You can find additional photos etc here
Maps which show the route are here
Hope this is of interest!!
General Note - throughout our trip we used the IGN (French Map Service) 1:100,000 maps which we were able to pick up at virtually any book/newspaper shop or garage. They have a huge amount of detail and show every minor road as well as elevations etc. All our navigation was done using these and names etc were taken from these so may differ from other maps.
2 Sept
Train from Edinburgh to London
3 Sept
Train from Ashford to Paris Gare du Nord, then Paris Montparnasse to Bordeaux by TGV. See my experiences with french trains for more info on this.
4 Sept
Bordeaux to St Seurin de Prats - 69.54km
We left the city centre of Bordeaux heading roughly eastwards. Navigation through the city wasn't always the easiest but once we reached the suburbs it was fairly simple to find road signs and keep moving in largely the right direction. The only slightly tricky bit was crossing the 6 lane ring road - it took a few goes to find a cycle friendly route but it wasn't too difficult.
From there we were able to cycle out through the sleepy little hamlets which surround the city - you really are in rural France very quickly. We passed through the hamlets of Floriac, Tresses and Salleboeuf then on through Nerigean, Genissac, Branne, St Castillon and Flaujaques to St Seurin de Prats. Once there we were able to find a fantastic little campsite immediately adjacent to the Dordogne. As it was approaching the end of the season, it was about to close up and we were the only people in the whole place which would probably have at least 200 places. They only charged us about 15FF to stay complete with hot showers.
St Seurin de Prats to Bergerac - 51.70km
We followed small roads along the Dordogne all day - perfect cycling territory - no hills, no traffic, beautiful scenery with roads winding through fields of corn, apple orchards and kiwi fruit farms. We passed through Pessac sur Dordogne, Eynesse, Ste Foy la Grande, Briands, Lartigue, Gardonne and Ste Martin en route to the old city of Bergerac.
A trip to the local Tourist Info led us to the Camping Municipal on the south bank of the river opposite the town. The campsite was good and you can camp right beside the river - watch out for hoards of camper vans and friendly local geese.
Bergerac to St Leon sur Vezere - 70.93km
We left the gentle banks (and flat roads) of the riverside and headed into the hills behind Bergerac. Vinyards became more common as did our pitstops to recover! The hills were not difficult but the heat and the heavy bikes slowed progress. We were hopping across to the Vezere - one of the largest tributaries of the Dordogne. The villages in these hills were small and invariably a perfect example of how a french village (or one anywhere for that matter) should look.
After a long day in the saddle, a long downhill to Le Moustier brought us to the Vezere where we began the search for a campsite. We washed up in one of the big campsites run for families which includes swimming pools, bars, restaurants, shop, etc etc etc. Despite our initial reaction of "UGH", it actually turned out to be so good that we stayed for 3 nights!
Route - Bergerac, St Alvere, Les Landetts, Rouffigeac, Plazac, Le Moustier, St Leon Sur Vezere.
Camping le Paradis to Camping le Paradis - 37.89km
After yesterday's long run through the hills we thought a rest day was in order. We headed 10kn upstream to the village of Montignac. There are many excellent bars and restaurants overlooking the river - great lunches to be had in the sunshine! We couldn't help noticing the number of canoe rental agencies there are scattered along the river. These guys will basically either let you go downstream from their base and pick you up later (anything from half a day to a week depending how far you want to go) or alternatively take you upstream and letting you work your own way down at your own pace. They supply all kit (kayak or canadian canoe) and seem to be well run - shop around to see what there is - we found brochures in all tourist info centres, campsites, shops etc.
We headed back to the campsite and further south to Roque St Christophe which is an amazing Neanderthal archeological site. Definitely worth a visit despite the dodgy models on the way out.
