not be open. And the next one. You can always pick up supplies for a picnic later. (We didn't always follow this advice and sometimes it worked out well, sometimes we regretted it.)
• My advice on boulangerie lunches: Boulangeries sell amazing pastries, cookies and other sweets. But lets face it, a sandwich from a boulangerie can be sub-par, just a couple slices of ham and butter or cheese on a baguette. Here's my advice. Go to a store and buy a package of sliced chorizo and a package of sliced cheese to keep in your pack and then add some of those to your boulangerie sandwich to get a proper meat/cheese to bread ratio. You can also buy the quiche, or ignore my previous rule about stopping at the first boulangerie and get a tartine heated up at a boulangerie at lunch.
• Bicycle infrastructure in France was amazing. But it seemed to drop off in the South. Of course there is a lot of France we didn't see, so perhaps I'm generalizing too much here.
• Drivers in France were almost universally super courteous and careful around bikes.

Bon Voyage