West of France Route Planning

[Norcot]

Hey everyone, so its been years in the coming but me and a few friends have finally planned a trip across the pond to France. Going to be getting the Ferry across from Plymouth to Roscoff, and then spending 3 days riding down the west coast to Biarrtz, then back up to Roscoff.

Anyhow this is where we are looking for some help, we have only planned as much as we are starting at Roscoff and Ending in Biarrtz.

Has anyone ridden in this area before and have any must see / must ride places we should aim for?

If we have time we would like to ride into the Pyrenees too.

[blackhat250]

When you going norcot " am going sept10th, heading to pyrenese. Plinningas [ member] as experience of europe,,,

[Norcot]

We have booked our ferry for the 5th sept, arriving in the morning of 6th, we aim to be at the Pyrenees about 8th. So we might pass you on our way back!

[GazzyG]

The Pyrenees are lovely, especially Andorra.

Going down the West coast of France, you'll have to check out Bordeaux - lovely town, that.

[Norcot]

Sounds good thanks, we may stop there for a look around.

Also i'm preping for the ride. Going over from the UK I hear there are some extra things we have to do in order to ride over there.

- Reflective strip stickers on your helmet on each side

- Carry 2 disposable breathalysers

- Spare Bulb Kit

are there any other legal requirements? I heard that they dropped the requirement for motorcyclists to have a high vis on, but do we have to have one packed like the cars need to?

Thanks

[pilninggas]

Sounds good thanks, we may stop there for a look around.

Also i'm preping for the ride. Going over from the UK I hear there are some extra things we have to do in order to ride over there.

- Reflective strip stickers on your helmet on each side

- Carry 2 disposable breathalysers

- Spare Bulb Kit

are there any other legal requirements? I heard that they dropped the requirement for motorcyclists to have a high vis on, but do we have to have one packed like the cars need to?

Thanks

I wouldn't worry about the helmet reflectors [unless you want them], the consensus seems to be the gendarmerie don't give a hoot.

I haven't been that way for years, but i do like La Rochelle (The Old Town and the Ile de Re are worth a look) and Concarneau.

I always pack a hiviz vest, not because you have too, but if you breakdown on motorways at night it might help to keep you safe.

[mervin]

I think the breathlyser thing has been abandoned , Hi viz deffo in case you break down, remember the macdump rule , even if you hate macdonalds they have clean toilets , and of you feel guilty just have a coffee, If you head from Roscoff , out towards Brest to Landavisiau, cut across county to join the dual carrigeway near La faou,passing Quimper and head for Nantes there are sevral interesting towns along there, the route to Rennes and then down to Nantes is a but quicker but more boring , if you want to visit la rochelle run the A83 down as far as D 137 turn and go down across the Charente, but that is as far as i eve went in my travels, Les sables d,ollone is nice as well

[clarke]

MacD have free WiFi too...

Ride magazine have a load of downloadable Satnav maps on their website, even if you're not using a Satnav I think you can view the routes to make some plans: http://www.ride.co.uk/Routes/

E.g. June 2012...

