Rivers & Canyons

Rivers & Canyons - 2 weeks
France: Bordeaux & the Dordogne, the Cévennes

On this page, you'll find...
Our Trips
Overview Map
of all of our routes

Departure Calendar
of our regular trips
What's Included
in the Trip Cost
Additional Services
you can add to the bike trip.

Our route loosely follows the Dordogne / Lot river basin to the source of the waters in central France. The scenery gets progressively wilder and more beautiful as we advance: towns are spaced farther and farther apart, cuisine is a purer reflection of the surroundings, the few locals are increasingly surprised by your helmets....

No region of France is a greater contrast between harmony and strife. The Hundred Years’ War, Catholic - Protestant struggles of not so very long ago, the Camisard revolt... are are still remembered and discussed, and serve as obstacles to marriages between neighboring valleys.

And yet... the towns are made of stone carved from the hills behind them, the agriculture is organic without trying, and the sheep look pretty much the same whether papist or not. Armed with 200 years’ (relative) peace and prosperity, these are lands that have flourished, and whose harmonious beauty is beyond compare.

At the end of the ride we drop from the mountains to the far side of the Atlantic - Mediterranean divide, and arrive in Provence. Some of us feel that the final riding day of this trip is unequaled for its startling contrast. You feel like you have arrived on another planet, not in another region.

Wonderful biking, good wines, food which has never seen a chemist – the essence of France, but which delightfully overcomes its stereotypes. And a chance to plumb the depths of a fascinating (and tasty) culture.
Rivers & Canyons
2008 Dates
Baggage Services Offered**
(optional)
Trip Prices*
May 17 - May 31

Daily, Half,
Lite

$3,750 US or C
July 5 - July 19
Trip Full
Half,
Lite
September 6 - 20

Daily, Half,
Lite

* Prices in $ and € do not include precisely the same things. Click here for details, and for prices of optional extras: private single rooms, baggage services, and (in the case of the € price only) bike rental and shipping.

** At least 4 riders must subscribe to a given baggage service for it to operate. The services listed are those currently offered on the departure in question. Services which appear in bold already have at least 3 subscribers (so, one more would ensure their operation). See here for a discussion of our baggage services.


Thumbnail view of the trip’s itinerary.
For details within each region, click on the name under “Region Visited”...
Days
Days of the Week
Region Visited
 Details
1
Sa
 Meet in Libourne
1 - 8
Sa - Mo
 Pomerol, St.-Emilion
Mo - We
 The Dordogne Valley
We - Sa
 Hilltowns, Cro-Magnon Caves of the Perigord
8 - 15
Sa & Su
 The Upper Dordogne, Rocamadour
Su - Tu
 The Lot Valley
Tu - Sa
 Gorgeous Biking (yuk, yuk)
The trip disbands upon arrival in Nimes
The post-trip Nimes Access Package includes a night in Nimes for ongoing travel on Su.
16
Su
Post-Access Package travel date