My week in Provence

[kelownagirl]

Great report Kim, I laughed all the way through it and I enjoyed your pictures too!

Your report is so timely for me right now. DH and I are planning our trip to France (in July). We're can't afford a bike tour, but are looking into renting bikes for 5-6 days and doing our own trip in the area you toured. We're looking for easy - medium riding so we can enjoy the countryside. Hope to stay in small hotels or B&B's along the way and carry what we need in panniers (storing our suitcase at the airport.) Haven't got the details nailed down yet so if you have any advice, please PM me.

Later we're hoping to rent road bikes for one day and climb Alpe D'huez. Got any suggestions on that? I'm been doing a bit of surfing to find a place that rents road bikes for one day only...

[aka_kim]

Wow kelownagirl, that sounds like fun, can I come too? (Two weeks away and I already miss it!)

We never really veered from the tour maps and that one small area of Provence - all of which is easy/moderate riding. I can scan and send my trips maps if you'd like. I never saw a bike shop, and the places we stayed are too spendy. It will definitely be a fun area to explore on your own!

[bikerbarb]

I appreciated your travel report very much. It is exactly what I thought the high end tour would be like.

I've been tussling with my husband for weeks over my desire to avoid a tour and bike in France independently with my 18 year old daughter. He'd like us to sign up for a Backroads tour, which is a lovely high end operation. I was going nuts trying to comb through all the tour companies and bike rental companies to find what I wanted.

I'm going through the hassle of bringing 2 bikes on the plane with me (my daughter is currently living in Geneva, Switzerland) because I couldn't find bikes to rent that I was confident I'd want to be on for a week. I'm using tour books and bringing panniers and planning to stay in little b&b's as I don't want amazing hotels and huge meals. We're also planning to bike 50 - 70 miles/day, and most tours have 20 - 30. We're going to the Burgundy region (Lyon or Dijon as starting/ending point) in late June/early July as it is a little less known, beautiful countryside with rolling hills and during those times Provence and the Loire Valley will be full of tourists. We're also planning to ride around Lake Geneva.

Now I'm feeling more confident I'm on the right track. My only worry right now is how the heck I'm going to manage pulling two bike cases through the airport along with my suitcase!

[maillotpois]

Bikerbarb - I don't want to complicate your decision making, but you should know that some of the Backroads trips have longer options than 20 - 30 miles a day. We did an "epic" Tour de France trip a few years ago and it was great. Riding was up to 70 - 80 miles a day and hard. I think even if the "planned" rides are shorter than you want, the guides can also always give you suggestions for a longer ride. One of the guys on our tour had done an easy trip the year before and was able to get in a lot more riding than advertised.

I do think doing it on your own wuld be fantastic, though. You have the independence to stop anywhere you want, turn down any road that looks interesting. If you have the equipment to do it, I would do it self supported.

The logistics of the bike boxes is always the tough thing!

Have fun. I So wish we were going again this year. Maybe next year.

[bikerbarb]

Yes, I know they do have longer mileage options, but the the ones they sent us kept you in the same hotel for a few days while you do loop rides. I really don't want to stay in fancy hotels, I want to experience local people and have a less Americanized experience. Also, I don't want to deal with small group dynamics. The last 3 summers we did week long tours in the US with organized biking that had us sleeping in tents or on the gym floors of schools. Little b&B's will be a step up--and yes, we are so looking forward to the spontaneity of being on our own. And self sufficiency in hauling our own gear. My daughter is now fluent in French, so I want to take advantage of that, too.
I'll be sure to post the pros and cons of how it turns out. I'm going in 3 weeks.

[maillotpois]

If you get down near Carpentras, go to this nougat factory: http://www.nougat-silvain-freres.fr/01/nougats.php

They have the most wonderful (funny in a way) movie about the brothers making the nougat and stuff, and the candy is great!!