https://maps.google.com/maps?saddr=Calais,+France&daddr=48.65884,3.69587+to:48.04072,3.03327+to:47.8801,2.38532+to:47.41879,2.27745+to:46.327003,1.4845941+to:46.07326,1.68988+to:45.71774,1.72627+to:45.56539,1.75375+to:45.57951,1.77056+to:45.5239976,1.7395819+to:45.44014,1.61428+to:44.836167,0.529577+to:44.60114,0.60826+to:43.6235,-0.62784+to:43.02084,-1.32508+to:N-135+to:42.7523842,-1.3727399+to:42.557,-0.70211+to:42.61673,-0.21008+to:42.47921,0.55958+to:42.50988,1.54811+to:42.6992011,1.8344845+to:42.97658,2.26317+to:D118&hl=en&ll=43.115019,2.237091&spn=0.21854,0.432243&sll=43.462887,2.26593&sspn=0.869176,1.728973&geocode=FXp0CQMdflwcAClj4_HXdT_cRzH0edKM4Nm-rA%3BFZh55gId_mQ4ACnzc4vYstLuRzFxEKequV8KEw%3BFRAL3QIdtkguACmXjpHmhnXvRzFk9qwu5f-l1g%3BFaSX2gIdqGUkAClbrrUZRm3lRzFORAkviReD4A%3BFaaN0wIdSsAiACmTJP1tMcv6RzFlA3nvNJLvXg%3BFdvkwgIdMqcWAClT2IB0vOX7RzHAm1FRktMFEw%3BFawFvwIdGMkZACkLtXGVsWX5RzGlwt5pAD8GMQ%3BFeyYuQIdPlcaAClJyEypRwX5RzETdM6xj8Fc0A%3BFc5FtwIdlsIaAClvf1Chof34RzHR3u1QktMFEw%3BFfZ8twIdQAQbACkD2ZAtjf34RzH47YiJ0CWovw%3BFR2ktgIdPYsaACkHC2fxjvz4RzEh2EtVktMFEw%3BFYxctQIdyKEYACmhq_TeAub4RzGhttZQktMFEw%3BFUclrAIdqRQIACntl86-9tmqEjGQZiE8F2UGEw%3BFTSPqAIdBEgJACkbPw2IjB2rEjGhC-o3F2UGEw%3BFUykmQIdgGv2_ylbUBYFcohWDTFezJvtTkTlBg%3BFShykAId6Mfr_ylFZSPTS9BQDTHAl80IZYwBEw%3BFfYFjgIdxvzn_w%3BFYBZjAIdvQ3r_ynhz_M1cbpQDTFgn_kHZYwBEw%3BFUheiQIdYkn1_ykPNya3j31XDTFxDn4JZYwBEw%3BFZpHigIdYMv8_ymja4-uqPZXDTEQDekPZYwBEw%3BFWouiAId3IkIACkDjPZpbtSnEjHAuiYJZYwBEw%3BFTimiAIdTp8XAClDpGcP5YqlEjGx_Aj2bZQAEw%3BFcGJiwId9P0bACmfPpp-Vp2vEjGQxgwlnPYGEw%3BFUTFjwIdgogiACmvhu6_oMWvEjFTwuFWJoV3Yw%3BFSkFkwIdj0sjAA&doflg=ptm&mra=dme&mrsp=24&sz=10&via=1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12,13,14,15,17,18,19,20,21,22,23&t=m&z=12

[bippo]

This months Ride magazine has a supplement about France. Some useful info in it, and some recommended routes.

[Remelad]

Hi norcot...newbie here...I used to work for mercedes breakdown and had many many surprised customers on the phone not realising that on french motorways, if broken down (and I hope you dont) then you have to wait for the local authority to tow you off to the " nearest town" wherre they so happen to have a family garage...if you dont want to go to a garage then they drop you on a side road...high vis I would definitely suggest...but also a little cash carried at all times...for persuasion other then that mate...lots of pics of the gorgeous places your gonna see

[blackhat250]

We have booked our ferry for the 5th sept, arriving in the morning of 6th, we aim to be at the Pyrenees about 8th. So we might pass you on our way back!

Were on tunnel the 8th. heading right down to St,tropez, so if you see old 2strokes ,it be us..

[mervin]

one good t5hing about the French rescue system is the cost of being picked up off the motorway is fixed by the governmant and is published in rest areas etc so you can see that you are not being ripped off , by the recovery company , and TBH in 22 years trucking over there I found most of the fench people to be honest and freindly , and experience of a few truck garages puts a lot of UK garages to shame . prices where fair when paid with credit card , and once we wnet in to the Scania agent at Dinan with the clutch slave cylinder gone on the truck , the offending item was inside the bellhousing so the gearbox had to be dropped, we sat and waited while it was done , at noon they came and said come with us we wnt to their canteen type room, they gave us a drink , picked up their bags and said see you in 2 hours , left the workshop, stores , etc al unlocked and in the care of 2 foreign strangers, that would never happen in the UK they would turn you out on the street in the rain here

[Remelad]

