Route Des Legendes

AndyB_11

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I’d never heard of it before but we ended up seeing a lot of signs along the way today and it follows the river in a most entertaining and typically Ardennes way.

I could post a link but there are loads of them though you need to use Chrome or understand foreign. Have a look, it’d make a fairly good starting point for a day out, we’ve done 150 miles today with no motorways and only followed the same road for about 5 miles at the beginning and the same at the end as we returned to our hotel.
 
It is not a great ride in itself, but is worth looking at as part of a bigger trip, I have used sections on the way in / out of the Alps / Ardennes / Luxembourg.

I think Wapping posted some guff about it and a gpx file a while back.
 
We didn’t follow it as such, I’d never even heard of it before, but it did seem that I saw a lot of signs for it along some nice roads so it could be worth a look for someone new to the region :nenau.

I was lucky today because we sat in the bar last night and decided roughly where we’d go and one of the group of 3 plotted out a route of 150 miles then we just followed him and it worked out well. I’ve not got the patience to plot my routes on a satnav so my normal tactic is to point and shoot wherever it looks good and the 3rd rider in the group had a Michelin Benelux map in case he got dumped along the way so was neither use nor ornament.

We went from Bouillon to Rochehaut where we stopped for a quick coffee then along some good roads to Rockroi for dinner, off to Mettet then Chimay for a lap of the circuit, Givet for ice cream by the river, Gedinne for a lap of the circuit then back to the hotel at Bouillon. That gave us a nice little 150 ride around the Ardennes on a bright sunny day which was basically the reason for coming here :D
 
We didn’t follow it as such, I’d never even heard of it before, but it did seem that I saw a lot of signs for it along some nice roads so it could be worth a look for someone new to the region :nenau.

I was lucky today because we sat in the bar last night and decided roughly where we’d go and one of the group of 3 plotted out a route of 150 miles then we just followed him and it worked out well. I’ve not got the patience to plot my routes on a satnav so my normal tactic is to point and shoot wherever it looks good and the 3rd rider in the group had a Michelin Benelux map in case he got dumped along the way so was neither use nor ornament.

We went from Bouillon to Rochehaut where we stopped for a quick coffee then along some good roads to Rockroi for dinner, off to Mettet then Chimay for a lap of the circuit, Givet for ice cream by the river, Gedinne for a lap of the circuit then back to the hotel at Bouillon. That gave us a nice little 150 ride around the Ardennes on a bright sunny day which was basically the reason for coming here :D

do I win a prize for knowing which one of the three is the speccy geek with a satnav?
 
do I win a prize for knowing which one of the three is the speccy geek with a satnav?

No.

It doesn’t matter how pissed he gets, he just remembers where we vaguely discussed going then in the morning waves his satnav around asking if the route looks ok. I’d stopped in Rochehaut for a coffee before so knew there’s a cafe with good views but it’s the Ardennes, it’s easy to plan routes if that’s what you want to do.
 
then back to the hotel at Bouillon.

What Hotel did you use in Bouillon?

I have stayed in Hotel de la Post a couple of times and back there again in a few weeks, but would be interested in hearing first hand reports of others.
 
We’re at the de la poste I’m afraid so no new information for you. We use it primarily because of the underground car park but the food is good as well so we just return there if we’re in the area.

The seedy bar on the roundabout that used to stay open until the small hours is shut but that’s not such a bad thing when you’re planning to leave at 9am :blast
 
Have stayed a the Hotel de la Poste a few times myself, the general go to hotel in Bouillon, but a couple of years ago I used the Hotel de France at the other end of Bouillon, no private parking but a nice hotel and really good food...
 

I’d have had a look before I went if I’d honestly had time to do any more than the bare minimum in the way of preparation.

I’ll ask Patrick if he can drag up a file for the route we did on Saturday because with the brilliant weather we had the threee riders all agreed it was probably our best day out in the Ardennes and trust me, we’ve been there quite a few times over the years :D

Saturday was the first time I’d been to Rocroi and what a lovely little town it is. It’s a little bit out from where we normally ride but we were cutting across to Chimay after following the Meuse all morning so it fitted in well and once I’d looked at the map it fell in with my normal criteria of being a small town with all the roads fanning out from what was obviously going to be an old market place.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rocroi

Anyway, I’m home without helping the balance of payments in any foreign areas so that’s always good and more importantly I’ve decided that the 1290 GT is a perfectly acceptable tool for trips abroad so it can stay for a while :thumb2
 
I’ll ask Patrick if he can drag up a file for the route we did on Saturday because with the brilliant weather we had the threee riders all agreed it was probably our best day out in the Ardennes and trust me, we’ve been there quite a few times over the years

Please do.
 
I’d have had a look before I went if I’d honestly had time to do any more than the bare minimum in the way of preparation.

I’ll ask Patrick if he can drag up a file for the route we did on Saturday because with the brilliant weather we had the threee riders all agreed it was probably our best day out in the Ardennes and trust me, we’ve been there quite a few times over the years :D

Saturday was the first time I’d been to Rocroi and what a lovely little town it is. It’s a little bit out from where we normally ride but we were cutting across to Chimay after following the Meuse all morning so it fitted in well and once I’d looked at the map it fell in with my normal criteria of being a small town with all the roads fanning out from what was obviously going to be an old market place.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rocroi

Anyway, I’m home without helping the balance of payments in any foreign areas so that’s always good and more importantly I’ve decided that the 1290 GT is a perfectly acceptable tool for trips abroad so it can stay for a while :thumb2

stopping in Rocroi end of this month,four nights same hotel ,think its right in the square too. so would be good if you can share a few routes away and back to here
 
I’ll ask if he’s got the route and if so bung it up here. Quite a bit of it was on the Route des Legendes which as what prompted me to mention it because I’d never noticed the signs before but as is always the case with the Ardennes, the weather can make or break the trip.

I liked Rocroi even though we only had a lunch stop but I’d be more than happy to use it as a base because it’s got a few small cafes to visit which along with a decent hotel is all you can ask for.
 
Have stayed a the Hotel de la Poste a few times myself, the general go to hotel in Bouillon, but a couple of years ago I used the Hotel de France at the other end of Bouillon, no private parking but a nice hotel and really good food...

We stopped at the Hotel de France last weekend.
Good location,bit old fashioned. Great food and helpful staff. Parking is at the front of the hotel under the roof overhang.
I would be happy to use it again.
 


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