What a summer! Cycling adventures through mountains and along coastlines, a memorable trip to Porto with my sons, Adrian and James, an escaped to La Rochelle, and a spring visit to Annecy in the French Alps to see our daughter and her family. I even caught up with old skiing friends. Other highlights included launching my podcast website, publishing a heartfelt tribute to my father and his fellow POWs on the 80th anniversary of VJ Day, and raising funds for Ukrainian causes. It has been a season of adventure, reflection, and purpose.
What a summer it has been! From cycling adventures across beautiful mountainous landscapes and coastal routes to a memorable trip to Porto with my sons, Adrian and James, the season has been full of highlights. Carol and I enjoyed a lovely getaway to La Rochelle. In the spring we had a wonderful visit to Annecy and the French Alps, where we spent time with our daughter and her family—and I even caught up with old skiing friends. Added to that I launched my podcast website and published a heartfelt tribute to my father and his fellow POWs on the 80th anniversary of VJ Day, and I managed to achieve some meaningful fundraising for Ukrainian causes!
Roscoff to Dieppe – Solo cycle ride of 429 miles in 8 days – weather was sunny and settled throughout. Great ride! Here is my diary with photos and short videos. Enjoy!
A great 400+ mile ride in wonderful sunny weather through Brittany and Normandy – August 2025
Earlier this year In June I completed my longest-ever bike ride — over 1,000 miles. It felt like a huge achievement, but after a few weeks back home, I found myself restless. Was that it? Could I really leave it there? The answer, of course, was no. I wanted another challenge, another cycling adventure! So in early August I packed up again, caught the ferry from Plymouth to Roscoff, and set out to cycle across northern France to Dieppe.
Author: Vic Ient
Thanks to Adrian Ient for editorial input
Click on image to enlarge them. Click on the short videos to watch them. Click HERE to see all my photos and videos
Cycling Route note: EuroVelo 4 (EV4), is the Central European EV Route. It is a 5,100 km long-distance cycle route stretching from Roscoff, France, to Kyiv, Ukraine!
Route Map Sketch (approx. distance markers)
429 miles – 8 days
Ferry arrives at Roscoff early in the morning
In total, I covered 429 miles in eight days, averaging around 50 miles a day. The weather was on my side — sunny and settled throughout. The first part of the ride, across Brittany, was new to me and full of discoveries; the second, from St Malo onwards, felt like reuniting with old friends. There was comfort in the familiar cycle paths, but also excitement in the unknown stretches. Each morning I felt that mixture of anticipation and slight nervousness about what the day would bring — Would the roads be quiet? Would I make good progress? — and each evening brought the quiet satisfaction of having done it.
France – South to North Cycle Ride 2025: cycling from the French Mediterranean back to the English Channel! I have cycled over 900 miles from the South of France to Dieppe!
This May I set out on a newa new challenge – cycling from the Mediterranean coast back to the English Channel!
For details of journey photos and daily diary click HERE
Whilst on, and after, the 1000 mile ride I raised donations for medical and other civilian aid to be sent to Ukraine. You can still donate:
I have completed the 1000 mile cycle ride from the South of France to Dieppe then returning to England via the ferry to Newhaven. My aim was to complete the journey in about a month. It took me 22 days! I followed the Route Napoléon from Golfe-Juan, near Cannes on the south coast of France to Grenoble at the foot of the French Alps. From there I travelled to the source of the River Loire in the Massif Central and then follow the course of the Loire to Orléans. Then turning north across to the cathedral city of Chartres and to the River Seine, crossing west of Rouen and finally to the Normandy coast and Dieppe
I am 78, and will use an electrically assisted bike. This is my longest cycling trip yet.
After getting off the night train from Paris at Nice we will cycle a short distance along the Côte d’Azur to the place where Napoléon landed in 1815 after his escape from Elba.
We will then follow the Route Napoléon, a 325-kilometer (200-mile) historical route from the French Riviera at Golfe-Juan, near Cannes through the road in southern France. This is the route taken by Napoleon Bonaparte in 1815 on his return from exile on the island of Elba. We will try to follow the French long distance footpath route the GR 406 but the maps indicate that we may be on roads most of the time. By all accounts this is a beautiful scenic route through the mountains of Alpes-Maritimes and the Alpes-de-Haute-Provence.
Stage 2 – Grenoble to Massif Central
We will then cycle about 320 km (120 miles) west up to the source of the River Loire (1,350 m. 4,430 ft) which is in the southeastern quarter of the French Massif Central in the Cévennes range near Mont Gerbier de Jonc.
