Veloscenic

The island of l’Île de la Cité in the heart of Paris is your starting point. Setting off on your cycling adventure, you’ll pass some of Paris’s most iconic sites: the banks of the Seine, the Latin Quarter, Saint-Germain-des-Prés, Saint-Sulpice Church and Tour Montparnasse. Then continue along the Promenade des Vallons de la Bièvre, a 12km-long green and shaded ‘‘corridor’’ conceived for cyclists and walkers, away from motorized traffic. Our tip – set aside time to visit the estates of Sceaux and La Vallée aux Loups in the département of Hauts-de-Seine, both a delight to explore.

Onwards to Louis XIV’s dazzling château at Versailles, following the Bièvre Valley, enjoying an almost rural atmosphere. The wooded hills, streams and grazing cows in their meadows tend to make you forget you’re so close to Paris. A lack of tricky slopes, plus stretches along quiet little roads shared with motorized traffic or then along cycle paths, make this a pleasing stage accessible to all.

After the magnificence of the Château de Versailles, cycle on into the Parc Naturel Régional de la Haute Vallée de Chevreuse, which has its own rich natural, cultural and historical heritage to explore. Riding along a mix of cycle paths and quiet roads, cross the Plateau de Saclay to reach St-Rémy-lès-Chevreuse.

Explore the charming town of Chevreuse and its château before entering Rambouillet Forest. As you cycle onwards, the Château de Breteuil, Cernay’s waterfalls and the Espace Rambouillet animal park incite you to stop more than once. Do note there are a few slopes to tackle, the perfect excuse for indulging in a tasty treat at the end of the stage.

Leave the urban world behind you! This stage leads you to the densely wooded slopes of Rambouillet Forest. Half-way along, you cross the little Yvette Valley via the Fauvettes Viaduct, an historic piece of railway engineering reaching 34m in height. A few kilometres on, follow the old line of the Aérotrain, a bold experimental hovertrain track dating back to the 1960s and 70s. Make time for a detour to the well-named Château Saint-Jean de Beauregard.

Forests, valleys and extensive meadows provide the elements that create the typical landscapes of the Haute Vallée de Chevreuse. You cycle along a greenway using the former Aérotrain line before continuing along quiet little roads. The likes of Bullion, Bonnelles and Rochefort-en-Yvelines are worth a detour, both to admire the Parc Naturel Régional’s typical architecture and to pick up provisions.

Enter the magnificent Rambouillet Forest, crisscrossed by cycle paths. Do make the detours to the Moulin de Villeneuve, a mill close to surrealist poet Louis Aragon’s heart, and, focusing on nature, the Espace Rambouillet animal park.

This is the last, really delightful stage before you leave the greater Paris region of Ile-de-France for the département (French county) of Eure-et-Loir. Having explored the English-style gardens at the Domaine de Rambouillet, follow the Guéville Valley to the little town of Épernon, perched above the confluence of three rivers and designated a Petite Cité de caractère® for its historical attractions.

An exceptionally bucolic stage along the Eure Valley, riding beside fields, forests and gently flowing rivers. Start from Epernon, a little town designated a Petite Cité de Caractère® for its history, including the secret of its mummy, to be unearthed… Continue along the charming Drouette River leading to the beautiful Eure River, which guides you to Maintenon. This town boasts a wonderfully romantic château, witness to the secretive love affair between the Sun King, Louis XIV, and Françoise d’Aubigné, better known as Madame de Maintenon.

Leave Maintenon by cycling under the château’s aqueduct, the majestic remnants of a madcap idea of Louis XIV’s, to divert the waters of the Eure River as far as Versailles. Continuing through country parts, follow the river and the little lakes beside it, offering lovely refreshing spots at which to stop. Reaching Chartres, the breathtaking view of its cathedral is the highlight on this stage full of visual delights.

Leave Chartres to head for Illiers-Combray, riding along small roads through wide fields, following in the footsteps of famed author Marcel Proust and his landmark novel, In Search of Lost Time. This writer was greatly inspired by the little town of Illiers-Combray, re-christened Combray in his fiction, which evokes the church, the Pré Catelan Garden and the Maison de Tante Léonie, named after a character, but in fact his real aunt and uncle’s house, now a museum that plunges you back into a fitting Belle Epoque atmosphere.

Leaving Illiers-Combray, you cycle for a short further stretch through the wide flat fields of the Beauce Plain before the landscape changes as the first hills of the Perche area appear. You head for increasingly wooded, shaded roads. Beautiful undulating green landscapes stretch out as far as the eye can see as you enter the Parc Naturel Régional du Perche. The pretty little village of Thiron-Gardais lies at the end of this stage, so enjoy discovering all the history surrounding this iconic abbey.

