Route Planning in France

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This post contains some notes that might be of interest to people planning a bike tour in France.We spend  a fair bit of time in paris and have our own bikes here so I will not address bike rental in this post.

Maps

While the various route planning resources on the internet discussed below are useful, one really should have good maps covering the region(s) to be visited. IGN maps (available in any reasonable book store) with a 1:100,000 scale are preferable although Michelin 1:200,000 scale maps can be acceptable in relatively rural areas.

Within about 20 km of Paris, larger scale maps are essential (e.g. the Michelin Banlieue de Paris with a scale of 1:53,000. To navigate out of Paris, one of the free maps available at all hotels, supported by some internet directions as discussed below should be quite adequate.

Finding Quiet Roads

In progress more to come