New French website

I've just discovered a new French greenways website. Not sure how useful this will be be, but I notice that it links very often to the AF3V website. For those who like to play with sort of thing, it is www.voies-vertes.info/index.php
Another discovery is that maps have started to appear on the AF3V website (unless the one I have found has always been there).
Try http://www.af3v.org/-Fiche-VVV-.html?voie=35 which is a greenway on the Mediterranean coast. Unfortunately, so far, I haven't found a map for any of the greenways that we shall be using (but maybe will appear soon?)
Finally, I note that that the 'Big Figure of Eight of the Charente' (le grand huit charentais) has disappeared from the AF3V site. I wonder why.

Home Safe and on time!

Don't let people tell you its impossible to get back from Foreign climes with rubbish airlines like Ryanair. I did it yesterday by demanding I be flown back on my cancelled and reinstated flight when we had given up our seats for a sunday flight to Bournmouth. If you stand your ground and prepared to enjoy the 'crac' with Michael O'Leary's Nephew then you can fly were no man has gone before, at least for the last 7 days. Did anyone notice a greying middled aged man in a cycle jacket in the background of the BBC news bulletin from EM airport when the 1st flight arrived back yesterday. Yes twas me!

If same happens next month I might have turn around and pedal home halfway through our trip alone as lights/flights cannot be guaranteed to fly twice!

Costs of two hotels

You asked at me at last Monday's meeting to remind you of the costs of the two hotels I booked. They are:
Oasis, Villaine-la-Juhel 180 euros for 3 twin rooms;
Hotel de la Gare, Thouars 160 euros ditto.
Websites: http://www.eurobookings.com/villaines-la-juhel-hotels-fr/hotel-oasis.html?label=gg_en_bh_55495-france-villaines-la-juhel-hotel-oasis&gclid=CLT61p2rmKECFVKZ2AodWH2eOw and
http://www.hotel-de-la-gare79.com/
Above: a picture from the Flower Pot on Monday.

Possible Daily Expenditure in France

I asked Clyde for his thoughts on how much we might spend on food etc whilst in France. I give below his reply for your information:

"Breakfast has already been eaten. A lunch could cost as little as 3 euros for a sandwich or maybe up to 5 for a loaf and piece of cheese/fruit. Or again, for 12 euros you could get a many-coursed meal at a lot of restaurants, and this could include wine or coffee or both!


But we may not have the time to stop and eat it! Say 10 euros as an average. An evening meal would usually cost more than lunch in a resto, maybe 15 or 20, or more. But somewhere like Flunch or Buffalo Grill might serve up a 3-course 'formule' for as little as 12 euros. 20 would therefore be a sort of maximum. Say 10 + 20 = 30 and you would really have little need for any other food or drink during the ride. So 30/day is my last offer, with the likely outcome being somewhat lower than this on most days!"
 

Arrangements for the French trip

This is a summary of what I understood was agreed/stated last night:

Maldwyn, Keith and Shawn travel to Portsmouth for the overnight boat to Caen, arriving there in the early morning of Tuesday 18th May.
Martin travels via Eurostar and SNCF to Briouze, arriving there at 15:20 on Tuesday 18th
Peter travels via Eurostar and SNCF to Caen, arriving there at 16:57 on Monday 17th May and stopping overnight at the ETAP Hotel.
Clyde travels within France by SNCF to arrive in Caen at 13:57 on Monday 17th. He also stays at the ETAP Hotel.
On Tuesday 18th all except Martin will rdv somewhere in Caen and proceed towards the Hotel Oasis at La Sourderie - led by Clyde. The intent is to be in Briouze by 15:20 to collect Martin after disembarking from his train. 
On Wednesday 19th we ride La Sourderie to Laval, led by Maldwyn
On Thursday 20th the route is from Laval to Angers, led by Martin
On Friday 21st we reach Thouars, led by Keith.
On Saturday 22nd we go on to Poitiers, leader Shawn
On Sunday it is Poitiers to Angouleme, led by Peter
On Monday we reach our destination, led again by Clyde.

Most of the Hotel costs will balance out but any deficiencies are to be rectified during the trip south.
We will stoke up at breakfast time, snack at lunch and enjoy a meal in the evening where circumstances permit.
See you all in France. Bon Voyage!

Day 6, Poitiers Sud to Angouleme (Google Map)

Here it is

http://maps.google.co.uk/maps/ms?ie=UTF8&hl=en&msa=0&msid=104430919671343657639.0004835a394671b5d7fe1&ll=46.157005,0.219727&spn=0.846605,1.755066&z=9

There may be some further minor updates as I try to simplify the route. You can probably create your own Google Earth file from this but if you cant let me know and I will e-mail a copy. It is not all that useful, in my opinion.

Day 6, Poitiers Sud to Angouleme

I have begun a Google map to cover our likely route on day 6. So far I have (fairly crudely) traced the section from the Hotel to Aslonnes which measured out at 9.93 miles. Allowing for some corner cutting this corresponds fairly well with Clyde's estimated 18km (11.2 miles). I shall continue to produce the remainder of the day's ride and then save the result as a Google Earth file which I will distribute.