Stage 3 – Massif Central to Orléans
The route will then follow the Loire River from a tiny stream to a large river, at Orleans. It is a journey of about 603 km (375 miles). The Kindle book by Mike Wells ‘River Loire Cycle Route’ will be of great help guiding us through all of the twists and turns at the early stages of cycling the River Loire route. We will soon join EuroVelo 6. We will travel through beautiful landscapes and scenery from mountains through to alluvial plains.
Stage 4 – Orléans to the River Seine
Our route now takes us North via the cathedral city of Chartres to the River Seine; a journey of about 240 km (150 miles). We aim to cross the river using one of the free ferries. Our destination is the riverside town of Caudebec-en-Caux.
Stage 5 – River Seine to Dieppe
This section is about 260 km (160 miles) through the Normandy countryside. This is familiar countryside for us as we have been over to France and cycled through this area many times.
Statistics
Start: 20th May – Nice at Gare de Nice-Ville
Possible finish Date: 20th June – Dieppe at the ferry port
The Settle to Carlisle Railway is a 72-mile scenic railway line in northern England. It runs from Settle Junction to Carlisle, crossing the Yorkshire Dales and the North Pennines. The line is known for its beautiful views, tunnels, and viaducts
September 2024
The Settle to Carlisle Railway was almost closed in the 1980s. British Rail proposed closing the line. However, a public campaign saved it. As we saw with our own eyes now the passenger numbers are high. Our train was pretty full with sightseeers holiday makers and train enthusiasts.
I have always wanted to travel on the Settle to Carlisle Railway line and see the Ribblehead viaduct. So, Carol and I planned a train holiday north to see it. We had a great time!
The viaduct is a stunning piece of Victorian engineering in an iconic location in the middle of the Yorkshire Dales straddling a rough, boggy valley. A majestic sight in this quiet corner of the Dales. For Photos of the train ride and stations click HERE.
We had a very smooth round trip by train from Lewes via Leeds & Harrogate in early September. 2 hrs 12 min from London to Leeds. I prefer travelling by train rather than by car and you are not emitting so much CO2 global warming emissions! **
Our first hotel stop was at Skipton which enabled us to see the junction of the canal system there. Wonderful! A pint by the canal in a popular pub followed by a tasty meal at an historic pub.
We then we then went by train to Settle and walked to the Falcon Manor Hotel. We had a great room overlooking the moors.
The was a real community atmosphere at Settle station. Two chatty ladies serving tea in the station rest room. Like something out of the 1940/50s. Took me back to when I was a boy! We were very lucky. They gave a heads up that a steam train was coming through shortly. A wonderful sight!
After visiting the viaduct, we went on to Carlisle. Carlisle Cathedral was an historical and architectural gem!
The next day we travelled all the way down the Settle to Carlisle railway line again, taking in the views and enjoying the countryside. We ended up in Harrogate and stayed at the impressive Harrogate Inn. It was more like an early Victorian manor house then an ‘inn’. We enjoyed the shops gardens and architecture of this northern spa town before returning south.
Public Gardens at Harrogate
The route:
** According to government figures, National Rail travel produces 0.035 kg CO2e per passenger km. The average petrol car produces 0.167 kg CO2e. per km. That is 5 times more CO2 emitted by travelling by car!
Once again, I was able to enjoy a very pleasant hotel and beautiful surroundings in the mountains of the Savoie region of France. We had a very enjoyable trip with convivial evening meals for the group.
Once again, I was able to enjoy a very pleasant hotel and beautiful surroundings in the mountains of the Savoie region of France. We had a very enjoyable trip with convivial evening meals for the group. Of course, there were one or two glasses of vin chaud consumed.
As in previous years I was invited along to the joint Lewes/Sevenoaks mens church group ski trip. This time I didn’t ski as the snow conditions were poor, – icy in the morning and slushy in the afternoon. There hadn’t been much snow before the trip so the piste bashers had their work cut out.
However I enjoy some mountain walks, visiting Crystal and Gavin for lunch in Bourg-Saint-Maurice and the superb facilities of the Hôtel La Vanoise with its indoor heated pool, jacuzzi, sauna and hammam along with its convivial bar, sun terrace and restaurant!
The other thing that attracts me is travelling by train rather than by air using high speed electric trains. A one-way flight from London to Geneva emits between 176 to 200.7 kg of CO2 per person travelling in economy. On average electric trains produce up to 96.5% fewer CO2 emissions than flights.
Our Eurostar and Train à Grande Vitesse (TGV) transport us to the very heart of the French alps at Bourg-Saint-Maurice (Elevation: 815 m) and not at an airport 3 hours away!
