Lewes to Paris Cycle Ride

This year I was again lucky enough to be invited by the Lewes Southover Church cycling group to join them on their Le Tour cycle trip to France. This year it was a ride to Paris! The tour started in Lewes heading for the ferry in Newhaven. 

Seven Sisters in the South Downs National Park

The journey from Dieppe to Paris along the Avenue Verte was about 150 miles. This long-distance cycle path in France takes you right into the centre of Paris. 

On this trip I went over early and stayed the night in Dieppe and then cycled off to the first night stop at Forges-les-Eaux to meet up with the main group who arrived in the late afternoon. I had all day to do the 33 miles to the first stop so I was able to do a bit of exploring and found a superb cafe/restaurant just off the Avenue Verte at Saint-Vaast-d'Équiqueville:

On the way back we all stopped off at this super cafe - Le Relais de l'Avenue Verte tel: 02 35 40 16 48 email: relais.avenue.verte@live.fr

From Forges-les-Eaux we journeyed on to Gisors. This was a full day cycle ride of nearly 40 miles and an ascent of nearly 1700 ft (508m).  

From Gisors we cycled to an area on the outskirts of Paris - Maisons-Laffitte a distance of just over 47 miles with an ascent of 1578 ft (481m). It was on this leg of the journey that I heard the wonderful news of the birth of my granddaughter in Singapore! 
My son James texted me and here I am at the top of the hill reading and replying to the text. 


We also toasted my granddaughter, Emma at the next cafe: 

The brasserie 'Le Comptoir des Petites Auges' is located at Sagy, in Picardie, France. Great food, great service at good prices! Here is an article about the cafe and its owner who looked after us: http://www.gazettevaldoise.fr/2016/04/14/nouveau-resto-le-comptoir-des-petites-auges/

The journey to Paris took us to Maisons-Laffitte  via a large forest (La forêt domaniale de Saint-Germain-en-Laye) on the edge of Paris and to the Ibis Hotel. This was an excellent hotel, in a quiet location and ideally placed for the final stage the following day when we would cycle into Paris. 

This last stage was just over 18 miles:

We then had a guided cycle tour of Paris. It was a bit hairy cycling in the traffic! We visited Notre Dame, Arc de Triomphe and the Louvre  

Here are some photos of the group and me:

At the Arc de Triomphe

With the Eiffel Tower in the background

There was limited time for the return journey so we didn’t cycle all the way back to Dieppe. We had transport for us and our bicycles back to Neufchâtel-en-Bray for the final night and on the following day we cycled the 33 miles back to Dieppe, crossed by the ferry and cycled the 10 miles back to Lewes arriving about 10.30pm. Here are some photos of the final stage of this trip:

It was a great cycle ride and I’d like to thank everyone for their company and especially the leader Peter Eastham.


And finally the stats:

Locations	Distance	Av Speed incl stops in MILES	Elevation Gain Feet
Around Paris	9.3	7.5	232.9
Maisons-Laffitte to Paris	18.4	6.2	278.9
Gisors to Maisons-Laffitte	47.9	5.8	1578.1
Forges-les-Eaux to Gisors	38.2	6.5	1666.7
Dieppe to Forges-Les-Eaux	32.9	5.7	780.8
Totals/Averages	146.8	6.3	4537.4