London to La Rochelle

Famous for Fort Boyard (the TV show) and having a little less time, we set out again initially following the same route as on the Loire valley trip. Once we left the motorway we varied the D road route slightly and found campsites few and far between even in the Parc du Perche. Finding one in Belleme the heavens opened for a short shower just as the tents were pitched. All of the shops having shut, we found a combined cafe / bar in the evening sunshine to eat. The idyllic peace of rural France broken only by a 14 year old on a two stroke doing circuits of the town.

Le Mans for breakfast and pushing on, stopping only in Saumur as we passed a Decathlon to pick up a small camping chair. We arrived in La Rochelle having had a fairly uninspiring ride but managed to get the last space in the municipal campsite by sneaking in behind someone with a swipe card for the gate.

The next day we moved just a few miles up the coast and over the toll bridge to Ill de Re. An island covered in campsites. We picked one in La Flotte before cruising the island without the leathers and taking the short ride back to La Rochelle to see the town by day. The whole are is very picturesque with several small harbours and busy town quays.

Leaving the island we followed minor D roads which literally vanished in into tracks between the fields. Eventually we resigned ourselves to making up the time and hitting some more motorway miles before coming off to ride through the hills of the Parc du Normandie and stopping for the night in Sees.

The ride back to Calais was all on minor roads, first to the coast and then along the coast road stopping for another night in St Valery sur Somme, another tourist coastal town with a narrow gauge railway still operating built to re-supply the trenches during WW1.

This trip was our shortest to date, about 1200 miles. Steve had recently changed jobs which meant that not only did he not just commute up and down the A3 everyday, but found himself on his bike for 8 hours in London traffic once he'd got there. Hence, his enjoyment was lessened and the daily mileage before boredom set in reduced. Motorways were used more often as a way of reducing the time on the bike and time off it became more important.

Some of our stop-overs were good venues and very relaxing, but our routes between them should be used as a guide for what to avoid.

The Route; Calais A16 Abbeville A28 Rouen Evreux D830 Conches Breteuil D840 Verneuil N12 Mortagne-au-Perche D938 Belleme D938/301 Le Mans N23 La Fleche D938 Bauge N147 Saumur D938 Parthenay D743 Niort N11 La Rochelle D735 Ill de Re D roads Cholet N160 Angers A11 Le Mans A28 Alencon D2 Carrouges D908 Sees N138 Bernay Dieppe D925/940 St Valery sur Somme D940 Calais.