The funicular railway links the town to the Arc 1600 where the Les Arc ski area is situated. At Arc 1600 I can get a connecting bus to my hotel at Vallandry.
The group now have a stopover on they way out in Paris at the Mercure Hotel next to the Gare de Lyon. This time it was particularly pleasurable as we had dinner at the iconic La Belle Époque restaurant, Le Train Bleu, in Gare de Lyon. Hercule Poirot would have been very much at home here! Superb dinner! HERE are my restaurant photos
HERE are my photos up in the mountains & meeting up with Crystal & Gavin
Grenoble to Madrid by train – super train journey across France & Spain + meeting James + a pint in Lewes!
Meeting James + super train journey across France & Spain + a pint in Lewes! Fantastic!
July 10th and 11th 2024
Whilst in Grenoble I had a call from James who said he was going to be in Madrid for a conference in early July. I was invited to join him. So I took the opportunity to go by train, – a wonderful journey. From Grenoble I took the local train to Lyon and then got the TGV all the way to Barcelona. Changing trains I boarded another high-speed train – the Frecciarossa (Italian) train operated by the Spanish railway company Iryo. It took all day but I didn’t care because I had a wonderful journey. I think the top speed was about 300 km/hr. The distance covered was over 1,200 km.
I arrived in time to have drinks and a dinner with James and his colleagues. Super on both counts! The next day James and I went to the grand Plaza Mayor and enjoyed some fantastic seafood at the ancient Mercado de San Miguel.
Cottenham Ients cycle trip to Normandy! We had some fantastic rides through the countryside, by the coast and along the river Vire and on to Bayeaux
22nd to 28 of July 2024
For this trip I decided to give my son and my grandsons a chance to visit the Cherbourg peninsula. We travelled to Portsmouth on the train with our bicycles and not the overnight ferry to Cherbourg. The ferry arrived at 8:00am the next morning so we took the opportunity to go and have a look at the La Cité de la Mer Is a maritime museum in the former cruise liner massive art-deco transatlantic liner terminal building constructed in 1933. We visited the submariners centre. Well worth a visit.
We had some fantastic rides through the countryside, by the coast and along the river Vire. We had a great stopover on the west coast of the peninsula and dined at a superb restaurant overlooking the sea.
It was William’s birthday, so I treated them to a fine meal and William had fruits de mer which he really enjoyed. During the trip I let the grandsons do the navigation between the towns we were staying at. They did a jolly good job of this. We had great weather for the trip so it was nice to be able to sit on the roadside or near a village centre and have our midday baguette in the sunshine.
Apart from visiting the west coast of the peninsula we went on to Saint-Lô. On the way we passed through a number of towns and villages which still had the exhibits up in the streets commemorating the 80th anniversary of the liberation of this part of France just after the 6th of June 1944. I found these particularly interesting. The devastation at Saint-Lô and these villages was considerable as the battles during the liberation were quite fierce.
From Saint-Lô we travelled on to Bayeaux, firstly via the scenic towpath of the river Vire, where we visited the tapestries. We stayed here two nights in the superb youth hostel right in the centre of the old city.
Great prices and great facilities. I fully recommend this hostel. During a coastal cycle ride William and Edward took time out to do some kayaking in the calm sea and in the lovely sunshine.
French Coast to Coast + Canal du Midi cycle trip 2024. A great trip cycling 631 km!
10th to the 24th of May 2024 by Vic Ient
We cycled coast to coast starting in Royan on the Atlantic coast (Bay of Biscay), firstly along the Gironde, then the Garonne and then the Canal du Midi to Béziers and the river Orb to the Mediterranean coast!
This was a great trip – we cycled 631 km (392 miles). Over 400 miles if you include the trip we did further east in Languedoc near Nimes in order to visit the amazing Roman aqueduct at Pont du Gard. Click: Photos trip details HERE.
Pond du Gard – Roman Aqueduct
Once we had arrived at Royan the task was relatively simple, – cycling 400 miles and enjoying visiting great places like the beautiful walled city of Carcassonne.
The hard work in setting up this trip was arranging the logistics and booking tickets for the train journeys across France to and from St Malo. Arranging the crossing was really a piece of cake and getting to and from Portsmouth was no problem.
The real problem was travelling by train with bicycles that will ‘fully assembled’. If we had bicycles which could be disassembled the journey would be relatively simple but electric bikes are not easy to disassemble and they don’t fit into a box or bag of a maximum size of 130 cm x 90 cm. Therefore, we had to find railway routes which allowed us to take our bikes on and off just in the same way as you would on local trains here in Sussex. The difference is we were covering much longer distances. From St Malo to the start of our journey was about 400 km (250 miles). However, with my growing knowledge of the French railway system I was able to achieve this, and we had the added benefit of staying overnight at the atmospheric old town in Nantes and at La Rochelle which is a beautiful ancient port on the west coast of France on our route.
