Our Sentimental Journey

Appendix

ROUTE 1. OUR ROUTE.—FROM CALAIS TO MODANE.
Towns.	Distance in Kilometres.	Hotels.	Remarks on Roads, &c.
Calais		Du Sauvage.
Boulogne	33	Du Louvre.	Good surface, very hilly, much pavé.
Pont-de-Brique	5		Paved all the way.
Condette			Good.
Neuchâtel	8		“
Etaples	19		From Etaples to Abbeville we went by Montreuil, Nainpont, Nouvion, because of sentimental reasons. But the route as given is said to be much better, and though 13 kilos. longer, has 13 kilos. less pavé, and is much less hilly than the Route Nationale, the old post-road taken by Sterne.
Berck	14
Waben	6
Quend	7
Rue	7
Abbeville	13	De France.	Good.
Pont Remy	8		“
Longpre	9		Sandy.
Picquigny	13		Sandy.
Amiens	13	L’Univers (Expensive).
Breteuil	32		Good; long up-grades.
St. Just	About half-way	Cheval Blanc.	Good.
Clermont	34		Good; long descent.
Angy
Mouy	13	Du Commerce.	Good; long descent.
Cires-les-Mellis			Good.
Beaumont	14	Quatre Fils Aymon.	“
Paris	47		The highroad to Paris is all paved. Train to Gare du Nord. Across Paris viâ Boulevard Voltaire and Place de la République to the Gare de Lyon. Ridable nearly all the way. From Paris to Melun train; pavé.
Melun
Viâ {Chailly {Barbizon {The Forest
	From Paris.
Fontainebleau	59	Cadran Bleu.	Perfect.
Nemours			“
Montargis	50	Poste.	Perfect; but at the foot of some hills are gutters of pavé.
Briare	41		Good.
Cosne	31	Grand Cerf.	“
La Charité	28	Poste.	Good.
Nevers	25	Europe.	Good; take left-hand road into Nevers.
Moulins	53	De l’Allier.	Good.
La Palisse	50		“
La Pacaudière		Du Commerce.	Good up to La Pacaudière, about 18 kilos. from La Palisse.
Roanne	31		Good; long down-grade.
Tarare	40	Europe.	Good surface; mountainous.
Lyons	44	Négociants.	Bad near Lyons; hilly.
Vienne	27	Du Nord.	Bad: stony and hilly.
Chatonnay	29		Good.
Rives	30	Poste.	Good; dead level; bad descent into Rives.
Vreppe	13		Great climb, then descent to St. Laurent.
St. Laurent	15
La Grand Chartreuse (10 k. from St. Laurent)
Les Echelles	6		Climb, and after tunnel, down. Awful climb going the other way.
Chambéry	24
Montrélian	15	Des Voyageurs.
Aiguebelle	23
St. Jean de Maurienne	33	Europe.
St. Michel	14	Union.
Modane	17
ROUTE 2. BEST ROUTE FROM CALAIS TO PARIS. Route 1.—To Boulogne.
Boulogne		Du Louvre.
Samer	15
Cormont	10		Level to hilly.
Montreuil (sur Mer)	10	De Londres.	“
Nampont	13
Nouvion	13
Abbeville	13	De France.
Ailly-le-haut
Clocher by Fixécourt	13
Belloy to Picquigny	19		Route 1 to Amiens.
ROUTE 2. BEST ROUTE FROM CALAIS TO PARIS. Route 1.--To Boulogne.
Boulogne		Du Louvre.
Samer	15
Cormont	10		Level to hilly.
Montreuil (sur Mer)	10	De Londres.	“
Nampont	13
Nouvion	13
Abbeville	13	De France.
Ailly-le-haut
Clocher by Fixécourt	13		Level to hilly.
Belloy to Picquigny	19		Route 1 to Amiens.
Route 1.--To Breteuil.
Breteuil		Du Globe.	Hilly to level.
Caply	3
St. Eusoye	4
Froissy	3	Pélerin Nugnot.
Noiremont	3
Sucrerie St. Martin	5		Hilly to level.
Oroer	3
Tillé	5
Beauvais	4	L’Ecu.
Voisinlieu	4
St. Quentin d’ Auteuil	10		Hilly.
Bois-de-Molle	3
Corbeil Cerf	5		Hilly.
Meru	5	Augonin.
Amblainville	5		From here generally level to Paris.
Vallangouyard	8
Herouville	5
Méry-sur-Oise	6
Epinay-les-St.-Denis	19		Cross the Seine.
Asnières	5		“
Paris	4		Ask for the Rue de Villières, take the Boulevard Gouvignon-St.-Cyr, which leads to the Porte Neuilly.
ROUTE 3. ROUTE FROM BEAUVAIS TO PARIS.
Beauvais
St. Quentin	14	D’Angleterre.
La Fère	25	De l’Europe.
Coucy-le-Château	25	Pomme d’Or.
Noyon	30	Du Nord.
Compiègne	20	La Cloche.
Pierrefonds	17
Crépy-en-Valois	25	Trois.
Valois		Pigeons.
Senlis	25	De France.
Chantilly	13	Du Cygne.
Beaumont	25	Quatre fils d’Aymon.
Pontoise	25	Grand Cerf.
Poissy	15	De Rouen.
St. Germain	8	Prince des Galles.	By way of the Forest to Neuilly and Porte Maillot.
Paris	25
ROUTE 4. FROM DIEPPE TO PARIS.
Dieppe		Soleil d’Or.	There is no good stopping place between Dieppe and Rouen, save at Tôtes.
Rouen	57	La Poste.
Boos	11
Ecouis	21	De la Paix.
Les Thilliers	15
Gisors	16	L’Ecu.
Beauvais	32	L’Ecu.
