Description:
Pictures of France always focus on the Eiffel Tower or the Champs-Elysées, but the finest gems in France are the towns and villages off in Brittany and Normandy, Périgord, Camargue, and Alsace. You can rent a car, of course, but somehow a drive-through visit to small towns makes one feel like an intruder, whereas arriving on a bicycle in a healthy pedaling sweat forges an instant camaraderie with local folks. When you're not encased in and isolated by steel and glass, you have the leisure to explore, you can exchange "bonjours" with people cycling back from market with their baguettes sticking out of their baskets, you can feel the rhythm of the country and the texture of the terrain. To fully insert yourself into a French experience like this, a good guide, one written for cyclists, is a prerequisite. Ulysses's cycling guide is superb. A 32-page atlas helps you plot your route, and the detailed chapters let you know what to expect as far as distances and tour routes, how strenuous the ride and what there is to see, where you can stay and what's available to eat, when market day is, and most importantly, where to find the local bicycle shops. --Stephanie Gold
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