A great trip which took us to Paris, the Pyrenees, Perpignan, Figueres (Spain) and the Dalí Museum, Béziers near the Mediterranean coast, Nimes with its Roman colosseum and through the through the beautiful hills of Languedoc and the Massif Central.
Including a night train from Paris to Latour-de-Carol in the snow-clad Pyrenees!
23rd February to 1st March 2024
A great trip which took us to Paris, the Pyrenees, Perpignan, Figueres (Spain) and the Dalí Museum, Béziers near the Mediterranean coast, Nimes with its Roman colosseum and through the beautiful hills of Languedoc and the Massif Central.
We journeyed over 2000 miles (3000 km) by train through France and Spain, (incl 250 miles on cross Channel journeys and in England).
After an evening meal at the Bistrot de la Gare near the Gare du Lyon we boarded an overnight train with the Intercités de Nuit from Gare d’Austerlitz, in Paris departing at 9:40 pm. By just after 10am the next day we were about 850 km south in the Pyrenees! The night train was a bit of a letdown as the sleeping compartments were really no more than cushettes with a light duvet. If we had booked earlier enough we could have been travelling for about €30 but we left it too late and had to pay a lot more. However, I’m very grateful to the English speaking service of SNCF for actually getting us on to the train because of its popularity. I had forgotten that in February the Pyrenees is quite popular for skiing and the train would be quite full. Sleeping cars consist of 6 berth for 2nd class and 4 berth for 1st class. The other dissapointment was that the buffet car had been disconnected at Toulouse, so no morning coffee and croissant for us! Thankfully we were able to have our petit dejeuner at the station café in Latour-de-Carol. Despite these inconveniences the journey we arrived on time in the heart of the beautiful Pyrenean snow-topped mountains, bathed in sunshine!
Click HERE for the photos of the journey including the Pyrenees
Below are some photos of special interest: (click the heading of each section for photos and or the link in the text for more information)
The Ligne de Cerdagne, usually referred to as Le Petit Train Jaune, (the Yellow Train) is a 1m gauge railway that runs from Villefranche-de-Conflent to Latour-de-Carol-Enveitg in the French Pyrenees.
I had miscalculated things in my researches as I thought the Little Yellow Train was operating but when we got to Latour-de-Carol I found it was closed for winter maintenance. However there was a silver lining. We were soon able to board a bus costing only €1 which would take us on a road parallel to the train route so we could see all the many amazing railway viaducts cut into the mountainside. When we arrived at Villefranche-de-Conflent we were able to see these wonderful little trains all sitting in sideings ready for use in the spring and summer. Our onway train journey to Perpignan was also only €1 !!
This heavily fortified village in the Pyrénées-Orientales is a UNESCO World Heritage Site. When the territory was ceded to the French in the 17th C the town became an important French defence against possible Spanish incursions. We had a great lunch in a restaurant which was had very thick stone walls. Atmospheric and very welcoming!
This was the highlight of our trip! – I was blown away by the number of artistic pieces, their variety and quality! See the special page for photos on the link as above.
Through the beautiful hills of the Mediterranean in the Languedoc region to the Massif Central leaving behind small stations and villages with red terracotta roofed houses and far ranging views into the hills, some with beautiful limestone escarpments and fast flowing rivers in gorges lined by trees below us. In the far distance I even caught sight of the snowy tops of the Massif Central mountains.
This was the highlight of the train tour through France and Spain which my friend Norman Baker and I took in February. I was blown away by the number of artistic pieces, their variety and quality.
Dalí Museum – Figueres, Cataluna Spain 25 Feb 2024
This was the highlight of the train tour through France and Spain which my friend Norman Baker and I took in February 2024. We were blown away by the number of artistic pieces, their variety and quality. It is the best art exhibitions I have ever seen in the whole of my 78 years on this planet. You have just got to go and see it to believe the fantastic art!
I quote from one guide “The Dali Theatre Museum is definitely something worth experiencing, if not to get a better understanding of Dali, then at least to enjoy the opportunity to witness the creative eccentricity of an artist like no other”.
Figueres is the birthplace and final resting place of iconic Surrealist artist Salvador Dali. The town is also home to the Dali Theatre-Museum, a masterpiece of surrealism that the artist designed himself.
Vic Ient 