• Published on 30 Aug 2016
• Tags: bike, cycle, france, solo, tour

While solo cycle touring from St Malo to Limousin via the west coast of France I met wonderful people, enjoyed the simplicity of cycling in france and learnt a lot about travelling alone abroad. Of course, also the importance of sun cream, well-fitting bike shorts and a decent tent!

The following map highlights the route I took and the points I stopped over night. This journey was a long one, with 8 days of cycling, yet I only cover a tiny fraction of the vast area of France.

Contents

• Overview
• The plan
• Kit list
• Day 1, départ: Saint Malo - Réminiac
• Day 2, rest day
• Day 3: Réminiac - Missilac
• Day 4: Missilac - Saint-Nazaire bridge - La Bernerie-en-Retz
• Day 5: La Bernerie-en-Retz - Île de Noirmoutier - Saint-Hilaire-de-Riez
• Day 6: Saint-Hilaire-de-Riez - L’Aiguillon Sur Mer
• Day 7: L’Aiguillon Sur Mer - Mauzé-Sur-Le-Mignon
• Day 8: Mauzé-Sur-Le-Mignon - Nanteuil-en-Vallée
• Day 9, the final stretch: Nanteuil-en-Vallée - La Guinandie
• On reflection…

The plan

I have friends that live in Vayres, Limousin - not far from Rochechouart/Limoges - and having done a little bit of cycling around there and other parts of France on family holidays in the past, I knew how fantastic it is cycling in France. The roads are perfect, other road users respect cyclists and the atmosphere of cycling through a village in rural France is second to none! So it wasn’t long before I had conjured up the idea to cycle from the UK.

• like cycling?  
• like camping?  
• want a chellenge?  

I was living in Bournemouth at the time and so it was easy peasy to nip on a ferry from Poole over to France at various points along the north coast of Bretagne (Brittany). This only cost about £50 and provided plenty of opportunity to meet others cycling in France - look at all the bikes in the photo below. We also stopped off at Jersey so I experienced the novelty of Jersey £1 notes!

In terms of route planning, I largely kept to eurovélo route 1 along the atlantic coast of France with a few voie vertes (green ways/bridle paths) here and there before turning in land for Limousin along country roads. I bought a tonne of maps that I didn’t really use as it was all well-signposted and my phone had enough battery throughout for times I was unsure. I gave myself plenty of time to make the trip with a few extra rest days, should I want them, so I was relaxed on daily milage. I marked out possible campsites near the route on the maps and bookmarked them on my maps.me app (10/10 would recommend).

Kit list

In the photo above, you can see my packing ‘method’ with everything I took in frame. I had two rear panniers, a stuffsack on top of the panniers and a handlebar bag to pack it all in. Generally speaking, I carried camping/cooking equipment, clothes, basic bike repair tools, basic first aid and toiletries, (too much) food as well as important documents etc. But to summarise the important bits of gear for the enthusiasts:

• Bike: Dawes Galaxy Plus 2014¹
• Panniers: Ortlieb Back Roller City Panniers
• Bar bag: Edinburgh revolution bar bag 3L
• Tent: Berghaus Peak Solo 3.1²
• Sleeping mat: Thermarest Trail Lite (Womens)
• Sleeping bag: Robens Caucasus 600 Sleeping Bag 2014
• Stove: homemade can stove (runs on meths)

Day 1, départ: Saint Malo - Réminiac

I stopped the night before in an airbnb in St Malo not too far from the port which worked nicely and gave me a fresh start for the first proper day in the saddle. Sadly the day began with dual carriageways before crossing over the D168 bridge towards Dinan. Getting off the busy roads and on to the Bretagne voie verte 3 was welcomed! The VV3 is a beautiful path that runs from St Malo to Rhuys. I was so happy to be off the busy roads, I took a selfie! Very unlike me.

The first day I continued to cycle along the Bretagne voie verte 3 to a village near Ploermel called Réminiac, where my grandparents have a little house. This was a long day of cycling >100 miles with all my gear but quite flat so I couldn’t complain. However, I did find the bib shorts I wore to not be the best fit for the saddle and struggled a little in that department…

Day 2, rest day

With the poor choice of shorts for my long day of cycling on day 1, I took day 2 off to relax in Réminiac. Although this did include a 40 km ride to a supermarket in order to replace my Grandpa’s beer I drank the night before in comical volumes.

