Bookings have been made for Agen (30th May) and Toulouse (31st May) In each case it is in a F1 Hotel and I have booked 3 duo rooms. I shall take the solitary option. I accept that it will cost me a little more but at least I shall not have to be concerned that I shall wake people up when I make my nightly visits.
Room cost at Agen is 40.90 euros which includes a buffet style "eat all you can" breakfast for both occupants and at Toulouse it is 42.90 euros (well sombody has to pay for Airbus). Thats 20.95 per person average which at current rates is about £17.50.
I also have a booking in Bordeaux on 27/5 for Martin and me as we travel on the same train (and in the same coach) from Paris.
I am assuming we go our separate ways from the Grau d'Agde and will be making a reservation (dont know where yet) for me for the 3rd and 4th June prior to travelling back on 5th. Maybe my English friends might put me up????
Thursday, 22 March 2012
Tuesday, 20 March 2012
Carcassonne youth hostel
When I booked this hostel, there were a number of options. I went for 5 beds in a normal dormitory for 115 euros (inc sheets and breakfast, etc) but there was also the possibility of a private room with 5 beds, costing 87.90 euros (all included too). I went ahead with the former because it seemed the more straightforward, I thought there must be something I hadn't understood (and Sylvie wasn't around at the time!) and maybe time was against me. But at the same time I emailed the hostel asking them to explain this anomaly. The guy who replied said it was a family promotion and there was no catch - altho I still wouldn't pretend to understand it fully. So there you are: it's now 17.58 each, altho we will have to join the hostels association. If we do it on arrival, it's 7 euros, but I'm not sure what that might extend to: it could just be the equivalent of the £3 extra per night in the UK, or it might last a whole year in France, but it's unlikely to be for the whole year anywhere in the world, since that costs £14.35 in the UK! So absolute total is 24.58 euros, not bad when you consider that we will be in the heart of the citadel and therefore extremely well-positioned for sight-seeing!
Saturday, 4 February 2012
Rayon-du-soleil 2 June 2012
Given that we wanted to explore Carcassonne on the morning of our penultimate day and therefore didn't want to ride too far afterwards, I thought that Maurice's "Rayon-du-soleil" was a good bet for our last night, at 24 euros each, including beakfast. The wine tasting at Domaine des Maels was tempting but it was also the most expensive place I had found! I have sent Maurice (who, you will remember, likes cyclists) a cheque for 30 euros as deposit, the rest payable on the day. He has written to say that he has received the cheque and also offers some advice on how to get from the canal to his gite (for VTTs, he says. I will ask him if it's also OK for folders. If not, there's always the road!) Just to remind you, it's 46 km from Carcassonne to where we will leave the canal at Argens-Minervois, then another 5 km to Lézignan-Corbières. Wine buffs will know that Minervois and Corbières are both wine-producing areas, so we won't go short!
Wednesday, 18 January 2012
Some pictures of the surface between Carcassonne and Béziers
Sunday, 15 January 2012
More input for France, 2012
The Comments facility of this site seem to have completely frozen now so I am adding a new post to add my thoughts to those of others.
Looking at Clyde's initial proposals for routes and overnight stops I concur fully as far as Toulouse. This city has 5 F1 Hotels and,as far as I can see, 2 of them are almost on the "Chemin d'halage". These are Hotel Toulouse l'Union and Hotel Toulouse Ramonville. I would be happy to book on our behalf if agreed on 19th.
As our basic remit is "Coast to Coast" I am wondering if we need to go as far east as Sete. There are Plages in the Narbonne area and either side of Beziers. I am familiar with that at Portiragne, east of Beziers, and I note there is a greenway mentioned in the AF3V website. There is also a HotelF1 at Beziers, albeit in the NE quarter a little way from the Canal (but on the Airport side, if that becomes a significant factor). On a personal note, my friends from my working days live only 14km from Beziers and it would be a shame to be so close and not meet them.
At a guess this could reduce the distance after Toulouse from its current 257 to about 225 to 230, spread over 3 days. The AF3V website and a (1998) book I have both suggest the towpath deteriorates after Avignionet Lauragais, a few kms short of Castelnaudary, and finishes after Bram, 15km beyond Castelnaudary but still some 25km short of Carcassonne. We may have to be ready to do some roadwork and I do wonder if the Toulouse to Carcassonne target may be stretching us to the point where we have insufficient opportunity to indulge in the local cuisine (Cassoulet, in particular). Unfortunately, there seems to be very little accomodation between the two "C"s. A possibility may be to stop at Castelnaudary and then Trebes, just a few km beyond Carcassone. This would make distances of about 65km and 50km which should allow stopping time at both venues. The Canal starts to wander a lot more after Trebes and I know that the towpath approaching Beziers from the west is poor so maybe we could do Trebes to the staircase locks at Beziers on-road which might cut the distance to around 100 to 110km. From Beziers there is the possibility of a flight back to GB, or a train to either Montpellier where there is a TGV service to Paris and an airport served by Ryanair or there is alternatively a train back to Carcassonne for the airport there.
Please give this your consideration.
Looking at Clyde's initial proposals for routes and overnight stops I concur fully as far as Toulouse. This city has 5 F1 Hotels and,as far as I can see, 2 of them are almost on the "Chemin d'halage". These are Hotel Toulouse l'Union and Hotel Toulouse Ramonville. I would be happy to book on our behalf if agreed on 19th.
