Touring near Le Mans

[Welby]

In May I am travelling with three others to the area near Le Mans. The rest of the group plan to go to the Moto GP. I am considering giving it a miss as I have not visited the area before and would like to explore a bit.

We have yet to book the accomodation but are planning to stay about 80 miles north of Le Mans, anyone know the area well enough to advise of
potential routes/places to visit?

 

[Vendome 41]

Around Le Mans not a great deal to view

South of far better with LA VALLEE DE LA LOIRE AND LA VALLEE DU LOIR, the 1rst one well known for its chateaux and the 2nd far less known but as great with town like Vendome and troglodyte houses in troo as well as some decent vineyards towards la charte sur loire in jasniere where joel gigou produce very good red, white and bubbly

a good B&B

www.la-borde.com

 

[Wapping]

Around Le Mans not a great deal to view

South of far better with LA VALLEE DE LA LOIRE AND LA VALLEE DU LOIR, the 1rst one well known for its chateaux and the 2nd far less known but as great with town like Vendome and troglodyte houses in troo as well as some decent vineyards towards la charte sur loire in jasniere where joel gigou produce very good red, white and bubbly

a good B&B

www.la-borde.com

Vendome is right, 80 miles north of Le Mans is pretty dull. Most of it is either pretty uninspiring countryside or straggly 'modern' towns (many of them having been flattened in 1944).

South of Le Mans the countrside opens up quite a lot.

Head south, Saumur, and fork left (east) along the river, or ride further south. Get a Michelin map and follow the green routes or the Bis 'Tourist' roads.

 

[MMC]

...or you could head north to Mayenne and the countryside around there. If it's still open, Martine's Bar in Chatillion sur Colmont is absolutely brilliant.

 

[Fanum]

Did you mean 80 or 8 miles north??

80 puts you practically on the coast, and also up near Rouen (lovely cathedral) or Caen which is good if you like big castles

They have a mad bus system in Caen too.


er, I'll get my coat

 

[DavidHale]

Head south, Saumur,

And before you leave Saumur, don't forget the very good tank museum.

 

[The Other PaulG]

Alencon is somewhere you might well pass near - it has medieval walls and it's well worth calling in to the cobbled town square for a coffee.

How's this, it's an absolutely beautiful and historic town, and it's twinned with.......


... wait for it.....




... Basingstoke!

Sweet.

Paul G

 

[Welby]

Thanks for the responses, much appreciated. I will look into the suggestions in more detail and post more detail when the accomodation has been booked.

Did you mean 80 or 8 miles north??

80 puts you practically on the coast, and also up near Rouen (lovely cathedral) or Caen which is good if you like big castles

Yes I did mean 80 miles, which is a guess at the mo' as I don't know precisely where we are staying yet.

 

[Humbug]

South of Le Mans and just north of Tours I would highly recommend this place:-

http://www.moulinduprieure.fr/outdoors.html

We stayed her a couple of years ago. There was secure covered parking for bikes, a great heated (really warm) outdoor pool and a fantastic breakfast room complete with genuine mill wheel and workings. Rooms were equipped with DVD and VCR players with a vast library of films available (FOC). Marie Claire is a brilliant hostess, greeting you with a large glass of wine or beer (again FOC), her English is impeccable and she even serves eggs from her own hens for breakfast (a first in France for me)!

 

[harry]

Google "Falaise gap" you are going to be very close to the 1944 scene of the slaughter of the remenants of the German army as they tried to flee E from the allies.

 

[Humbug]

There's a very moving account of it here:-

http://www.tankbooks.com/stories/stories2/falaise.htm

 

[Welby]

I thought that I would update this thread I started a while back.

We have now booked a hotel in Evreux (90 miles north of Le Mans) and so I would be grateful for any further suggestions of recommended roads/places of interest within a 100 mile radius.

I appreciate that this area is not known for its outstanding beauty or involving roads , but nonetheless I would like to experience the best it has to offer.

Your thoughts would be appreciated.

 

[Monsieur]

As mentioned earlier....
Mayenne
Alencon
Fougeres
Domfront

All well worth visiting - castles, shops, architecture, scenery and fantastic biking roads.
I drove through LeMans a few years back and was mightily unimpressed with the town - dingy, noisy and busy and not much too look at.
Went to the motor museum at the track - well worth a visit and so is the Mulsanne straight (mulsanne being my twin village!) if only to say you've driven/ridden along it!

I'm off to the Domfront area at half term - alas I'm flying and only for 3 days

 

[Clive]

We have now booked a hotel in Evreux (90 miles north of Le Mans) and so I would be grateful for any further suggestions of recommended roads/places of interest within a 100 mile radius.

Have a look for AA Best Drives France - should be available in your local library. Most are scenic and list places of interest etc. There is one that guides you around the road bits of the 24 hour "track".

 

[Welby]

Thanks for the responses, I will follow up your suggestions.

 

[NM929RR]

This is my first post and whilst I have lurked around the forums making good use of the information to be found here, I must thank the contributors to this thread, particularly Humbug. I have just returned from a trip to the Loire Valley with four other motorcyclists. A major factor in the success of the trip was the quality of the accommodation that we found from the posts in this thread. We stayed at the Moulin du Prieure at Dissay-sous-Courcillon near Chateau du Loir (http://www.moulinduprieure.fr/outdoors.html )
I can endorse all the positive points made by Humbug. As a keen fisherman the additional benefit of fishing in the mills own wier pool and mill stream was a highlight . The hospitality was fantastic, nothing was too much trouble. We were even treated to a wine tasting session in the family's own cave / wine cellar.
I recommend this for anyone visiting or travelling through the area.