I just booked a flight to France, what do I do?

[zzy]

A little bit of French is absolutely required when you're outside of the touristy areas. Approaching a French person in English often can lead to an unpleasant interaction. Also, don't hold the American view of French are rude and snobby - if you are nice to them you will get it back in spades (except in Paris). When I was biketouring there I was amazed by the kindness I received. You will be surprised at the accommodation of bikes in France - many hotels have secure lock up and tools and a pump available. Look for cycling specific hostels and such. The really great thing about France is that, wherever you go, EVERYTHING is delicious. You don't need to spend a lot of money (especially if you can read a French-only menu) and even their cheap table wine is great.

One warning - all major (non local) train require a bike to be in a bag of some sort - no matter how much you beg. Get a Japanese rinko bag before you go to increase your range.

[Veloo]

If you're into raw beef, head to Chez Flottes for the steak tartare. For a tasty novelty, check out Le Souffle. Both are on back streets around Rue de Rivoli.

I think you'll love it.

Just be a bit wary of folks that approach you with a scam.

If someone asks you to sign a petition with a bunch of personal info, just keep walking.

One lady came up to us and offered us a necklace. Then asked if we could spare some change. We gave her the necklace.

[fa63]

I was based in Paris for four months last year for work. I ended up finding a group called "Paris Cycling B-Group" on Meetup. They ride every weekend, and sometimes they would do one-way trips starting from Paris, heading out in some direction for 60-100 miles, then catching a train back to the city. I also did this several times on my own (to Epernay, Compiegne, Provins, etc.).

Another highlight for me was catching a train from Paris to Geneva, then riding around Lac Leman.

I am not into the touristy stuff, but I did enjoy just walking around the city. The food is really good, and the people are very nice as long as you make an attempt to at least say hello in French.

Enjoy!

[Blown Reek]

If you don't make it to Le club Cris et Chuchotements whilst in Paris, you've not really been to Paris.

[CDollarsign]

I really love Paris, but my wife and I had an absolute ball in Marseille. We took the TGV south making stops in Lyon, and Avignon (kind of a snoozer but I am into Chateauneuf du Pape). Marseille flies under the radar but is incredibly beautiful and very different from the rest of France. You could also do Aix-en-Provence while you are down there.

Where I want to go next is the basque region of France and Spain so I can submerge myself in all the funky wines, meats and cheeses.

[benb]

I did not find the French rude at all and I did travel outside of Paris.

But I probably came off as very apologetic for not knowing much French... it's a personal embarrassment for me as I'm of French heritage and am in the first generation of my family that doesn't speak fluent French. My great grandparents pretty much only spoke french, Grandparents spoke French a lot of the time but spoke perfect English, my father is fluent in both but rarely speaks French, and suddenly me and my siblings pretty much didn't learn any French at all. I did my best to be polite and everyone was very nice in a way that made it easier for me to feel comfortable using a little bit of French. It seems like using the standard greetings and manners in French goes a long way even if you need to switch to English afterwards.

I found it way more difficult in Germany with their curt manners. They don't seem to say Hello/Goodbye/Thank you/Please, etc.. at all a lot of the time and immediately cut to the chase, so you've got nothing at all to work with that you can learn quickly.

[Veloo]

Since Canadian cell phone plans suck so bad, another thing I did was get a SIM card from Orange which gave me like a month's worth of data and world wide long distance. Think it was about $50 CAD. I was only there for a week so it was plenty.

You just have to live with a Euro phone number for the duration of the trip.

[weisan]

The advice and recommendations so far are super awesome, thank you!

Please keep 'em coming...

[benb]

We're on AT&T... there was some daily charge each day you used roaming. I mostly just put up with it. It was a bit hefty ($10/day?) but I guess it was worth it, the smartphone is incredibly useful traveling for navigation & translation, etc..

If you configure your smartphone just right and stick to wifi for the whole day you'd save yourself the $10. Otherwise everything just works and you get some extra charges.

I also got warned a lot about credit card charges.. that was mostly a fat load of nothing, the charges were pretty small. Way easier to just use the card. The most confusing place is Switzerland.. when you get to a credit card terminal you get asked if you want to pay in a) Swiss Francs b) Euros c) Dollars. The choice you choose determines which kinds of fees you get. Other countries the choice is just a) Euros b) Dollars. You're either getting a currency exchange fee + then a transaction in dollars or you're getting a charge in a foreign currency + a CC charge for a foreign currency purchase.

