French Cycling Holidays

From the gothic script on street signs and hotel and restaurant names, to the half-timbered medieval houses, there is a Germanic flavour mixed in with many old French traditions — a unique cocktail. Exploring Alsace on our cycling tour provides an experience of the region like no other.

The tastes of the region are as distinct as the architecture. Strasbourg is famous for its sausages and also for choucroute, the alsatian take on Sauerkraut, made with cabbage cooked in local wine loaded with chops, sausages and other meaty delights. Coq-au vin is made here with local Riesling wine. Pride of place in Alsace goes to foie gras, here served in a pastry crust, and some notable cheeses like Munster made with milk from the Vosges pastures. For a quick snack, try flammeküeche the Alsace pizza.

For liquid refreshment, there is no shortage of choice. The distinctive slender bottles of the region contain wines of some equally distinctive cepages or grape varieties. Gewurztraminer with its golden colour and heady aroma of lychees and passion fruit; complex Pinot Gris with smoky undertones and apricot fruit; delicate Riesling with citrus notes and floral hints; and Sylvaner with notes of fresh cut grass and elderflower. Less well known are the light and cherry tinged pinot noir reds, and the sparkling Cremant d’Alsace. Beer lovers are also catered for — Strasbourg is home to Kronenbourg and Fischer, and a host of artisan breweries are found throughout the region.

The geography of Alsace is effectively in two halves; the Alsace plain is a strip of land running alongside the Rhine from Strasbourg to the swiss border; flat, with fields of vines, wheat and sunflowers, intersperced with orchards growing apples, pears and quince. Rising like a natural border to the west are the Vosges mountains, the round topped peaks here known as ballons. Heavily wooded with chestnut and oak, then pines and mountain ash at higher altitude. The forests provide welcome shade in high summer.

Our Alsace and the Vosges cycling tour takes in the best of the sights, sounds and tastes that this fascinating region has to offer. Riding is mixed, with days of flat riding moderately hilly days interspersed with with days of flat riding and will be enjoyed by anyone with a little cycling experience.

Highlights

• Cycling tour along the majestic Rhine
• Spectacular panoramas in the Vosges mountains
• Quiet lanes through vines and orchards
• Charming half timbered and cobbled villages
• Wine tasting along the Route de Vin
• Medieval masterpieces in Colmar

The lower stretch of the Dordogne river is rightly celebrated for the wines produced in its fertile valley, but there is so much more to the area that a biking vacation should not miss. The rivers are broad, meandering and majestic, and the hinterland is richly forested. Between the vineyards, fields of sunflowers and maize jostle for space.

Brittany - a land of legends. Its Celtic roots - populated by settlers from across the English Channel in the 5th Century- and the fierce maintenance of its Breizh or Breton language - have resulted in a region with a character quite different from the rest of France.

The mention of the word 'Burgundy' - Bourgogne to the French - conjures up many images. To some, the first thing that springs to mind is wine, from the crisp whites of Chablis and Montrachet to the prestigious reds of the Côte D'Or - Nuits-St-George, Pommard, Aloxe-Corton and Vosne-Romanée being but a few. And do not forget Kir, the traditional aperitif of Burgundy, made from Cassis blackcurrant liqueur from Dijon and Bourgogne Aligote white wine.

The Dordogne is a region immersed in the past. The caves of Lascaux are home to some of the finest examples of pre-historic art and the area is dotted with Cro-magnon caves and settlements. The area, known to the French as the Périgord, changed hands between England and France several times during the hundred years war resulting in the building of many bastides or fortified villages. The village of Rocamadour was an important waypoint for pilgrims making the long journey to Santiago de Compostella and there are many fine medieval churches along the route of our tour.

The Languedoc is a land of startling contrasts. From its flat coastal plain which is the largest wine producing area of France, the region stretches inland to the Black Mountains (Montagne Noire), and to the west until it meets the Pyrénées. In the east, the spectacular country of canyons and cliffs stretches onto the lonely plateau of the Cévennes, and from there to the River Rhône. The Mediterranean washes miles of white sandy beaches from the Rhone delta to the Spanish frontier. Between these borders sit the rugged hinterlands of the Corbières and Minervois.

