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.

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.