Читать книгу Cycle Touring in France. Eight tours in Brittany, Picardy, Alsace, Auvergne/Languedoc, Provence, Dordogne/Lot, the Alps and the Pyrenees онлайн

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Crossings from England are much shorter. From the south coast Brittany Ferries operate four routes (Portsmouth to St Malo, Portsmouth to Caen-Ouistreham, Poole to Cherbourg and Plymouth to Roscoff) and Condor Ferries (www.condor ferries.com) operate two (Poole to St Malo and Weymouth to St Malo). The Condor ferries are fast, reaching St Malo in five hours. Hoverspeed (www.hoverspeed.com), Sea France (www.seafrance.com) and P&O Ferries (www.poferries.com) operate ferry crossings between Dover to Calais. Foot passengers can take bicycles on all of these (£5–£10 charge). A useful website for information is www.aferry.co.uk.

There are regular train services to Paris from all the French ports mentioned (although some, such as Caen-Ouistreham, require a ride into town to the main station).

Cyclists can also reach France by train from England. The regular Eurostar service (www.eurostar.com) via Ashford International in Kent and the Channel Tunnel departs from St Pancras International and takes about 3 hours to Paris Gare du Nord. Trains run every hour during the week from 5.30am to 7.40pm. You can also get off at Lille (2 hours from St Pancras) and take a high speed TGV (Train à Grande Vitesse) to the Paris airport CDG where the Marne and Picardy tour (Route 2) begins. This TGV line bypasses Paris and continues on to the south of France.