The Loire Valley upstream from Tours is the home of perhaps the most famous and beautiful of all of the Châteaux: Chenonceaux, with its graceful arches spanning the River Cher; Chambord set in the midst of Royal hunting forests and adorned with minarets, domes and towers; Amboise with its battlements and fluttering pennants dominating the Loire.

Normandy, home of William the Conqueror, has always had strong connections with the English-speaking world; from 1066 when the Duke of Normandy laid claim to the English crown, until June 1944 and Operation Overlord when combined American, Canadian and British Commonwealth forces launched the biggest seaborn invasion ever seen to liberate France from Nazi occupation.

Provence, deriving is name from the Roman Provincia Gallia, is the region between the Côte d'Azur and the Rhone delta, stretching inland to the foothills of the Alps in the East and to the plateau of the Ardèche in the West.

It has been said that Provence is more a state of mind than a distinct geographical area - the olive trees, fields of lavender and sunflowers, and the sunshine give a mediterranean feeling.

From the Phoenicians to the Moors, traders and invaders have all left their mark.

At the start of our cycling tour, the town of Sète was founded in the 17th C to be a trading port at the end of the new project to link the Mediterranean and Atlantic by canal, and has been the focus of trade with Africa and the Middle East. Further West, Béziers still bears a large Spanish influence that can be seen it its Férias and thriving bullfighting culture.

The west of the region was in the early middle ages the historic home to the Cathars, a religious sect who rejected the pomp of the Catholic church, and who were persecuted to extinction as a result. A massacre occurred at Béziers and one of the last strongholds of the Cathars was Minerve where hundreds of Cathars committed mass suicide rather than submit to their Catholic oppressors.

A man-made feature of the Languedoc, and a highlight of the Mediterranean Coast cycling tour, is the engineering feat of the Canal du Midi, built in the eighteenth century to carry goods from the Mediterranean at Sète to the river Garonne at Toulouse, from where they would be transported to the Atlantic coast at Bordeaux. Tranquil and tree-lined, it meanders across the Languedoc plain and into the hills.

The canal passes by the amazing Citadelle of Carcassonne, which marks the end of our tour. Delapidated and plundered for building materials, it was restored to glory in the early nineteenth century and is now one of the most visited sites in France.

Fish and shellfish feature strongly in the cuisine of the coastal region, especially in the fishing ports of Sète and Marseillan, and around the shellfish centre of the Etang (lake) of Thau. Spanish influences come from the proximity of the border, and rice dishes and pimentos are often included in menus. Further inland the food is somewhat heartier, with specialities such as cassoulet and game dishes featuring in Carcassonne.

There are vineyards for just about the whole of the length of the tour: for Rosé lovers the speciality is a Rosé called Vin de Sable reflecting the sandy terrain on which the vines are grown; in the hinterland behind Sète the speciality is the crisp white of Picpoul de Pinet which, as is often the case of local wines matching local cuisine, provides a perfect accompaniment to shellfish dishes. Round Minerve there are prestigious vinyards making superb full bodied reds. Just south of Carcassonne can be found and the sparkling wines of Limoux, which are perfect to celebrate the end of the tour!

This cycling tour is easy, as we keep mainly to flat roads and canalside cycleways ( perhaps a few rollers!) – and much of the route is free of motorised traffic (if you don’t count the cruisers and barges chugging along the Canal du Midi!) This tour will show you the diverse aspects of the coast, and of course its varied and delicious food and drink!

Highlights

• Visit to Marseillan with a tasting at Noilly Prat
• Two nights in the ancient town of Beziers
• Fantastic sea views around the Etang de Thau
• Easy cycling tour along the tree shaded Canal du Midi
• The astonishing medieval fortress of Carcassonne