France.

One of our most recent trips across the water on the bike also happened to be the one which made me think of an alternative way of travelling. Jayney and I had a week  to go out to play so we decided to have a trip around France.

France has tended to be somewhere I’ve passed through on the way to somewhere else, although the quality of the riding has never gone unnoticed. If you need to get somewhere fast in France they have a system of toll roads which are superbly efficient but very boring and very expensive. The advantage, of course, is that all the heavy commercial traffic uses these routes, leaving the beautiful secondary roads largely empty. Perfect. Apart from the two great mountain ranges which form part of its borders, the countryside is more gentle and lush, with large areas given over to agriculture. Many of the finest sights as one travels around France though, are built by man. Some beautiful buildings and idyllic towns await the traveller through this most serene of lands.

We set off from Plymouth and six hours of Brittany Ferries luxury later, we were rolling off at Roscoff on France’s north west coast. My general rule when heading off on the bike is, the further you are from Britain, the less chance it’s going to rain. So we immediately set off south and two good days of riding later and we were at Pau, in the foothills of the Pyrenees. My rule didn’t hold water though, as it was both cold and wet,symptoms, no doubt, of being so close to the mountains.

Pau, however, was an attractive town and the next day being Jayney’s birthday, we decided to stick around and explore.

Typically French street in the lovely town of Pau.

There are many fine chateau all over France.

The following day, we left Pau and, as we moved away from the mountains, so the weather improved and we began to get that laid back French ambience which makes touring here so rewarding.

Coffee break in a small French town.

No Sat nav for me.