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Travel StoriesTo The Southern Tip Of Europe
Smiling In The Rain
Ride Date 14 Sep 2025
By Andy Gray
Day 2: Gien to Cahors 304 miles
Rained most of the night and still raining lightly as I packed the gear back on the bike. Bit slow leaving as I wasn’t looking forward to what promised to be a damp day in the saddle! In the end it kept falling nearly all day getting heavier later on. Stayed pretty dry apart from damp feet.
Spent most of the day on the D-940 which goes from the straightest road I’ve ever seen to the curviest! 32 miles with one distinct corner and later 9 miles with no corners. All the bends seem to have fallen down the map to the section I was looking forward to.
Rode past two boulangeries where I could clearly see pain au chocolate on display but ignored them as I was planning to go to one in the medieval town of Mehun-sur-Yevre. That bit me on the backside as they’d run out when I got there. Could only find one in a supermarket later on.
Near Nohant-Vic I spotted a collection of restored 2CVs in a car park so had to do a U-turn to take a look. It was the car park for the home of an 1830s renowned female novelist called George Sand (no, I hadn’t heard of her either). Don’t know if it was a display by the restorer or a club visiting the area but they were in incredible condition.
Stopped at another car park, this time in a small village called Glenic because it was next to a nice looking viaduct and river. Great use of space as a local club had turned some of the arches into climbing walls. All fenced off so no one could just go and fall off!
At Bourganeuf, I rejoined the best part of the D-940, twisty heaven up through the hills. Just a shame the roads were so wet but I gave it a good go. At least there were no punctures this year!
Stopped at Peyrat-le-Chateau to rest and take some photos of the lake and tower when a car pulled up and a broad Yorkshire accent says “You’re a long way from home”! Spent half hour chatting with Steve(?) a glazier from Leeds who with his wife spends part of the year here restoring two properties they’ve bought. Turns out the village was a hotbed for the Resistance during the war and was known as Little Stalingrad. It was also the first place with hydroelectric power in France.
Eventually I had to leave the D-940 and join the A-20 motorway. This was where the rain got really heavy and I got on the motorway heading north. Only a 16 mile round trip to get back!
Shortly after I took the SatNav’s advice and left the motorway as there were 39 minute delays. My new route crossed the motorway a couple of time and I could see it was a single lane in each direction.
40 miles shy of Cahors I came off the motorway to do the last part on smaller roads.
Ready to leave Gien.
Viaduct at Glenic.
Climbing walls.
Peyrat-le-Chateau.
Moist but happy in the forest twisties.
Long or short, notes or details, share your story - click here.
A long Ride to Gien
Big miles already on Andy's first day on the road. He's just getting settled into the ride and making his way south through France.
Smiling In The Rain
It's a soggy wet day through France for Andy, but that won't dampen his spirits. He stumbles upon 2CVs and climbing walls, straight roads and twisties.
Into The Pyrenees
With improving weather Andy is still heading south. It's all terribly positive, even the diversions are opportunities to explore. The Pyrenees continue to impress.
An Easy Day Around The Pyrenees
Andy is taking it easy today. Just a casual bimble around The Pyrenees, across mountains and valleys, you know, the sort of easy ride we all do on a lazy day. Ever more delightful images too.
Stuck In The Cols - Painful!
Andy is enjoying all the mountain passes on the French side of The Pyrenees - until he's "Route Barre" from getting back to the campsite. He's got the sniffles too.
Poor Poorly Andy
The sun is shining, the air is warm, the surroundings are lovely. Andy is rather under the weather himself, it's not the best couple of days.
Reader's Comments
Upt'North ¹ said :-
I had to googley Cahors....pffffffftttttt.
Got ya fella.
Rain in France, it never rains in France!
Upt.
16/10/2025 16:34:57 UTC
Ren - The Ed¹ said :-
I agree Upt', it NEVER rains in France, ever. Except during the week. Oh and at weekends. Especially when you're on holiday.
17/10/2025 07:58:50 UTC
Upt'North ¹ said :-
And at all other times not previously accurately described.
17/10/2025 11:05:32 UTC
kiwiJeff said :-
Loving the travel story Andy. Following it on my 1981 AA Travel map which is what we used to find our way around Europe in 1981 before GPS! Roads still have same names which helps.Your first day at 400 miles is epic I can manage 200 Mile days but need a couple of days off afterwards. That lovely BMW obviously helps with the big mile days. Regards Jeff
18/10/2025 10:47:09 UTC
Upt'North ¹ said :-
KJ, I know I'm a dinosaur.....but.....
I do like a good map. There's no modern equivalent in my humble opinion. Sat Nav is a wonderful thing but you never really embrace where you are going until you get there. I've just used a Ford Sat Nav in Italy and Google maps for the out of the way destinations but I still had my equally old Italy map with me. Used it too.
18/10/2025 13:08:35 UTC
Ian Soady¹ said :-
I like the 1:1000000 IGN (similar to UK Ordnance Survey) maps for France. They don't overwhelm you with detail but you can easily see 50 - 100 miles on a folded sheet in the tank top map window, and all the nice D and N roads are shown. Their larger scale maps are good for local exploring.
The last time I used satnav in Italy was in a hired car near Sorrento, trying to find a B&B. It took us up a rapidly narrowing dirt track which then petered out in a forest with a sheer drop on one side. And it was raining and getting dark. More by luck than good judgment I managed to reverse back down far enough to turn round. I must admit though that copilot, the one I use for the car, is generally good and accurate.
18/10/2025 15:45:10 UTC
nab301 said :-
Interesting trip , as for 2cv's , Back in the day the Local race track (Mondello park ) used to host a 24hr race for said cars , I wish I'd bought one when they were cheap , I'd decommission my 1100S Bmw and transfer the engine into one...
Nigel
19/10/2025 16:28:20 UTC
Bros Steve said :-
Pity about the rain but great photos. I have been to Cahors a few times and have friends who live about 20 minutes north of there. Some great roads, as indeed there are throughout France.
20/10/2025 09:09:26 UTC
Andy Gray said :-
Thanks for all the positive comments.
I like maps, so this year invested in a set of 7 maps covering Spain and Portugal. The plan was to find mountains and avoid motorways on my way around Spain. Michelin maps (1:250,000?) give just the right detail to do this.
I have maps of the Alps but might need to get a set for the rest of France as I’ve used the route south twice now and fancy a change.
13/11/2025 00:42:02 UTC
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Travel StoriesTo The Southern Tip Of Europe