Cycling in France

Next week I am headed to France to ride Paris-Brest-Paris. After that I'll have a week and a half to do pretty much whatever I want. Jeff will be climbing Mont Blanc in Chamonix, so I will have a week to myself in that region of the country. Anything that I should be sure not to miss? I'm hoping to have some cycling legs left, but if not, I'm open to plenty of off-bike ideas too. I'll have a rental car.

Susan

Sent you a PM.

Bonne route at PBP!!!

No advice, but- Go Susan! I look forward to reading your account of the ride when you get back.

The Mont Blanc is not very far from Grenoble (2 hour drive?) and the Alpe d'Huez area. If you do go there, there are a few moderately easy rides to do in the Grenoble area itself (if you are interested I can map them out for you). Just for fun, you can also ride the course of this year's Tour de France time trial, which is a not-too-long and relatively pretty ride. Grenoble is not a huge city for culture but very nice for hiking and hanging out, and you'll find many outdoorsy folks there. A great many speak great English as it's a world-class hub of biotechnology research.

Then, there are a number of beautiful but more challenging rides in Oisans. We rented a cabin in Allemont and rode around to Galibier (challenging, obviously), up and down the Alpe d'Huez (not really that fun, but great views and some historic value of course!) and, our personal favourite, the Croix de Fer (Iron Cross). You can find lots of rides in this online brochure here: http://www.bikes-oisans.com/bike-oisans-cycling.html (They also have a mtb brochure at the same address.)

If you go to Grenoble itself - and probably the same in Chamonix - just find a bookstore. They always have books/booklets in the sports section covering rides in the area.

Or, just throw your bike on the train and spend the week hanging out in Paris, riding Velibs' all over town and eating all the croissants you can find. If you need suggestions of what to eat there, I'm more than happy to provide you with lots! :D

Grog, thank you so much for the suggestions! I will have a week to explore the area around Chamonix, so I will definitely take some of your suggestions. I can hardly wait! I leave tomorrow.

Have an absolutely awesome time! And lots of tailwinds!:D

Veronica

TE represents!! :cool:

Have a fabulous time.

Thanks, ladies! I made a post in the Open Topic section with information on how to track the riders.