Day 3: Réminiac - Missilac

The next day was a good 75 km in the saddle further south to just over the Bretagne border in Missilac. More dusty, flat canals!

Now (just!) into the Pays de la Loire region, I had my first night of camping at the municipal site in Missilac - a perfectly fine and quiet site.

The generously-sized emplacements at a lot of the municipal sites made my humble little setup look really quite small. It was nice to have lots of space to dry my cycling shorts though! My homemade meths stove worked beautifully throughout the trip but I did take plenty of care not to light the dry grass. At the end of each day, post shower/tea, I would look over my map for the following day. Comparing possible routes, plotting possible camp sites etc. I made the decision to leave the eurovelo 1 (EV1) which would continue in land towards Nantes and return back to the coast along la Loire. La Loire is famously fabulous to cycle along but I was a bit bored of cycling along rivers/canals and had little desire to visit Nantes. This meant crossing the Saint-Nazaire bridge - a task I wouldn’t recommend to inexperienced cyclists, and something my Grandpa insisted I should not do (sorry Grandpa!)

Day 4: Missilac - Saint-Nazaire bridge - La Bernerie-en-Retz

The cycle from Missilac to the St Nazaire bridge was fantastic. Isolated flat cycle path with road markings and signposts that were scaled down from normal road size - a cute touch! You can just about see the bridge in the distance looking quite ominous.

The Saint-Nazaire bridge runs along a busy dual carriageway but narrows at the bridge where cyclists may join (cycling is forbidden either side of the bridge on the D road). The wikipedia page tells me the bridge spans over the mouth of la Loire for a rather intimidating 3356 m. Such a distance wouldn’t be a problem usually but with touring gear and the proximity of the cars, the long slog uphill took longer than I care to admit. Here are some pics I just about managed while cycling (excuse quality!)

You can see the bike lane I’m currently in, the cars in a national speed limit zone and the rather intimidating length of bridge in the distance. I enjoyed it so much though! I was doing maybe 7 kmph uphill, taking in some great views and having so much fun! Definitely a highlight of my trip.

On the other side, I had a spot of lunch and continued down the EV1 along the coast to a campsite I can’t honestly recommend, Camping La Goélette in La Bernerie-en-Retz. Facilities were awful, owners were not very nice and it was more expensive than it should have been. However, it’s location is fantastic - right on the ocean front. I met a dutch family later on who had also stayed here and they agreed with how crap this site was. Which, I must say, made me feel a lot better!

To make matters worse, my tent pole snapped while I was setting up camp which did get me down a bit. But everything can be solved with duct tape, of course! And this held for the rest of the trip - phew.²

Day 5: La Bernerie-en-Retz - Île de Noirmoutier - Saint-Hilaire-de-Riez

The EV1 brought another new experience for me as I continued south into the Vendée. A tidal island!

The Passage du Gois connects the mainland to Île de Noirmoutier, a beautiful island full of oak forests. The passage is a paved-over sandbank about 4.5 km long that floods twice daily. I met the passage by surprise, and didn’t check the tide times in advance so had to wait around a while for the water levels to lower. However, it made a good opportunity to catch up with the other touring cyclists I had met en route.

See how far down the water is, and how much traffic I was stuck behind - huff! Cycling around the island was short but sweet before heading back over a bridge to the mainland.

Getting back to some more long, flat pretty scenery to cycle through.

Then finishing up in a municipal site in Saint Hilaire-de-Riez for the night before a good day of riding the next day.

Day 6: Saint-Hilaire-de-Riez - L'Aiguillon Sur Mer

I woke up early, packed up and had my brekky by the sea. The area north of La Rochelle is quite busy/touristy in August and so it’s nice to set off early to get some kilometres in!

Cycling through some of the more touristy towns was interesting and the cycling paths there were absolutely perfect. Winding flat asphalt along the coastline. Brilliant.

Managed a very enjoyable 90 km on these paths that day. Along the way I even saw an otter!

Finished the day off at another municipal site, Camping De La Baie L’Aiguillon Sur Mer. I cannot recommend the site enough for those bike touring the coast. They have a special “accueil vélo” (bikes welcome) with a dedicated area for cyclists which was a sizable field with a wood shelter, tables, benches, a clothes rack, sockets to charge your phone and overall quite cheap. Only downside is that I accidentally flashed some people having not closed the shower door properly - oops!