As our basic remit is "Coast to Coast" I am wondering if we need to go as far east as Sete. There are Plages in the Narbonne area and either side of Beziers. I am familiar with that at Portiragne, east of Beziers, and I note there is a greenway mentioned in the AF3V website. There is also a HotelF1 at Beziers, albeit in the NE quarter a little way from the Canal (but on the Airport side, if that becomes a significant factor). On a personal note, my friends from my working days live only 14km from Beziers and it would be a shame to be so close and not meet them.
At a guess this could reduce the distance after Toulouse from its current 257 to about 225 to 230, spread over 3 days. The AF3V website and a (1998) book I have both suggest the towpath deteriorates after Avignionet Lauragais, a few kms short of Castelnaudary, and finishes after Bram, 15km beyond Castelnaudary but still some 25km short of Carcassonne. We may have to be ready to do some roadwork and I do wonder if the Toulouse to Carcassonne target may be stretching us to the point where we have insufficient opportunity to indulge in the local cuisine (Cassoulet, in particular). Unfortunately, there seems to be very little accomodation between the two "C"s. A possibility may be to stop at Castelnaudary and then Trebes, just a few km beyond Carcassone. This would make distances of about 65km and 50km which should allow stopping time at both venues. The Canal starts to wander a lot more after Trebes and I know that the towpath approaching Beziers from the west is poor so maybe we could do Trebes to the staircase locks at Beziers on-road which might cut the distance to around 100 to 110km. From Beziers there is the possibility of a flight back to GB, or a train to either Montpellier where there is a TGV service to Paris and an airport served by Ryanair or there is alternatively a train back to Carcassonne for the airport there.
Please give this your consideration.
Monday, 9 January 2012
More information on distances
The good news is that, as the distances I discover get more accurate, they get shorter - generally! Have a look at this leaflet: http://gironde.fr/cg33/upload/docs/application/pdf/2009-08/pistes_cyclables.pdf
There are a number of maps of pistes cyclables in the department of the Gironde (where we start). In particular, there is the Arcachon Basin Greenway and the Mios to Bazas GW. Arcachon station to the Dune du Pilat would seem to be 12 or 13 km. Pilat to Facture is 24 or 25 km. We know that Facture to Mios is 4.5 km (AF3V website) and the distance from Mios to La Gare comes out at only 62 km (instead of 76 km). So to get to Castets, the beginning of the canal , the distance from Pilat is 111 km. I'm working on ways of splitting this, plus a bit more, over two days.
There are a number of maps of pistes cyclables in the department of the Gironde (where we start). In particular, there is the Arcachon Basin Greenway and the Mios to Bazas GW. Arcachon station to the Dune du Pilat would seem to be 12 or 13 km. Pilat to Facture is 24 or 25 km. We know that Facture to Mios is 4.5 km (AF3V website) and the distance from Mios to La Gare comes out at only 62 km (instead of 76 km). So to get to Castets, the beginning of the canal , the distance from Pilat is 111 km. I'm working on ways of splitting this, plus a bit more, over two days.
Sunday, 8 January 2012
Some notes on our route
1. The distance from the Dune du Pilat (or Pyla – there are two different spellings) to Arcachon varies according to what you read or measure! My IGN map makes it 9 km; an approximation to the greenway on Autoroute Express, but using ordinary roads, calculates it as 12 km; and the AF3V website mentions this link to the Arcachon Basin greenway and gives the distance as 15 km! I’m giving the total from Pilat to Facture as 30 km now, instead of my previous 28 km.
2. When we leave Pilat, we can ride the Arcachon Basin Greenway as far as Facture, then follow a linking piste cyclable to Mios and the start of the Mios – Bazas Greenway. For those riding from Arcachon railway station, you could make use of this GW, rather than ride on the road. Finally, if Shawn wants to ride from Bordeaux station, he can pick up this GW at Biganos (near Facture).
3. The Arcachon Basin GW forms part of that 1200 km cycle route from Roscoff to Bayonne.
4. Peter has identified a F1 hotel at Bordeaux. There are also two youth hostels, one near the St Jean railway station, the other further out at Blanquefort.
5. We want to stop at Carcassonne. I suggest therefore that the 7 days be split as 5 days from Pilat to Carcassonne and 2 days from Carcassonne to Sète. With distances of 430 km and 152 km respectively, this gives averages of 86 km per day for the first 5 days and 76 km per day for the last two.
6. We could use the youth hostel at Carcassonne.
7. Toulouse also has a youth hostel, so maybe we should stop there too. Toulouse to Carcassonne is 105 km – quite do-able. Then we could have a short day the day after this, which would allow us to look around Carcassonne.
2. When we leave Pilat, we can ride the Arcachon Basin Greenway as far as Facture, then follow a linking piste cyclable to Mios and the start of the Mios – Bazas Greenway. For those riding from Arcachon railway station, you could make use of this GW, rather than ride on the road. Finally, if Shawn wants to ride from Bordeaux station, he can pick up this GW at Biganos (near Facture).
3. The Arcachon Basin GW forms part of that 1200 km cycle route from Roscoff to Bayonne.
4. Peter has identified a F1 hotel at Bordeaux. There are also two youth hostels, one near the St Jean railway station, the other further out at Blanquefort.
5. We want to stop at Carcassonne. I suggest therefore that the 7 days be split as 5 days from Pilat to Carcassonne and 2 days from Carcassonne to Sète. With distances of 430 km and 152 km respectively, this gives averages of 86 km per day for the first 5 days and 76 km per day for the last two.
6. We could use the youth hostel at Carcassonne.
7. Toulouse also has a youth hostel, so maybe we should stop there too. Toulouse to Carcassonne is 105 km – quite do-able. Then we could have a short day the day after this, which would allow us to look around Carcassonne.
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