Various online maps are available to download, at a scale of your choice. Particularly useful is Open Street Map (www.openstreetmap.org) which has a cycle route option showing British NCN routes, French voie verte and the Avenue Verte. The official website for the Avenue Verte is www.avenuevertelondonparis.co.uk which includes definitive route maps, details about accommodation and refreshments, points of interest, tourist offices and cycle shops.
Guidebooks
This is the only guidebook for the classic route and the only one which describes Avenue Verte in both directions. There are two other guidebooks for the Avenue Verte: one in English describing the route from London to Paris (Avenue Verte, published by Sustrans) and one in French for the route from Paris to London (Paris–Londres à vélo, published by Chamina Edition).
There are many guidebooks to London and south-eastern England and to Paris and northern France, including some specially aimed at cyclists. Most of these maps and guidebooks are available from leading bookshops including Stanford’s, London and The Map Shop, Upton upon Severn. See Appendix D for further details. Relevant maps are widely available en route.
Accommodation
For most of the route there is a wide variety of accommodation. The stage descriptions identify places known to have accommodation, but are by no means exhaustive. Prices for accommodation in France are similar to prices in the UK. See Appendix D for a list of relevant contact details.
A former Clunaic abbey overlooks St Leu d’Esserent (classic route, Stage 9)
Hotels, guest houses and B&B
Hotels vary from expensive five-star properties to modest local establishments and usually offer a full meal service. Guest houses and bed and breakfast accommodation, known as chambres d’hôte in French, generally offer only breakfast. Tourist information offices (see Appendix B) will often telephone for you and make local reservations. Booking ahead is seldom necessary, except in high season (mid-July to mid-August in France). Most properties are cycle friendly and will find you a secure overnight place for your pride and joy. Accueil Vélo is a French national quality mark displayed by establishments within 5km of the route that welcome cyclists and provide facilities including overnight cycle storage.
An accueil vélos (cyclists welcome) sign shows an establishment that provides facilities for cyclists
Youth hostels and gîtes d’étape
While there are several youth hostels in both London and Paris, there are only three hostels en route (Calais, Montreuil and Amiens; all on the classic route in France) and three just off-route (Medway, Eastbourne and Southease in England). These are listed in Appendix C. English hostels managed by the YHA and FUAJ hostels in France are affiliated to Hostelling International. Other French hostels are managed by BVJ. Unlike British hostels, most European hostels do not have self-catering facilities but do provide good value hot meals. Hostels get very busy, particularly during school holidays, and booking is advised through www.hihostels.com.
Gîtes d’étape are hostels and rural refuges (shelters) in France mainly for walkers. They are mostly found in mountain areas, although there is one at Forges-les-Eaux (Stage 5) on Avenue Verte. Details of French gîtes d’étape can be found at www.gites-refuges.com. Do not confuse these with Gîtes de France which are rural properties rented as weekly holiday homes.
Camping
If you are prepared to carry camping equipment, this will probably be the cheapest way of cycling the route. Stage descriptions identify official campsites. Camping may be possible in other locations with the permission of local landowners.
Food and drink
Where to eat
There are many places where cyclists can eat and drink, varying from snack bars, crêperies, pubs and local inns to Michelin starred restaurants. Locations are listed in stage descriptions, but these are not exhaustive. Days and times of opening vary. When planning your day, try to be flexible as some inns and small restaurants do not open at lunchtime. In France, an auberge is a local inn offering food and drink. English language menus may be available in big cities and tourist areas, but are less common in smaller towns and rural locations.
When to eat
In England, breakfast in hotels, guest houses and B&B is usually a cooked meal while English pubs generally provide a wide variety of light snack and full meal options for both lunch and dinner.
In France, things are a little different. Breakfast (petit déjeuner) is continental: breads, jam and a hot drink. Traditionally lunch (déjeuner) was the main meal of the day, although this is slowly changing, and is unlikely to prove suitable if you plan an afternoon in the saddle. Most French restaurants offer a menu du jour at lunchtime, a three-course set meal that usually offers excellent value for money. It is often hard to find light meals/snacks in bars or restaurants and if you want a light lunch you may need to purchase items such as sandwiches, quiche or croque-monsieur (toasted ham and cheese sandwich) from a bakery.
For dinner (dîner) a wide variety of cuisine is available. Much of what is available is pan-European and will be easily recognisable. There are however national and regional dishes you may wish to try. Traditionally French restaurants offered only fixed price set menus with two, three or more courses. This is slowly changing and most restaurants nowadays offer both fixed price and à la carte menus.
What to eat
Neufchâtel cheese is a heart-shaped soft cheese from Neufchâtel-en-Bray (Avenue Verte, Stage 4)
France is widely regarded as a place where the preparation and presentation of food is central to the country’s culture. Modern day French cuisine was first codified by Georges Auguste Escoffier in Le Guide Culinaire (1903). Central to Escoffier’s method was the use of light sauces made from stocks and broths to enhance the flavour of the dish in place of heavy sauces that had previously been used to mask the taste of bad meat. French cooking was further refined in the 1960s with the arrival of nouvelle cuisine which sought to simplify techniques, lessen cooking time and preserve natural flavours by changing cooking methods.
Northern France and Normandy are not particularly well-known for gastronomy, although there are a few local specialities you may wish to try (or avoid!). Andouillettes are coarse sausages made from pork intestines with a strong taste and distinctive odour. Not a dish for the faint hearted. As in nearby Belgium, moules et frites (mussels and chips) are popular light meals while Dieppe (Avenue Verte, Stage 4) is famous for hareng saur (smoked herring). Local cheese includes