I started to see signs for La Rochelle which indicated that I would soon be leaving the coast and the EV1 to move inland towards Limousin on my own route.

Day 7: L'Aiguillon Sur Mer - Mauzé-Sur-Le-Mignon

Around 70 km and an unwelcome headwind took me from L’Aiguillon Sur Mer to Mauzé-Sur-Le-Mignon, crossing into La Charente Maritime.

By this point, I had realised my maps were pretty much dead weight. I only had a couple of days left and plenty of phone battery for directions so I utilised my bar bag with a little mascot I called Vinnie the véloceraptor. It’s amazing what keeps you entertained when cycling all day!

I found navigating between the rural villages really easy and the scenery just as wonderful (if not a little more varied/interesting) than that of the EV1. It was fantastic rolling through these little villages and having the locals cheer you on, such a wonderful spirit to cycling in France.

Day 8: Mauzé-Sur-Le-Mignon - Nanteuil-en-Vallée

Now fully off the winding paths of the EV1 and on proper tarmac roads, I could make decent headway in land.

90 km took me to the municipal site at Nanteuil-en-Vallée (Camping Municipal Le Val De L’Argentor) which is another wonderful site I can strongly recommend for backpackers/cyclists. There was almost no one else there, the town was trés joli and the lovely woman running the site let me stay COMPLETELY FREE! Happy days!

With all going to plan, I would only have one day left to go before arriving at my final destination, La Guinandie, Limousin.

Day 9, the final stretch: Nanteuil-en-Vallée - La Guinandie

My final day in the saddle was relaxed; I was in no rush. I even let my tent fully dry off the dew. The days had been hotter and hotter since I began so it was nice to relax a little. With no worries of losing precious phone battery, I played some music and just had a jolly good day cycling.

It was great entering the national park of Limousin and seeing a change of scenery. More trees, more farmland and a more undulating landscape. I was particularly excited when I spotted some Limousin cows!

By this point I was really excited to finish my journey and have a decent conversation with someone (my French only goes so far!) But I managed to force myself to stop for lunch in some scarce shade.

The last few kms were perhaps the toughest going physically as there was a lot of height to gain and the heat was immense. However, mentally not-so-challenging as my goal was in sight! After one more big push up a long hill, I had reached Vayres, the village closest to La Guinandie. I had ran out of water (3 bottles yikes!) but I was elated, just an easy pedal to La Guinandie!

This is me at my final destination in La Guinandie (I’m not the most photogenic!) After a few glasses of water I was back down on Earth ready for a catch up and shower. Here I am a few days later with a little kitten on my lap - the most perfect way to end an adventure.

On reflection...

This journey was a fantastic adventure that was better than I even imagined. The planning was relaxed, the weather was kind and the cycling was amazing. I have written this blog post in Aug 2019, exactly 3 years following and it remains my biggest adventure to date. However, having recapped I feel that may be soon to change!

I recommend anyone interested in cycle touring to give it a go. The eurovelo routes never get very hilly and are easy to navigate. I would pass so many families touring with all their bikes in a line like ducklings.

Some note-worthy things I learned:

• Take it easy, try and take in more culture - sometimes when travelling alone it’s easy to get caught up with just moving forward and you forget there’s always time to stop and smell the flowers.
• Wear well-fitting bib shorts - this speaks for itself.
• Suncream any exposed skin - this includes that gap between your shorts and top on your back. Ouch.
• Don’t be afraid to go against what Grandpa said - crossing the St Nazaire bridge was exhilarating and remains one of the most memorable moments of the trip.
• Buy a decent tent - and always carry duct tape! This could have been disasterous.
• Camping municipal sites are your friend - they’re regulated, great for tourers, usually have a shop nearby and I never had a problem with them.
• Close the door when you shower - I apologise to the family of four that had to see that. And yes, they were tanlines.
• Don’t carry too much food - when visiting the land of gourmet food, don’t eat cuppa soup for tea every day. Take in some local food (see first point).

Please get in touch if you have cycled the route or are intending on doing so, I would love to hear about it/help you out. Get those bikes out the shed, oil ‘em up, pump up the tyres and go for a spin!