Many French people have always been able to speak English, they just refuse to speak it with anyone except French people, so they have got a reputation for being off hand or quite rude to tourists who don't speak French but only English. However even if you speak French some French people can still be pretty rude, not all, just some in my experience. I think this may be more so in Paris as Parisians even look down on french people from elsewhere in France and despise tourists.
How about Voie Verts as there seem to be more and more of them springing up?
Should also mention that in Provence if you do camp and in particular wild camp there are very strict bans against lighting fires and if you are caught you can be in big trouble as large areas of Provence can be tinder dry in summer as it is pretty hot, they do not want forest fires starting because some idiot camper(s) are cooking up their favourite sausicons or steak hache on a big open fire.
I think the nicest time is mid April if warm and calm weather as there are still very few people around but the weather is warming up but not getting too warm and the skies are a beautiful clear blue.
Tack Mike, great advice again. Have you been away for any winter sun yet? Hope you don't bring anything but a tan back with you! Maybe domestic bike tours only this year. Did you get any bike or camping goodies for Christmas?
I agree on your comments about language. Let your first words be in French, even if it's to apologize for not speaking French. It is considered very rude by some otherwise. After that, even if you only speak English, people will be very helpful. A bit of effort goes a long way. I speak as an English traveller to France.
Camping is forbidden, bivouac is tolerated, you have 1 hour before and after the night to pitch your tent.
There is water in all the cemetery. Don't trust " eau non potable" signs, water is fine, carry loperamide anyway. Every café will offer you water. ( also everyone in is garden….)
Use google maps satellite view to find wild campsite. We do, almost everybody under 50, speaks english. The simcard plan wich is interesting is " laposte mobile forfait 30gb 9,95€" in every post office. Rain in the south like provence, camargue, Occitanie can have very intense rain episodes after a summer with intense dryness. The eurovelo, cyclable path network is on OpenStreetMap cartography, i use locus map pro. Every major town has bike mechanics, near the cathedral. 1 baguette is 1 serving for 1 person on a bicycle, you can cross the country with just a knife and a can/bottle opener. There is a local food spécialité every 50km. Carry also a cup, a fork, a spoon and a roll of plastic bag. Most bakery sells the leftovers of the day before, that's a bag with a bunch of croissant, brioche etc… Like 3€ for 6 to 10 pieces.
Don't sleep in rural bus stop during the week, sheperd's huts made of stone should be checked for wasps , wineyards are great hideout to camp. Pitching the tent near the cemetery is a safe value, quiet with water. Forests, like wineyard, are private property, they can be closed, if a field is closed, there's probably cows in it.
A lot of camping are closed on winter. Some small cities/big village have a public swimming pool with shower. There are showers at the soccer field of every big village.
Hi Mike. Great video. On bike security I found motion detectors you can mount on the bike. These are easy to mount, maintain and control. These give me a peace of mind when I am in the supermarket. Take care and thanks again for your great videos.
20 Comments
Lots of great tips. Thank you for another great video. Tack så mycket 🙂
Thanks for the tips Mike. I can use it well for the upcoming tour in June in France.🚲
Cost in us dollars best times touring on a budget
as always a great vidio
Tres bien. Lots of helpful advice.
Many French people have always been able to speak English, they just refuse to speak it with anyone except French people, so they have got a reputation for being off hand or quite rude to tourists who don't speak French but only English. However even if you speak French some French people can still be pretty rude, not all, just some in my experience. I think this may be more so in Paris as Parisians even look down on french people from elsewhere in France and despise tourists.
How about Voie Verts as there seem to be more and more of them springing up?
Should also mention that in Provence if you do camp and in particular wild camp there are very strict bans against lighting fires and if you are caught you can be in big trouble as large areas of Provence can be tinder dry in summer as it is pretty hot, they do not want forest fires starting because some idiot camper(s) are cooking up their favourite sausicons or steak hache on a big open fire.
I think the nicest time is mid April if warm and calm weather as there are still very few people around but the weather is warming up but not getting too warm and the skies are a beautiful clear blue.
Thanks for making.
Thanks Mikael. …info is always helpful…starting count down for my summer trip…always appreciate your videos! Have a good one Mike!….thanks again.
Thanks for the info. I speak French but even when speaking English, have always had postive experiences with locals.
Great tips Mike. As usual, I look forward to your videos.
Very informative Mike, thanks for the tip 👍👍
Tack Mike, great advice again. Have you been away for any winter sun yet? Hope you don't bring anything but a tan back with you! Maybe domestic bike tours only this year.
Did you get any bike or camping goodies for Christmas?
Hi Mike,thanks for your tips my friend ,you have some snow i see, were having a mild trend now wesnday high of 6c .
I agree on your comments about language. Let your first words be in French, even if it's to apologize for not speaking French. It is considered very rude by some otherwise. After that, even if you only speak English, people will be very helpful. A bit of effort goes a long way. I speak as an English traveller to France.
Camping is forbidden, bivouac is tolerated, you have 1 hour before and after the night to pitch your tent.
There is water in all the cemetery.
Don't trust " eau non potable" signs, water is fine, carry loperamide anyway.
Every café will offer you water. ( also everyone in is garden….)
Use google maps satellite view to find wild campsite.
We do, almost everybody under 50, speaks english.
The simcard plan wich is interesting is " laposte mobile forfait 30gb 9,95€" in every post office.
Rain in the south like provence, camargue, Occitanie can have very intense rain episodes after a summer with intense dryness.
The eurovelo, cyclable path network is on OpenStreetMap cartography, i use locus map pro.
Every major town has bike mechanics, near the cathedral.
1 baguette is 1 serving for 1 person on a bicycle, you can cross the country with just a knife and a can/bottle opener.
There is a local food spécialité every 50km. Carry also a cup, a fork, a spoon and a roll of plastic bag.
Most bakery sells the leftovers of the day before, that's a bag with a bunch of croissant, brioche etc… Like 3€ for 6 to 10 pieces.
Don't sleep in rural bus stop during the week, sheperd's huts made of stone should be checked for wasps , wineyards are great hideout to camp.
Pitching the tent near the cemetery is a safe value, quiet with water.
Forests, like wineyard, are private property, they can be closed, if a field is closed, there's probably cows in it.
A lot of camping are closed on winter.
Some small cities/big village have a public swimming pool with shower.
There are showers at the soccer field of every big village.
Good info bud, I've never done France before. I might try it.
Very helpful video Mike, thank you.
Greetings from Ukraine 🇺🇦
Thanks for the video, good to know about wild camping 👍
Hi Mike. Great video. On bike security I found motion detectors you can mount on the bike. These are easy to mount, maintain and control. These give me a peace of mind when I am in the supermarket. Take care and thanks again for your great videos.
Question about storing a bike box at the airport, are there facilities for this do you know?
Great tips Mike. Simple, brief, no nonsense! Planning a big trip across France north to south next year so great advice
As usual, very helpful info.