Xmas & New Year Tour (de France)

Fiona and I were off to the Alps for Christmas leaving in that pre Xmas transport chaos that had the 'Chunnel' shut just as we were on our way, so with food and flasks a plenty, we set off with a prayer to Old St Nick and the man in red came through for us as it was plain sailing (tunnelling!) all the way to a frozen French landscape that had caused all the problems in the first place. Stopping off at Dijon on the way after getting stuck in a gridlocked Riems while looking for petrol when two! petrol tankers ran into each other/caught fire on the only through road. Whatever it was the French don't seem to need terrorists to put a spanner in the works so its not just Blighty that gets its knickers in a twist when the weather gets bad.

Lost in France (Riems actually!)

After dismissing a (Smelly) city centre hotel and the (Expensive) Ibis we settled on its (Cheaper) sister establishment on the outskirts at 22.00 having done 550 miles and feeling ourselves lucky to have got this far as we were expecting to be at the Folkstone docks eating a premature (and un-cooked) frozen turkey.
We had to practice putting on snow chains in the car park next morning much to amusement of the French as not a flake of snow in sight and also more worryingly a large crack in the windshield moving across at about 1" every 100 miles.

Scooting down to Geneva was a doddle as we had broken the back of the journey yesterday but never having driven in the mountains in winter we do not know whet to expect, 'Allez' and 'Go' Cadel were painted all over the roads to Les Carroz just fading memories of the summer tour now half way between Geneva and Chamonix in the Haute Savoei/Mont Blanc region. Lower than the more touristy Flaine resort Les Carroz is a very picturesque village (mostly French) at 1140m and we were staying in a chalet owned by some friends. The deal was they ski and we chalet maid for our supper, well a bit of cooking which was fine once we got them out the door we could relax a bit go for a few snowy walks and drink alot of hot port/whiskey/damson gin.

Snow capped Alps

I was in charge of Xmas lunch which almost didn't get going as the turkey 3 days out of Sainsbury's freezer - WAS STILL FROZEN! so we used a screwdriver to get the giblets out and then the oven (all instructions in Dutch!) defeated everybody and turned itself off as soon as we left the building for lunch on the slopes (but at least it defrosted in a warm oven - un orthodox but effective - not the Delia method)and we had to use a bit of Neigh palm to get it back on track for the evening.

I managed to get out on my bike a couple of times by driving down the mountain to the valley floor where the weather was better than what I'd left in England (Dull,Rain 5 degrees), I rode to Geneva (30m each way) not bothering to pitch up at the lake as the fountain turned off in the winter and then on Boxing day tried the other way to Chamonix only thwarted by the French Police when I found the only way to do the final 10 miles after Saint-Gervais-les-Bains are on the Motorway (spoilsports!) but still excellent and spectacular riding with the snow capped mountains all around

'Gorges de la Loire'

We bade farewell to the Alps for a cross country journey to St Astier near Bergerac where some other friends have a house and we spent New Year (Holiday houses a great boon for friends!) Stopping off at St Etienne (we love their records) at an Etape where my bike took the third bed for the night. We got confused in the town centre confronting another (Police) car on a one way street to take my testing of the local force to two hits in two days!

'Packing in' for the day

What a nightmare to leave the next morning, I was on my bike to do a ride down the 'Gorges de la Loire' towards Le Puy but took well over an hour to find the 'tiny' side road off the peripherique that allowed me to enter the correct valley and then I did a detour to the port of Unieux a dead end on the Loire river all in the pouring rain so after forty miles (Bas-en-Basset) I climbed into the car defeated and the sun promptly came out and we enjoyed the journey in and out of the low cloud until darkness when we skirted around the 'Massif Central' Auvergne region just missed going over the Millau Viaduct but in the dark save it for another day. We pitched up in the medieval city of Cahors and had a morning there before the short journey to Duras where we did a shop before our friends arrived Ryanair (Stanstead) and TGV.(Paris)

There are others here who will give you a run down on wine in this part of France (Dave Wright) but we did a bit of tasting here and there and with the activity already taken place in the Alps tried to munch our way through the 365 cheeses (366 if you include Stilton) of the French motherland, it was handy having some natives for help but as I always say if you can't tell the difference then don't pay the extra so while they plumped for the 11 euro stuff Fiona and I made off with the 4.60 plonk from the local Mayors domaine and very good it was too!
The countryside around was excellent for the bike, apart from the fact it was 15 degrees when we arrived (colder inside the house - but that's what you get with metre thick walls and no insulation!) I had a couple of long rides 50-80m through the local towns (Cancon/Monflanquin/Villa Real/Castillionnes/Luchon/Miramont) which all seem to be on hills making for quite a bit of climbing Cancon/Miramont through vineyards and Plum orchards (Agen Prunes) with blue skies and hardley any traffic, a few older 'bikies' but fewer than I expected.

Classic France

I was returning from France with a friends mountain Bike from the Alps so I had the opportunity to go offroad a bit as well although it was very wet and muddy in the clay soil and I gained a few kilos in weight (to go with the cheese & wine!) on the way and downhill bikes are not light to begin with. It confirmed what I already knew after an hour cleaning (the bike and me) that off road is not for me.

SWRC gets a new (French) member

We had a quick scoot up through France stopping with French friends parents near Le Mans who had a beautiful converted barn that was like being in a Homes & Garden photo shoot so we ended with a 5 star finish. The next morning everything was white and we had a 2 hour drive on the B roads before we got back onto the motorway. There was some panic at the services from other Brits as to whether we would get back across/under the channel.

Dove cote in a vinyard

We got an earlier train after going around and around the French 'depart' I think the police thought we were trying to pick up migrants at Sangatte we went past it that many times but the Sat Nav and the road signs would not concur and it was only when we turned (Ms) Sat Nav off that we found our onto the flyover where the electronic misfit kept telling us to turn right where there was no turning (correct position but wrong elevation by 20 meters)
England was in a blizzard by the time we made it up the M20 to Essex and the M25 mayhem, it would have been ironic if we had to fit snow chains back in Blighty for the first time as we hit the commuting traffic around London but it was not to be and we were home to some late cards and one more hot port for the road.
After 2300 miles I have to say Fiona's car (Audi A3 Turbo Quattro) was excellent even with 2 bikes on the back and the crack on the window stopped when it reached the cill Phew!