Proposed Route for Caen to Marsille

Day1
Friday 27th August
We will all meet at Portsmouth ferry port to get the over night ferry to Caen on a Brittany ferries crossing, the crossing will leave at around 11pm and we will arrive in Caen at approx 6am, we will all have cabins and rise early for a good breakfast.

Day 2 Caen to Saint Calais 120miles
Saturday 28th August
Depart Caen at around 7am and head south towards Sees which is approx 60 miles there we will stop for lunch, however as our start is early we might need to do a few more miles until 12 o clock because all the French restaurants open at mid day.
After lunch we will then continue south towards our overnight destination at Saint Calais. [This is level with Le Mans]

Day 3 Saint Calais to Saint Savin 115 miles
Sunday 29th August
An early start to get to our destination is always a good idea, we will leave our hotel by 8am heading towards Loches for our lunch stop at around the 60 mile mark, after lunch we will then enter some lovely French countryside heading towards Saint Savin which is a place I know, here we will stay over night.

Day 4 Saint Savin to Moutardon 50 miles
Monday 30th August
Ok we can have a lie in, YES, then head toward a village called Moutardon which to be honest is slightly in the wrong direction but not by much, this is where we will have the afternoon to relax swim and be feed by my wife in our French farmhouse, [Yes Mrs Payne has agreed to go to our house open it up and great us all with open arms, with a barbeque and then of to a local restaurant in the evening].
This will keep the cost down and give us a short day and time to relax, however Mrs Payne [Ellie] did say that she would expect gifts, [Vin]
By doing a shorter day it will put us under a bit or pressure but having doe 240 miles in 2 day we will already be ahead of ourselves, this part of the route is up for debate.

Day 5 Moutardon to Brive-La-Gaillarde 113 miles
Tuesday 31st August
We will leave Moutartdon and head towards Limoges dropping down south to Nexon for our lunch stop at the 60 mile mark, then we will continue south towards our overnight stop at Brive-La-Gaillarde where we will have a much needed rest.

Day 6 Brive-La-Gaillarde to Albi 120 miles
Wednesday 1st September
We depart from Albi to head towards Figeac which will be our lunch stop, after lunch we then head towards our over night stay at Albi, this part of the route starts to get a bit more testing. HILLS

Day 7 Albi to Montpellier 110 miles
Thursday 2nd September
Ok lets be really honest, I think that this should be the last day as its north to south and belive me this rout is full of mountains and will be a killer for any pro let alone us poor club riders, and as I am probable the weakest on the hills I am going to die after this day but cant wait to do it, we will stop for lunch in the mountains in a place called Camares, after lunch we head for the coast towards Montpellier, YAHOOOOO, we will stay there over night.

Day 8 an option Montpellier to Marseille 102 miles
Friday 3rd September
This would be a stunning coast ride but not one we, need to do, relatively flat and with a great park [forest] with lakes. I think we need to all chat about this

We will all have different plans for our return home so we can all do that

Hope you find this of use we will get this all booked by January 20th latest, I think no more than 15 people but 10 would be ideal, if you know someone then show them this and see what they think, also if they cant do all the ride there is options for them to fly to a few airports and meet us on route which I am more than happy to do, the options would be either Poitiers or Limoges which would give you the option of doing the second half of the ride. As yet there is no chosen charity, but that is not an issue, we will need someone to drive a support vehicle, as we as a person to do some begging from major companies for some sponsorship, such as tyres, energy bars, drinks clothes etc. If anyone has some good ideas PLEASE let me know. Roddy.

Possible costs of French ride

Overnight Ferry for one person plus a bike = £56.00
4 Berth Cabin = £75.00 divided between 4 people = £18.75
1 x foot passenger = £51.00
1 x Car plus 4 people = £230.00 [this works out £1.50 more expensive than 1 person plus a bike. £57.50]
1 x Car plus 1 person = £190.00 [we would divied this between the total number of people going]

Hotel at Saint Calais = 51 euros for 2 [£25.50 each] people or 69 euros for 4 people [£23.25 each] Hotel d'Angleterre, this place looks good they also do eve meal and breakfast is included in the price http://www.hotel-angleterre-saint-calais.com/

Hotel at Saint Savin, Hotel de France Saint-Savin = €50 for 2 people not [€6.50] Inc breakfast, and there are plenty of places to eat but they have a restaurant. So total cost for the hotel would be €31.50 plus eve meal. http://hoteldefrance86.com/index-gb.htm

The next stop would be my house so the cost would be good and eve meal we could go out or Ellie will cook.

Nexon for Lunch approx cost €20 per person

Brive-La-Gaillarde, Jeanne Maison d'Hôte This is not cheap at €90 for a room =€45 pp plus eve meal is €35 pp = €80 for the night, however there are other options that are cheaper but this looks really nice but all we really want is food and beds, the cheaper option is around €28pp plus eve meal and breakfast. http://www.jeannemaisondhotes.com

Figeac Lunch = €20Albi, Au Soleil d'Albi this is aroud the €60 to €85 per room mark but has a pool and looks great. Also does a bloody good evening meal. http://www.ausoleildalbi.com Montpelier

Logis HOtel Le Mas De Couran