See Routes to Paris (pages 240 and 241).
ROUTE 5. FROM ROUEN TO PARIS.
Rouen		La Poste.	Good, but hilly.
Boos	11
Petit Andelys	21	Chaîne d’Or (or 1 kilo, further Grand Cerf at Grand Andelys)	Cross the Seine.
Vernon	13	Soleil d’Or.
Mantes	24	Grand Cerf.
Pontoise	30
See Route 3 to Paris (page 241).
ROUTE 6. FROM HAVRE TO ROUEN.
Havre		D’Angleterre.
Caudebec	50	Aigle D’Or.
Rouen	36	La Poste.
ROUTE 7. FROM HAVRE TO ANGERS OR ST. MALO.
Havre (ferry to)		D’Angleterre.
Honfleur		Cheval Blanc.
Pont-de-L’Evêque	16	Bras d’Or.
Lizieux	17	D’Espagne.	Very hilly.
Caen	40	Grand Hotel St. Pierre.
Bayeux	28	Du Luxembourg.
St. Lo	40	De Normandie.
Coutances	29	Trois Rois.
Granville	29	Des Bains.
Avranches	26	De Londres.
Pontorson	22		To St. Malo, Dol 20, Vivier 6; St. Mal 22 (Hotel Franklin).
Mont St. Michel	9	Mme. Poulard.
Fougères	34	Des Voyageurs.
Vitry	18	Des Voyageurs.
Laval	38	De Paris.
Château Gontier	24
Angers	50	Du Faisan.
ROUTE 8. NEAR PARIS AND TOURAINE. FROM PARIS TO ANGERS.
Paris			Best to train to Melun, although one can ride to Versailles, thence to Sceaux and Fontainebleau, or direct by Villeneuve St. George. There is, however ever, much traffic and paving.
Melun
Fontainebleau	21	Cadran Bleu.
Pithiviers	48	La Poste.
Orléans	32	Du Loiret.	Cross the Loire at Beaugency. (expensive).
Blois	15	D’Angleterre.
Amboise	32	Lion d’Or.	Cross river at Ouzain for Château de Chaumont.
Chenonceau	16	Bon Laboureur.
Tours	32	Grand Monarque.	Excursions may be made from Tours to Lôches, Bourges, Chinon, Chartres, &c. All the highroads about here are good.
Langeais	24	Lion d’Or.
Saumur	39	Budan.
Les Rosiers	16	De La Poste.
Angers	31	De Londres.
			(This route, with the numerous excursions to be made on the banks of the Loire, is one of the most interesting in France, and can be made into a roundtrip by adding any of the routes to Paris, and return by St. Malo, Havre, or Dieppe).
ROUTE 9. FROM PARIS TO LYONS, BY WAY OF DIJON. (See also Route 1.)
Paris			Train to Melun.
Melun
Montéreau	30	Grand Monarque.
Pont-sur-Yonne	25	De l’Ecu.
Sens	12	De l’Ecu.
Le Thiel	11		Hilly.
Cérisier	8
Arces	10
St. Florentin	16
Flogny	13
Tonnerre	15	Lion d’Or.
Ancy-le-Franc	18
Aizy-sur-Armançon	16
Montbard	11
Fain	9
Villeneuve-les-Couvres	13
Chanceaux	14
St. Seine	12
Val de Suzon	10
Dijon	17	De la Cloche.
Beaune	38
Châlons-sur-Saône	30	Du Commerce.
Tournus	30	Du Sauvage.
Macon	30	Du Sauvage.
Villefranche	38	De l’Europe.
Trévoux	10	De la Terrasse.	Less hilly than Route 1.
Lyons	29	Des Négociants.
ROUTE 10. FROM LYONS TO MARSEILLES.
Lyons			Take right bank of the Rhône to Vienne.
Vienne	35	Du Nord.
Tain	55
Valance	18	Des Négociants.
Montélimart	44	De la Poste.	Good, but hilly.
Orange	53	De la Poste.
Avignon	27	Du Louvre.
Tarascon	23	Du Louvre.
Arles	16	Forum.	(Or, from Arles, train to St. Chamas, and ride thence, about 30 kilometres, to Martigues, and thence to Marseilles, about 50 kilometres).
Salon	40	Grand.
ROUTE 11. FROM CHAMBERY (see Route 1) TO GENEVA.
Chambery		Des Princes.
Aix-les-Bains	14	De la Couronne.
Annecy	47
Geneva	40	De la Poste.
ROUTE 12. FROM DIJON TO GENEVA.
Dijon		De la Cloche.
Genlis	19	Lion d’Or.
Auxonne	15
Dôle	16	Du Lion.
Poligny	37	Tête d’Or.
Champignol	23	De la Poste.
St. Laurent	21
Les Rousses (frontier)	21	De la Poste.
La Faucille	19
Gex	11	De la Poste.
Geneva	17	Du Lac.
ROUTE 13. FROM PARIS TO BORDEAUX.
(The direct route is Paris, Chartres, Tours. But up to Tours it is scarcely worth riding, as it is mainly uninteresting, outside of the large towns, and very hilly.)
Paris
Tours	230
St. Maure	44	De la Poste.
Châtellerault	33	L’Univers.
Poitiers	33	Trois Pilliers.
Couhé	35	Fradet.
Ruffec	35	Des Ambassadeurs.
Angoulème	43	Des France.
Barbézieux	34	Boule d’Or.
Régniac	7
La Granle	7
Mont Guyon	18
Guîtres	21
Libourne	16	L’Europe.
Beychac	16
Bordeaux	15	Marin.	(From Bordeaux numerous excursions may be made. One may make the journey there by this route, or come direct by sea from England, or return from Bordeaux up the coast by La Rochelle, Nantes to Angers.)