You’ll need to find a final burst of energy at the end of this stage, arriving at Nogent-le-Rotrou, historic capital of the counts of Perche, to reach its château dominating the Huisne Valley. Along the rest of the stage, there are other splendid viewing points, plus typical villages. In addition, lovely winding roads lead you through the heart of the Parc Naturel Régional du Perche. Along the way, you may spot some beautiful Percheron draft horses.

Rejoin the cycle route, riding along undulating little forested roads before branching off onto a greenway going from Condé-sur-Huisne to Alençon. Enjoy the peace along this long country stretch running very close to the Huisne River. Allow yourself a short detour to the magnificent hamlet of Villeray.

Admiring old manors and mills, you meander along a greenway through the heart of the Perche area on this stage, enjoying the most peaceful of atmospheres.

Continuing to ride along the greenway from Condé-sur-Huisne to Alençon, you leave behind the Perche, but enter the Parc Naturel Régional Normandie-Maine. The Lac du Mêle-sur-Sarthe offers a very refreshing halt, much appreciated by children.

This stage offers a lovely path through the Bourse Forest, beside the Vésone River. As you cycle on through fields, the town of Alençon appears. Take time exploring this historic centre with its rich and varied architectural heritage and its traditional craft skills, notably needle-point lace-making.

This is doubtless the most challenging stage along the whole Veloscenic cycle route, but it offers fine views over Écouves Forest and a majestic end at Carrouges. You ride along small roads through the Pays d'Alençon area until you come to the Château de Carrouges, headquarters of the Parc Naturel Régional Normandie-Maine, and a place where you can find local produce to sample.

On this stage, you ride to Bagnoles de l'Orne along the most family-friendly of alternative routes, going via Pré-en-Pail-Saint-Samson and the Mont des Avaloirs, the highest point in the Armorican Massif and the wider Grand Ouest region (basically, northwest France). From Damigny up to Pré-en-Pail-Saint-Samson, you cycle along a former railway line turned easy, safe greenway, taking you through airy, unspoilt areas, such as the Sarthon Valley and the Réserve Naturelle Régionale du Mont des Avaloirs.

You ride along small country roads and through forested parts before reaching Bagnoles de l'Orne. Nestling in its wonderfully green setting, this natural thermal spa resort, the largest in Western France, will happily welcome you, even providing treatments for sore legs and relaxation to perk you up!

Continue your cycling journey on the greenway leading to Bagnoles-de-l'Orne Normandie. This stretch serves as a link between the French counties of Orne and Mayenne, meandering through landscapes marked by rivers, forests and hedge-divided fields typical of the Parc Naturel Régional Normandie-Maine. Safe and well signposted, this stage presents no particular physical challenges. Before reaching Bagnoles-de-l’Orne, stop at the Chapelle de Notre-Dame de Lignou, with its supposedly miracle-working statue and its pilgrims’ tales and legends. Do make a detour to see the 16th- and 18th-century grounds of the Château de Couterne.

Leaving the natural thermal spa town of Bagnoles-de-l’Orne, cycle off through the heart of the state-run Andaines Forest. Then you ride past apple orchards and hedge-divided fields. All this variety offers a typical view of Normandy in concentrated form.

Getting up to and down from the medieval hill town of Domfront proves a challenge, demanding energy and concentration. But once back down on the greenway (which links here to La Vélo Francette cycle route), the way along this stage offers lovely glimpses of Normandy’s typical hedge-divided countryside, particularly beside the Sélune River.

The village of Mortain appears on its slope, in the green heart of the bocage normand, the region’s traditional hedge-divided fields. It also stands at the junction of the Veloscenic and Vélomaritime cycle routes. Explore the typical landscapes of the Mortainais area, offering a mix of countryside, forest, rocks and cliffs.

Begin this stage by visiting the enchanting site of the waterfalls on the Cance River. Then set off on a lovely, peaceful stage leading you through several small towns… plus you also pass in front of several former train stations.

You may get a scent of sea air as you ride along this penultimate stage between the town of St-Hilaire-du-Harcouët, founded by a companion in arms of William the Conqueror, and Ducey, a former port where boats would arrive, pushed along by the tide.

So, you embark on the final stage of the Veloscenic cycle route. A greenway meanders to the mouth of the Sélune River and continues beside the great Bay of the Mont Saint-Michel, offering you joyous shifting views of the abbey on its mount rising above the salty meadows known as prés salés.