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This is a self supported tour, meaning everyone carries his/her own stuff and looks out for each other. There is no, repeat no van support. There are no drive along members. There is always public transport of course especially for folding bikes and there are always taxis. Thinking now is still early September but we will decide by consensus. The mileages are low, mostly in the 30 to 40 range. There are two 50+ days but the first one is flat with a possible shortcut and the last day finishes with a descent, a long delicious run from the mountains down to sea level and along the beach. There are only 9 actual days on the road with 5 double nights en route, all in places worth exploring and/or with great loups to do. You may want to add in a day or two before and after in Paris or Nice. We fly to Paris. We train from Paris down to Carcassonne, explore that incredible fortress and head out from there. Details below. At the end of the trip hang out in Nice for a few days, have dinner in Monaco and maybe Antibes, then train back to Paris. Trains leave Nice in the morning and arrive in Paris in mid to late afternoon. They are TGV and fun to ride on. We may not all come back at the same time. Check out the schedules on the S.N.C.F. You really should have a high quality folding bike. With one of these you put it in the suitcase in your home, fly with just a suitcase and carry-on saddle bags, no extra charges or hassle. You unpack it at the hotel in Paris. the hotel keeps the suitcase and you pedal to the train station. Bag it for the train and unbag in Carcassonne. Have an incredible ride. Bag again in Nice, train to Paris, pedal to the hotel and around town then into the suitcase for the plane. Astoundlingly simple. A high quality folding bike reduces your effort on the road. It rides as well or better than conventional road touring bikes and offers a seamless and instant transit to any public transport if needed. If there is a new bike in your future get a good folder, you'll use it again and you won't be sorry. If you have a conventional bike it's necessary to compress and wrap it in the states, put it in a box at the airport, unpack at the airport in Paris but leave it wrapped for the train then unwrap and assemble it in Carcassonne. Disassemble and wrap it again in The hotels' websites in each town are listed below so you can check the rates and estimate your expenses. As before, I will make the reservations for the train down and the hotels so we all end up at the same place at the same time. At the hotel everyone pays their own way, ditto for meals. Dining outside is mandatory. For the train tickets down you can pay me back. People may decide to train back on different days. They are mostly 2 star and the kind of places Europeans stay in; clean, safe and not too expensive. They all are used to bike travelers and will have secure storage for bikes. The prices are in Euros (?). Check the international exchange rate. A Euro is about $1.30 at the moment. If you print out the route description (link below) you can follow the route on a map or on one of the online mapping sites. Google Earth is fun. Notice these are route directions, not a cue sheet. Everybody needs a of large scale map to do this. This is a terrific ride. There is no comparison between this and a rather tame commercial ride. The route is marked with pushpins on the included Google Earth link. I have actually biked this entire route, parts of it as recently as 2007 and parts of it over thirty years ago. This is an incredible trip. The route wasn?t chosen randomly. The places and the routes are all worth the ride to get to. In contrast to some recent exchanges in the Bike Leaders emails, this is a pleasure cruise. As all tours should be. Here?s a quick preview with the dates:
Friday 9/4 Night over water Saturday 9/5 Arrive Paris Sunday 9/6 Train to Carcassone, arriving in the evening Monday 9/7 Explore Carcassone Surely the largest medieval fortress in the world. So large it?s difficult to get it all in the camera lens. Tuesday 9/8 A benign 78K ride following the Canal du Midi to Narbonne Plage,
Hotel Oasis Wednesday 9/9 71K Ride along the flat coast to Sete, Think Venice Thursday 9/10 50K Ride further along the flat coast to Grau Du Roi Hotel d'Angleterre Friday 9/11 Hang in Grau du Roi to beach or pedal out and back to explore Aigues Mortes early medieval fortified town where Louis IX assembled the Crusaders. Then beach.
Sunday 9/13 Hang in Arles , Roman ruins, theatre, coliseum Van Gogh?s Café ¬a Nuit Monday 9/14 A benign 81K ride to Avignon,with visit to the spectular Pont du Gard, an ancient roman aqueduct, Hotel Central Tuesday 9/15 Hang in Avignon or ride out and back to Les Baux, very high fortress bastion and or Glanum, roman excavations and or St. Remy de Provence to meet ghost of Nostradamus. Wednesday 9/16 A benign 81k ride along the Durance to Peyrolles en Provence, biked through, never stayed. Hostellerie Le Mirabeau Thursday 9/17 65K Ride gentle climb to Moustiers Saint Marie. Another neat town with a high chapel with a fantastic view back over the days route. Hotel La Bonne Auberge Friday 9/18 A marvelous 55K ride through the stupendous Gorges du Verdon. Climbs, think granny gear, to Castellane. Hotel du Levant
Sunday 9/20 86K Ride Castellane to Nice, 86K Hotel Durante 04 93 88 84 40
Following Days Nice, beach and demi bikinis.
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Nice to get on the train, box it at Charles de Gaule and unpack it in your home. This is possible. I did it for decades, 
Saturday 9/12 A benign 50K ride inland to Arles 
Saturday 9/19 Hang in Castellane , Exciting, fun filled town very sportif, canoeing, rafting, dozing in the sun, with a great antiques shop.
The trip is scheduled for September, taking advantage of the Labor Day Weekend. There is already a list of invitees who know who they are. People on the list who know they are absolutely not interested should let me know and I will take you off the list. If you are not on the list but would like to know more you can always email me privately by clicking on the bottle. Or copy and paste Greyfox10025@aol.com