France: 5 day 'Iron-Gut' 1200 mile Gastro Bash

[oldrascal]

My original plan was to put together a 6-day "Iron Man" rip-snorting blast to the South of France and back again. To be more regionally inclusive, I asked our esteemed Moderator to move the thread over to the 'Open Invite' section of this forum - and here is a linky if you want to see what's been going on.

Although I can't say that the thread is as yet inundated by eager participants (Easter perhaps ) , I have nevertheless had a number of PMs and discussions with fellow forumites on the type of tour being planned. And because the style of journey has now changed since last on this section, I thought it good idea to bring my fellow South East Tossers up to speed.

The tour has morphed into a much more 'gastronomic' bash than previously anticipated with a greater focus on regional food and stopovers more representative of local culture. Which is not to say that there won't be masses of serious riding on the great minor and mountain roads that the tour will be guided through. Simply that it would be good to take some time out to learn about the cultural and topographic differences of the regions that we will be passing through. In other words, to take the time to savour and taste rather than just always sprint for the next goal.

Its a tall order for a short tour but quite possible with careful planning. This is what I have proposed in the Open Invite forum:

The tour is based on 5 days and 4 nights as<SCRIPT type=text/javascript> vbmenu_register("postmenu_1806727", true); </SCRIPT> follows:​

Day 1: Channel + 250-300 miles on minor roads + overnight stop at choice hostelry with local cooking + glug. ​

Day 2: 300 miles, again on minor roas to farthest South hostelry + grub + glug ​

Day 3: Guided ride out to mountains and local attractions then back to base for grub + glug ​

Day 4: Say farewell to our hosts and head over to Burgundy with gourmet lunch stop - then 'auberge' near local vineyard for wine tasting then grub + glug then drunken sleep and much snoring. :cool​

Day 5: Straight dash to Channel port and home.​

Also, to give people more of a chance to arrange their lives if they are thinking of coming, I think that it is worthwhile being flexible on dates, so I propose the above 5 days somewhere between May 13th and the first week in June. ​

My preference is to have a limited number of riders, perhaps a maximum of 6, to allow more freedom of choice with hotel/restaurant selection and to make the group dynamics easier on a longish trip in a relatively compressed time frame.

I have also called upon the services of an old friend of mine to procure a list of over 200 biker-friendly hotels, restaurants, gites, holiday villages and camp-sites in France which have been co-ordinated by the Ministry of Culture in Paris. I have posted a reference to this in the Accommodation section (linky) of this forum but it has turned out to be a bloody useful tool in preparing this trip. Please feel free to post any queries about your accommodation needs in the section mentioned - I will be glad to help.


So, "Iron-Guys" tour anyone? Let's hear from you.

 

[oldrascal]

'Iron-Man' morphs into 'Iron-Gut' (part 1)

Although this thread has been strangely quiet, much activity has been taking place behind the scenes and with PMs to make sure that this will be one of the best rides. That said, the initial aim of a rough'n'tuff blast down through France and back again over 1,500 miles and 6 days of intense riding has modified and become something altogether more - how shall I put this gently - 'digestion-centric' will do over 5 days, returning on Saturday May 23rd.

The plan is now to spend as much time as possible on minor roads as we wend our way down through France with as much emphasis on enjoying and savouring French culture, food and wine as on seeking out the best and emptiest biking routes. Here is how it is looking.

We will use the Portsmouth-Caen route which leaves on Tuesday May 19th at 0800 and gets into Caen at 1500. This is the perfect
start point because this gets us straight down through some great countryside and fast and lightly trafficed roads and in the right direction.

So if we clear the boat and customs by 1530, we can still crack off a good 2 hours or so of riding before fatigue and common sense kicks in. If we break the minor road rule for this first bit, that should set us down as far as Belleme, a good 100 miles further South, where there is a cracking Logis http://www.relais-st-louis.com/uk/carte_uk.php.

Shared rooms are about €30-€40 each (or €55 or so for a single) and the grub is - er, just bloody marvellous. Anyhow, after a long first day I think that its always a good idea to kick off the ride with a quality meal and rest.

If we start earlyish on Day 2, we should have a really fun and relaxing amble down minor and scenic roads to our next destination around 300 miles further South in the Limousin department. Although no firm bookings have yet been made, Tony who runs the excellent RidersRest (linky) at Treignac near Limoges tells me that he currently has availability. For those of you unfamiliar with this very biker friendly establishment, it is highly appreciated and recommended by too many forumites for it to be anything other than top notch. So Day 2 sees us landing at RiderRest for some decent grub and glug, tall tales and deep kip.
But Tony also knows the surrounding roads like the back of his hand and on Day 3 we can either take notes and make our own way or, for a modest stipend, Tony will guide us to the best spots. That sounds like a day in Paradise.

The planning for Days 4,5 and 6 and then some MapSource routing will be posted later after sifting through the expected masss of replies.

 

[oldrascal]

Its the way of life that things sometimes conspire against the success of a venture - the Bad News is that it looks like the 5-day jaunt that I was trying to organise this month is not going to happen. There is just too much going on and it has proved hard to get enough people to commit to make the trip worthwhile. But the GOOD NEWS is that the same basic gastro/biking trip to France is now going to take place in June.

So I am closing this thread and starting a new one up in the 'Open Invite' section headed: "JUNE - the Great Gastro Blast through France". Let's hear it from you if interested so that I can lock in some firm dates.
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