Hi Mervin, I completely agree with you, in what little experience I have of the French is exactly how you say, kind and friendly..and especially good if you have kids with you. It maybe the customers I had possibly being rude (merc customers had a tendency to be so when stressed ). I was just making sure mr norcot was aware that even if he did have European roadside assistance..they wouldn't be able to help until the vehicle was towed off the motorway (at cost)...which was the surprising fact to some of my more unlearned customers

[mervin]

Oh yes i met quite a few english tourists with the stiff upper lip we are better than you frogs type over there , Usually the french detected this and where akward and standoffish back

[Norcot]

I think the breathlyser thing has been abandoned , Hi viz deffo in case you break down, remember the macdump rule , even if you hate macdonalds they have clean toilets , and of you feel guilty just have a coffee, If you head from Roscoff , out towards Brest to Landavisiau, cut across county to join the dual carrigeway near La faou,passing Quimper and head for Nantes there are sevral interesting towns along there, the route to Rennes and then down to Nantes is a but quicker but more boring , if you want to visit la rochelle run the A83 down as far as D 137 turn and go down across the Charente, but that is as far as i eve went in my travels, Les sables d,ollone is nice as well

Thanks for the suggestion I will take a look on google maps and street view to get some ideas. We're trying to get some nice towns and some twisties in there.

Thanks also for advice about macdumps and macfreewifi too. Will also keep in mind about the breakdown recovery rules, hopefully it doesn't come to that, my fz6 is on 30000 miles now but has had a tyre and brake pad change, valves shimmed last year, and I will do the oil and filter before I leave so hoping for no nasty surprises.

Any suggestions for places south of La Rochelle? We plan to head to Biarritz and it possible maybe head across border to Spain for a day ride.

[mervin]

Actuallly thinking about this I based on my trucking travels and there is a lot of motorway, having a rethink now will try and work a google map for you

[mervin]

Ok here is a rough guide from Roscoff to Morlaix is a dual cariageway until you tunr off the N12 for Pleybe Christ then the run to Lorient will be nice twiistes, from there I would advise sorting what you want as the route i have is mostly motorway to Nantes then after nantes it is motorway dual carriageway to La Roche sur yon , but then ordinbary roads down to La Rochelle aprt from a couple of miles near la rochelle ,

http://tinyurl.com/mftcg5d

[cupcake1973]

Just come back from riding trip to the French Alps, other side so can't offer much by way of places to visit. But here's a few other pointers....

Breathalyser thing is still in force, although highly unlikely you'll get stopped and asked. Remember, it's two per rider.

Helmet stickers - don't bother. We didn't and French police never bothered us. None of the other 12 bikers on the Eurotunnel had them either.

Spare bulb kit rule is laughable - you are legally required to carry one even if you don't know how to fit them, which defeats the object of carrying them!

Hi viz - needed only in the event of breakdown

Don't forget to carry your bike documents (and copies) too - V5 and insurance which MUST show that you are covered in the country you are visiting. Most do nowadays on the back of the certificate, but check just in case. Driving licence (paper and card) too.

Remember - every rider must carry these things on their own bike - they cannot go into a bag for one person to carry for everyone in the group.

It all sounds like a lot of hassle just to ride in France, but these are the "just in case" things. You'll find that it turned out all highly unnecessary as you never got stopped or had a problem. But the one time you do, you need to make sure you have everything in hand.

Enjoy your trip

[mervin]

Ineteresting to know the brethalyser still stands , i did hear they where abandoning it , yes defoo all cary your own documents , my mate went out with a school coiach trip , they took 2 or 3 coaches only one insurance cetificate for the three , and they got fined by the ministry of transport at roscoff for not having one each ,and it wass not pennies , it was in the hundreds oif pounds, and that was 10 years ago or more now

[clarke]

The breathalyser has been abandoned in France. http://www.theaa.com/motoring_advice/overseas/driving-abroad-whats-new-2012.html

Ride magazine says bikes are exempt from having to carry spare bulbs, warning triangles (and I think hi-viz??). They also say the stickers on helmet aren't generally enforced however if your caught for another offence e.g. Speed then they'll fine you for the lack of stickers too