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#1
10-25-2019, 07:11 AM
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I just booked a flight to France, what do I do?
Saw on the news last night that a couple of airlines such as the Norwegian Airlines is going to start flying direct from Austin to Paris, so just out of curiosity, I went to check out their website...click, click...click, click, before I know it, I bought myself a roundtrip ticket for $570 with one checked bag from September 6-16, 2020.
Oh no, what have I done!   Never been to France...actually never been to Europe. Have a cousin who lives in Paris. Will bring a S&S coupled bike that can switch between 27mm slick tires and 35mm gravel kings SK gravel tires. Will have gear in the back that range from 11-34, compact in the front. The goal: to ride, to walk, to see, to explore, to interact, to experience whatever France has to offer but to do it as economically as possible. I don't care for fancy restaurants or hotels. I don't mind sleeping on the floor or making my own meals. I like walking around town squares and observing people going about their lives, interacting with the locals, making new friends. I am not into selfie, Facebook, strava or instagram, no urge to post anything except maybe sharing the occasional photos or video here with my pals on the forum. No impulse to set any personal records or prove anything but capable of climbing the highest cols or comfortable riding in any terrain as long as I do it at my own pace. Don't mind taking public transportation, trains etc. Hank pal (velotel) was very kind, had sent me a link to this website : https://francevelotourisme.com/ Looks like a treasure trove of information. Sept 6 - Day 1 fly from Austin to Paris 4pm flight Sept 7 - day 2 Sept 8 - day 3 Sept 9 - day 4 Sept 10 - day 5 Sept 11 - day 6 Sept 12 - day 7 Sept 13 - day 8 Sept 14- day 9 Sept 15- day 10 Sept 16 - return to Austin 10:30 am flight Please help me plan out my itinerary.  Thank you.
__________________
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Last edited by weisan; 10-25-2019 at 10:42 AM. 
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#2
10-25-2019, 07:20 AM
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What's your wife want to do?
__________________
Chisholm's Custom Wheels Qui Si Parla Campagnolo
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#3
10-25-2019, 07:25 AM
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France!
I've traveled occasionally to France with my Breakaway - I have family who live just outside Paris. For some fantastic riding in/near Paris, there is an extensive network of paths/trails/connecting roads near St. Germain en Laye, which if I recall, is easily accessible by RER from downtown Paris. And when you run out of those paths, you connect easily to some wonderful small country roads in the towns/exurbs out there. If memory serves me right, a stage of Paris-Nice went through this area this year or the year before. My Breakaway is set up with 32c Conti Gatorskins...there are some great farm roads that serves as connectors to pavement that you want to take advantage of. Consider having wide enough rubber that allows for such exploration. I never felt the need to have aggressive knobbies of any sort though. 28c road tires would probably suffice.
If your itinerary allows it, try to get some time to hit some of the epic climbs. Ventoux is a must (IMO) and others will weigh in on favorite climbs in the Alps and Pyrennes. 36/52 and 11/28 has worked for me in the past. Have fun.
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#4
10-25-2019, 07:31 AM
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If you want to come down south I can hook you up with some nice routes, mixed road/gravel etc. Marseille is a nice place to spend a few days - it's a pretty raw city, but has a lot to offer in culture. We have a very large north african population which means there is very eclectic food different from the traditional French fare. The riding is very nice in my opinion. I clock in about 75km with 1400m of climbing on the average weekday, with a good 200km into the forest with 3000m of climbing on a weekend day. I've set a fair few people up with good riding programs via my instagram audelacycling. You're welcome to drop me a DM if you have any interest in coming this far south (it's a few hours on the TGV from Paris).
As said above, Ventoux is a pretty iconic climb. September is not bad, since most of the tourists have left by the end of August. In August it is like a parking lot and I avoid it like the plague. From Marseille it is a long day (235-250km round trip) but you can cut about 85km of that out by riding Marseille-Ventoux-Avignon and then taking the train (that is a TER or "regional" train which allows you to ride with a complete, non-dismantled bike).
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#7
10-25-2019, 08:50 AM
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Please notice that the advice essentially began with "first, get out of Paris." This is good advice.
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#8
10-25-2019, 08:57 AM
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Quote:
But my cousin John will disown me if I show up at France without at least paying him a visit.
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#9
10-25-2019, 08:59 AM
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That’s a great deal and Paris is such an amazing city. Are you traveling solo? Either way you’re going to have a blast. Are you on Strava? I follow a guy there who commutes in to central Paris and does lots of rides around the city and suburbs. He would be a good resource to contact: https://www.strava.com/athletes/rohand_romain
Mick Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk
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#11
10-25-2019, 09:06 AM
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Perfect time of year!
My home away from home for riding is: https://www.velovercors.com/ I've been there 4 times...from Orlando! Feel free to pm and we can chat. Joel
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#13
10-25-2019, 09:32 AM
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Get ahold of velotel immediately!
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#14
10-25-2019, 09:35 AM
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France is super nice... you will like it. Enjoy dairy products, cant speak of wine because i do not drink wine but i do love bread with butter
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#15
10-25-2019, 09:42 AM
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We flew Boston -> Paris and back on Norwegian last July.
Norwegian is great.. they are cheap for a European carrier but super nice compared to American carriers. It'll be a nice 777 dreamliner with more leg room & amenities than the American carriers. I don't sleep well at all on planes so it's still a pretty crappy trip but at least the plane is a lot nicer. The TGV is fantastic... the whole time I was on it multiple times all I could think of was "why can't we have nice things like this in the US."
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