France is a pretty good place to cycle tour in really - at least from our two experiences.
The roads are generally really good. Even the most minor rural roads we cycled were good. Sure there were a few patchy ones, or some roads in villages that went a bit pear shaped, but this is all relative. They are way better than UK roads and the difference it makes can't be emphasised enough.
Drivers are more considerate than in the UK by far - with cars passing slower and wider. Yeah, there's always the exception to the rule, with a few boy racers and impatient people, but these occurrences were minor considering how long we were on the road. Cycling is an accepted form of road travel in France, where the riders are respected - very much unlike here in the UK. The exception to the rule was the young lady who bibbed and gave us the finger as she approached, I assume because I was on 'her side of the road' - the road in question being a cycle path on the Loire cycle trail that cars have access to get to local houses - and a road in which we'd cycled side-by-side for over fifty miles without issue. To make sure we preserved Anglo-French relations, we composed ourselves, kept calm, and duly gave her the finger back.
Lots of roads in France also have cycle lanes. Even where you'd least expect them. And unlike the UK, the cycle lanes are often designed for cyclists - i.e. are smooth, pothole and drain free, and continuous and well marked. They even often have extra traffic lights (with bike symbols), to let you know if you need to stop on a cycle lane or not.
We didn't actually see that many cyclists on either trip (bar the Loire-a-Velo section), and not very many tourers - but whoever we saw almost always waved and said hello. Interestingly, I thought most cyclists seemed a bit older, and with older bikes. A contrast to where I live in the UK where they are younger and everyone tries to outdo each other with their latest Tour de France performance all-carbon machines. I've heard cycling's not so popular there anymore?
All hotels we stayed at made a real effort to accommodate our bikes, and it was no trouble. In the UK on our first trip, when I asked a B&B in Brighton where we could store our bikes - the lady hung up on me!
Campsites are much more common, and certainly functional if not always comforting. See the Camping section for more info.
The scenery's amazing, and seems to get more amazing the further south you go. The Loire was spectacular. The Alps - we'll have to wait and see.
A little bit of French definitely comes in handy. My French is poor, but the effort seems to go a long way, and even if you revert to "Parlez vous Anglais?" afterwards people seem more helpful. Or maybe it was in the mind.