The above routes cover about the pleasantest and most interesting touring ground in France. But good roads exist all over the south. For instance, from Bordeaux, the road up the Garonne to Toulouse, 250 kilometres, is excellent, though quite flat; but in the summer time it is apt to be very hot, and the surface loose and sandy.

From this road excursions may be made all through the Pyrenees, which can be entered either at Luchon or at Pau. It is preferable, however, when touring through the Pyrenees, to train to St. Gaudens, from which place Bagnières de Luchon (Hotel de France) is 48 kilometres distant.

Towns.	Distance in Kilometres.	Hotels.
Luchon
Montrejeau	37	L’Eclair.
Bagnières de Bigorre	42
Lourdes	20
Nay	18
Pau	17	Du Commerce.

Excursions may be made all over this district, which is extremely interesting. Though very hilly, it possesses magnificent roads. From Pau to Dax the route is by

Towns.	Distance in Kilometres.	Hotels.
Orthez	40	Des Pyrénées.
Pomarez	16
Dax	21	De la Paix.

From Castets, near Dax, one strikes the main highroad from Bordeaux to Bayonne, about 200 kilometres in distance; it traverses Les Landes, and is worth taking.

From St. Gaudens to Carcassonne (Hotel Bernard), 170 kilometres, the road begins by being hilly, but you gradually leave the region of the Pyrenees, and it becomes easier riding. But long hills are to be found all about here. Long distances have to be made between towns, and, unless one has plenty of time, this trip on to Narbonne, Cette, and Montpellier, is hardly to be recommended. It is also liable frequently to great heat and much sand.

From Toulouse to Albi (Hotel du Nord), 76 kilometres, the road is good; and from Albi excursions can be made all over the marvellous country of the Tarn Gorges, and through the Cevennes. But travelling in this section requires comparatively good knowledge of French, and also of geography; though the roads are good, the towns are few, and long distances must be made each day.

