Deutsch | English
Tour de France 2011 - 23 Days around France
The colleagues were also on the road for 23 days (21 stages and 2 rest days), but rode a few kilometres less than I did...
my little trip around France began with a train ride from Munich to Kehl on a Wednesday afternoon. There was repeated rain in Munich and on the train, but the Rhine valley and the campground in Kehl welcomed me with a small dry gap in the clouds. The next morning I set off over the Rhine bridge to Strasbourg and along the Canal de la Marne au Rhin via Saverne, past the Saint-Louis-Arzviller boat lift to Nancy.
In cool weather, with a lot of headwind and showers, via Toul and Bar-le-Duc to Reims, the champagne city.
Laon and Noyon unfortunately fell through; I just dared a little picture outside from the shelter of a bus stop. Laon was impressive all the same when you approach this town on its hill from the south. In the afternoon it became somewhat friendlier for a short while.
Via Beauvais, Gisors and Les Andelys/Château Gaillard to the Seine at Rouen, through Picardy, lonely villages and very little car traffic on the small country roads. Not to forget: shortly before Rouen I cycled up the Col Anquetil.
Through Rouen’s industrial area back onto a plateau, and up and down to the Channel coast near Deauville and on along the coast to a campground “la mer” in Merville for a swim.
Caen the next morning and through the Suisse Normande via Vire to Mont Saint-Michel to marvel at the crowds of tourists, and on along the coast via Saint-Malo to Cap Fréhel.
The weather was disappointing once again, so I headed south in a fairly direct line via Josselin to Guérande to look at the salt pans there. On along the coast, well developed for tourism, and over the Loire bridge at Saint-Nazaire.
Staying on the coast to La Rochelle and to the ferry to Royan and
into the Bordeaux wine region. One centre of wine growing is Pauillac.
Bordeaux, a twin town of Munich...
whose inhabitants were all driving that Sunday afternoon on an endless road to the big Dune of Pilat (Pyla).
The next day south through the coastal forests on small, very narrow, mostly paved cycle paths to Bayonne and into the foothills of the Pyrenees at Hasparren.
Even the approach to the first passes in the Pyrenees was a change for me, as I had got used to flat country; the first passes were the Col de Burdincurutcheta and Col Bagargui.
The following day was a blind flight in the fog: all 6 passes, Col de Sustousse, Col de Soudet, Col d'Ichère, Col de Marie-Blanque, Col d'Aubisque and Col du Soulor, were shrouded in dense fog
But the next day gave me sunshine on the Col du Tourmalet, Col d'Aspin and Col de Peyresourde. A great many road cyclists were out on these Tour de France classics today.
The Col du Portillon the day after was still wonderful, but at the Port de la Bonaigua a storm broke loose and the hail on the descent was no fun. In the valley I reached a shelter at a small grocery shop in Llavorsi at the last second, before water fell from the sky in buckets for an hour and we tried together to sweep the water coming in out onto the street with brooms and other tools. At the Collado del Canto the weather then improved.
As the next day also began with fog, I headed straight for France on the N260 and left the Pyrenees. The road climbed once more at the Col de Calvaire to 1836 m, and then dropped in a long descent, first through broad valleys and then through a narrow gorge, to Axat and towards Carcassonne.
Unfortunately the weather was not particularly good the next day either: Carcassonne showed itself shrouded in cloud, and on the detour into the foothills of the Massif Central there was often some rain.
On along small roads through hill country towards Montpellier and the Camargue, to the dead waters of the pirate town of Aigues-Mortes and to the three Marys of Saintes-Maries-de-la-Mer. In a strong wind from the north on gravel tracks through the Étang de Vaccarès, past the flamingos (after I had already admired the white horses and black cattle) and on to Arles.
Also in a fresh mistral I set off for the Pont du Gard and Avignon and visited the pope’s new castle, Châteauneuf-du-Pape, to have a look at the wine-growing area. All this on the way to Mont Ventoux, the Kilimanjaro of Provence.
At the foot of this mountain I set up my base camp and early in the morning I started the roughly 2-hour ascent of this grandiose viewpoint mountain. A descent to Sault and through the lavender fields towards the Gorge du Verdon.
The next morning one last look at Mont Ventoux in the distance and then into the fantastic Verdon Gorge. As the bottom bracket of my bike was slowly but surely giving up the ghost and would only turn with a wobble, and at the same time the freewheel of my rear hub was croaking (the pawl teeth had caries, as I found out at home), I headed straight for Ventimiglia (via Nice, Monaco and Menton), to travel back to Munich from there by regional trains, changing in Milan, Verona, Brenner, Kufstein and Rosenheim. It was a wonderful holiday all the same.
