We cycle from the Eiffel Tower through Paris into the fields of wheat and sunflowers of rural France. Our ride culminates in the crossing of the beautiful Jura Mountains, our biggest challenge. The gentle rolling hills that form much of our landscape en-route provide us with the perfect preparation for the Col de la Faucille m , a climb that has featured many times in the Tour de France. We then have a wonderful descent to Geneva and its beautiful lake!
Our July departure allows you to see the Tour de France finish in Paris β an exciting way to start your ride! My first DA challenge and will hopefully be back for more. Really enjoyed the week and the crew were great and very supportive. Thank you. We depart for Paris on a morning Eurostar from London St Pancras, after loading our bikes onto the support vehicles. On arrival, we transfer to our hotel and are free to enjoy the sights of Paris before meeting again for dinner and a detailed trip briefing.
Night hotel. Lunch not included. Our first day in the saddle! We now ride through open, agricultural landscapes, passing villages with squat Norman churches, colourful shuttered houses and tree-lined market squares β peaceful rural scenes which are as quintessentially French as the grandeur of Paris behind us. This region is very historic, with many towns and villages dating back to medieval or Roman times. After passing on wide shaded roads through the extensive green forests of Fontainebleau, formerly a royal hunting park, our route becomes a little hillier as we ride over the gently rolling chalk hills that make this region so good for wine-growing.
Today takes us further into rural Burgundy, over rolling hills with gentle inclines that open up to wonderful views over this typically French countryside. We leave our hotel on quiet, flat roads, passing small villages and open fields of barley and wheat.
After about 15km we have a long, winding climb which flattens out to a striking tree-lined avenue through the fields. We start to pass fields of sunflowers and sections of woodland, and ride through some very picturesque villages with old churches and striking town halls. We pass several old wineries before riding right through the pretty old town of Chablis itself, then cycle on small, quiet country lanes connecting the abundant farms and villages that dot the landscape.