The highroad from Paris to Clermont-Ferrand, 400 kilometres, turning off Route 1 at Moulins, conducts one to the heart of Auvergne and the volcanic country. Continuing from Clermont-Ferrand to Issoire, and thence to Brioude, one may turn to the left for St. Flour, and thence to Rodez and Albi, or to the right for La Chaise-Dieu and Le Puy, proceeding from this place either down the Loire and again to Moulins, or crossing over to Lyons.

Poitiers is connected by main road with Limoges, and from that town St. Flour may be reached. Following on, by Mende and Florac, one will come to Allier, and next Nîmes, for Arles.

Nearly all these roads, however, are over high mountain passes, and though the scenery is well worth seeing, and though the enormous coasts, sometimes 10 miles long, make up for the enormous hills that have to be walked, one must expect very strong winds and bad weather, even in the middle of summer.

To the north and east of Paris some good riding is to be had, and the scenery is almost always delightful, but there is a vast amount of pavé. This may be usually avoided by taking to the byroads, information about which, now that cycling has become so popular, can often be had from cycle agents, or efficient repairers, who are to be found in every town.

A most interesting tour would be Amiens, Laon, Soissons, Rheims and the champagne country, Troyes, whence return could be made to Paris, or the journey continued by way of Châlons-sur-Marne, Dijon to Geneva.

The Vosges district, too, is worth visiting, and endless tours may be made from Nancy as a centre. Provence also, the Riviera, and the Cornice Road, afford some of the most delightful wheeling to be had in the country. But tourists, with time enough to make these long excursions, will prefer doubtless to map their routes out for themselves by the aid of the C.T.C. Road Books and Baroncelli’s Guides.

There is only one portion of the country which every one who cares for the pleasures of cycling should be advised to avoid, and that is the vast and dreary plain stretching from Paris to Le Mans, and from Rouen to Orléans. In planning a tour through France by routes other than those here given or suggested, Baedeker’s or Murray’s guide-books should be used for general information, supplemented, for road information, by the Géographie Joanne for each department through which one is passing. They can be purchased for 50 centimes, or 1 franc 25 centimes, in every bookshop in France. They are quite reliable enough, and much more convenient to carry than any other maps published in the country.

The Cyclists’ Touring Club is at present engaged in bringing out a revised edition of its French Road Book. So far, however, Baroncelli’s Guides are the best cycle routes published. His address is 18 Rue Roquepine, Paris. The Sketch Routes, published by the Véloce Sport (English address, Paul Hardy, 27 Alfred Place, Russell Square), are very useful if they happen to take you in the direction you wish to go. The Cyclists’ Touring Club Road Books, only sold to members, contain a vast amount of useful information unfortunately not well arranged. Membership in this club, which only costs half-a-crown a year, is desirable for tourists on the Continent.

The Customs regulations in France are not at all stringent, and tourists are now almost invariably allowed free entry with their machines at the chief ports, provided they can prove themselves to be tourists, and possess a sufficient knowledge of the French language to explain the fact intelligibly. Otherwise, a deposit of fifty or more francs is demanded; but if a receipt be obtained, the amount, with a very trifling deduction, will be returned if the tourist leaves the country within six months. If one, however, proposes to go for a few days into Germany, Belgium, or Spain, it is well to obtain a Passavant Descriptif, a description of the machine, which costs a penny, and will permit the bearer to return without any other formalities than showing this document on again passing the Customs officers. It can be obtained at the frontier stations by which one leaves the country, and is good at any other point of entry. A passport is of very little use, but some papers of identification, if possible French, may be indispensable for any one who sketches or photographs. Sketching and photographing are prohibited within a circle of 10 kilometres of any fortifications.

French hotels are usually reasonable and excellent. When they are extortionate, they are nearly always bad.

Parcels Post is about as unreliable as in any other part of the world. Clothes forwarded in this way are subject to the same uncertainty of delivery, as regards time, as in England.

Suggestions as to distances to be ridden, clothes to be worn, and so on, are quite unnecessary, since any one who has toured at all is usually a law unto himself in these matters, and will accept no advice.

But as the roads are the best in the world, the people the most polite, unless a head wind catches him, the tourist should have a delightful time if he keeps to the right of the road, and provides himself with a lamp and a bell.

Ballantyne Press
Printed by Ballantyne Hanson & Co.
Edinburgh and London

Notes

A For the cycler it suffices to say that it was an overgrown “Bayliss & Thomas.”

B We have never ceased regretting that we did not go to see Crasmagne en Amérique.