For preparation purposes it's a good idea to do one of your qualifiers or pre qualifiers in France. Just to get used to riding in France.
Ah yes, getting used to riding in France. Great routes, a lack of traffic density, polite drivers and route cards / maps that should win the Nobel Prize for literature (fiction category).
I live cheese-side and am a semi regular Brevet rider. Mostly they follow a similar format; Whacky races at the start, wild eyes and straight into tempo/threshold effort (not for me, I'm Flahute {cough} ) Big groups survival of the fittest type stuff, quickly breaking down into dispersed pockets of resistance. Long lunches with wine followed by a retreat from Stallingrad re-enactment, bodies at the roadside, increasing in number the closer to arrivee. Of course it's all smiles and nonchalance at the end, usually followed by a sample of the local delicacy ... andouille anyone ?
I'm not far from the PBP route and my hamlet are already making plans to turnout to watch me, so no pressure, noooo.. none at all.
I love it, Vive La France !
p.s. My 2018 pre-qualifier is the BCM ...