I couldn't use my USA credit cards on the Paris metro. So our stupid cards still don't have a PIN, I called to try and get a pin set on my cards and the CC companies were very dense about it. Amex said they would put a PIN on my card and send it to me snail mail and it never showed up. Our smart chip cards are supposed to be used with a PIN for security every time you use them. American banks think we are too dumb for this so in the US usually when we use our smart cards we either do nothing or have to sign. In Europe any place with a human they would have you sign the receipt when they saw you ran a USA credit card, which is fine. But automated stuff like the Metro machines you might not be able to use your card... the system wants the PIN and you don't have one. Everyone in Europe has been using smart card + PIN for a very long time now for increased security. We've all been using ATM Card + PIN for 30 years now so I don't understand why we're too dumb to do it with credit cards. So it's still worth it to hang onto some cash in Euros for when you need it.

Bike shops I went in were disappointing! They're not great if you just walk in whatever you see.. you'd have to do some research and find the cool ones. There's way more utility cycling in Europe so the shops I went in were all utility stuff.

[a4racer]

Originally Posted by weisan

The advice and recommendations so far are super awesome, thank you!

Please keep 'em coming...

Awesome fare! We went to France this past March for a week or so, and absolutely loved it (me, wife, 11 year old).

You'll hear all sorts of great advice about Paris itself, so I'll chime in on one part of our tour that was absolutely mind-blowing, and not at all cycling related! We took a full-day trip (via RER from Paris) to visit the Juno Beach and some of the Canadian D-Day sites (we are Canadian). It was absolutely amazing. To be on the beaches, and in the villages, and in the cemetery which held so much history, wow. I don't know if you're a history head, but if you have a day in that itinerary that you don't want to necessarily ride--look into that kind of a tour. We ended up having a "private tour", in that it was the three of us, a driver and our guide in a nice van, and it was great. Not very expensive, and comparable to a large bus tour in cost. We were able to customize and spend more time exploring, as opposed to being herded on and off a big bus with 70 other people.

Of the tour, Juno beach itself was neat to see, but the hallmarks were the CDN cemetery (our daughter researched three or four boys from her school who went over to fight prior to our visit--and we then went and found their headstones, that was a real gut shot) and also the Ardennes Abbey. Read up on that little bit of history. There was a palpable darkness and heaviness there, I cannot describe it.

But yes, Paris itself was amazing--the museums were fabulous (get the City Pass for sure) and also, if you're into quirky: check out "Deyrolle".

Bon voyage!

[tv_vt]

Originally Posted by Joel

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

Will second this area for great riding. Check out videos of the Coombe Laval!

For Ventoux, Veloventoux is your place!

[weisan]

Believe it or not, I am not into visiting bike shops or biking hero shrines / historical landmarks ...I am all about the experience. Experiencing the vastness of a landscape, experiencing the majestic view on top of a col, experiencing the uniqueness of a culture or people....

I like to take everything in around me, being aware and really get a feel for my surroundings.

[Lionel]

With 10 days the mistake is to try to do too much. If you have to stay in Paris do 3 days there then head to another place like the south or the alps and stay there the remaining 6 days.

[benb]

Yah I didn't go out of my way to go in bike shops either.

But walking around all day in Paris multiple days I ran across a couple little bike shops and looked in.

Great point about some of the WWII historic sites. I didn't get to go anywhere in Western France but would love to some day.

I did go to Strasbourg on the way to Germany though, and I got to see one of the remaining Maginot Line sites... amazing.

So much of Europe is so stunningly beautiful it is incredible to imagine how much destruction it is. Much of the countryside is amazing beyond belief, it looked like cycling paradise from the train. Utterly stunning views & roads nearly everywhere with almost no cars to be seen. Germany has way more cars than France but still very few compared to the US and the German driving behavior & manners are impeccable compared to the US.

I didn't cycle at all while I was there but I really want to someday. The problem is I will pretty much have to turn my wife into a cyclist and that is a very tall chore.

[Ozz]

Originally Posted by FlashUNC

Paris is amazing, and the TGV out of the city to the rest of the country is easy and economical.

+1

Paris is cool and fun...but it is a big city.

I used it up in 3 days when I was there....I could have spent a month hanging out in Burgundy and Chamonix.