All being well, I'll be going for a bike ride in France next summer. My route covers quite a lot of France, from Brest to Roubaix and down to near Grenoble.
Am I right in thinking I can ride on N roads? How suicidal is that likely to be? Any other tips for route planning for a ride in France?
J
There are N roads that you are allowed to use but would want to avoid. There are N roads that you would like to use but are not allowed to. The same goes for D roads. Knowing which ones are which is often hit and miss. If you are not allowed to use a road there will be a sign restricting its use to motor vehicles or banning bicycles, tractors and livestock. There are also compulsory cycle paths (which is not an indication of their fitness for the purpose) which will be indicated by signs (and non-compulsory ones also signed - but which typical piggorant french drivers may view as compulsory). There are big regional differences in all that. In the Limousin we avoid using main roads that any english (at least south-eastern) commuter would regard as perfectly safe and even quiet. They are not forbidden, we just have better routes available!
Some declassified nationales will be very quiet, some départementales will be real rat runs (usually due to new housing developments or industrial estates). If a road runs parallel to a non-payage motorway it will often be a declassified nationale and frequently (even usually) be very quiet. The 80k speed limit helps to keep the cars off!
Chain hotels still are very frequent close to industrial or commercial zones and will usually have some sort of chain restauration nearby. Putting your bike in your F1 hotel room may be the safest way to keep it for the night. Checking on hotel zone locations and plugging the information into your route planning is not a bad plan, even if you are planning on bivvying or camping sauvage. Remember that a lot of apparent bivvy sites will have been used by passing truckers. Do you fancy bivvying in an uncleaned public loo? (Just like Kent really!) (More the case on nationales with lay-bys).
I have observed that Ivo is adept at finding the pizza van!
France is a big place and even now there are still a lot of regional variations (although it is a very different place to the country I moved to 30 years ago). For eating there are now a lot more bakeries (chain and individual) who are trying to diversify into sandwich lunches and hot and cold snacks, with menu options to keep the price reasonable. They seem to have compensated for the bar restos that have closed. All day opening is also a lot more common than it was, even in the rural south-west.