France

Saint-Malo: My most anticipated stop in Brittany

Posted on March 12, 2020 by carolinehelbig
Saint-Malo in Brittany, France

I became obsessed with visiting Saint-Malo, a seaside city in northern France, after reading Anthony Doerr’s novel All the Light We Cannot See. It tells the story of a blind French girl and a German boy whose paths collide in Saint-Malo during WWII. The story is riveting, but it’s the author’s description of the ancient walled city, perched on a rocky promontory overlooking the English Channel (la Manche) that totally captivated me. Saint-Malo was my most anticipated stop on our cycling trip in northern Brittany and it did not disappoint.

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Categories: Biking, France | Tags: , , , | 28 Comments

Cycling in Brittany: The V4 from Morlaix to Mont-Saint-Michel

Posted on March 3, 2020 by carolinehelbig
Cycling Brittany’s north coast

In a recent post, I wrote about the highlights of our 3.5 week independent cycling trip along France’s North Brittany and Normandy coasts. This post features an overview of the Brittany portion of our trip—from Morlaix to Mont-Saint-Michel—focussing on logistics: our route, itinerary, accommodations, and helpful resources. If you’re thinking about an independent cycling trip, hopefully this will give you a few pointers. If not, enjoy the photos. Brittany makes a great travel destination whatever your mode of transportation.

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Categories: Biking, France | Tags: , , , | 30 Comments

Cycling France’s Brittany and Normandy coasts: Top 10 highlights

Posted on January 16, 2020 by carolinehelbig
Along the V4 cycling route in Brittany, France

Last September, Mike and I cycled in coastal Brittany and Normandy. Our 732 km (455 mile) independent journey took us to charming French towns, pink-granite seascapes, iconic monuments and World War II battlegrounds. We feasted on huîtres (oysters) and moules-frites (mussels and fries) washed down with wine and cider. Except for a few killer hills, and one day of route-finding mayhem, it was a marvellous 3 1/2 weeks of slow travel. In future posts, I’ll provide details on logistics, but for now let me entice you with my top 10 highlights.

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Categories: Biking, France | Tags: , , , , | 39 Comments

Cycling the Alsace Wine Route: From One Beau Village to the Next

Posted on March 6, 2019 by carolinehelbig

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Bergheim, Alsace: 4-flower rated village

So many lovely towns along France’s scenic Alsace Wine Route…which ones are the fairest of them all? That’s what I was musing over on our last night in Strasbourg as we plotted our next six days of exploring Alsace à vélo (Alsace by bike). Looking back at it now, I laugh about my obsession with reading reviews and checking the “flower ratings” of countless villages. No way was I going to miss a town with the coveted 4-flower rating or one on Les Plus Beaux Villages de France (the most beautiful villages of France) list. It turns out that regardless of rating (or no rating at all), every village, town and city we visited was over-the-top charming. Continue reading →

Categories: Biking, France | Tags: , , , , , , , | 36 Comments

Happy Valentine’s Day from Strasbourg: My French Love

Posted on February 14, 2019 by carolinehelbig

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Cycling into beautiful Strasbourg, France

Strasbourg, the largest city in eastern France’s Alsace region, was another “rest” stop on our three-week cycling trip in Germany and France. I fell in love fast and hard. The dedicated bike lane with excellent signage that brought us to the busy city center was like the ultimate welcome mat. Over the next few days we gaped in awe at the behemoth that is Strasbourg Cathedral,  marvelled at the flower-lined canals and charming half-timbered dwellings and lingered in romantic cafes. We were enchanted by a place that’s been tossed around like a ping pong ball between Germany and France, yet has an undeniably strong identity and proud people. Continue reading →

Categories: Biking, France | Tags: , , , , , | 45 Comments

When Things Don’t Go Smoothly on a DIY Cycling Trip: Wissembourg to Strasbourg

Posted on January 24, 2019 by carolinehelbig

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Wissembourg in Alsace, France

For those following our do-it-yourself (DIY) cycling trip in Germany/France you’ll know that things have gone very smoothly. We managed to find fantastic last minute accommodations and arrive in towns just in time for local wine festivals; we never got lost and didn’t have even the slightest too-much-travel-time-together-blowup. Well, that all changed just as we entered France (not the country’s fault). The roughly 100 km stretch between the lovely cites of Wissembourg and Strasbourg had us struggling to find the cycle path and a place to sleep. There were tears and angry outbursts—not our finest hours. In the end, all turned out OK. It taught us some lessons and reinforced that the kindness of strangers is alive and well. Continue reading →

Categories: Activities, Biking, France | Tags: , , , , | 33 Comments

Cycle Touring in Germany and France: The 10 Things I Enjoyed Most

Posted on October 22, 2018 by carolinehelbig

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Sampling the wine along the way

Mike and I just returned from a cycling trip in Germany’s Rhine, Mosel, Saar and Pfalz regions and in neighbouring Alsace, France. We dub the experience The Tour du Vin und Kuchen. My odometer says that we pedalled 1100 km (684miles). Please save the oohs and ahhs. It works out to an average of about 50 km (31 miles) per day, cycling 21 out of our 29 days. We had a planned route, but our itinerary was fluid and we booked on the fly, giving us lots of flexibility to take part in wine festivals, eat kuchen (cake) and explore the fairy-tale towns and castles. Over the next months, I’ll be writing posts about each of the regions we visited.  For now, here’s a summary of what I most enjoyed. Continue reading →

Categories: France, Germany | Tags: , , , , , , | 36 Comments

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