Cycle tourists know that travelling on your bike makes it easy to meet new people. Pedalling on La Vélodyssée is your opportunity to:
- Share a moment with family or friends. This is the ideal time to talk and reconnect with each other as you roll along.
- Meet accommodation hosts who love their work and enjoy a chat over breakfast or an aperitif on the terrace. Your accommodation is also a great place to meet other travellers, cyclists and non-cyclists alike. It is always a good time!
- Meet fellow travellers on La Vélodyssée: families, couples, groups, or single riders, young people and less-young people. There are riders going ‘down’ towards the south and those going ‘up’ towards the north. You’ll meet new people on day trips or a weekend jaunt, and others going long-distance, not even stopping at the end of La Vélodyssée and instead continuing along the rest of the EuroVelo 1 - Atlantic Coast Route.
- Take a surfing or canoeing lesson with a local professional or go bird watching, guided by a specialist from the Vendée.
Head out to meet the men and women who are the heart and soul of the regions traversed by La Vélodyssée:
A lock keeper in Brittany
As you pedal from Carhaix-Plouguer to Nantes on La Vélodyssée you ride beside the Nantes-Brest Canal, which can be navigated April through October. This section has no fewer than 200 locks that control the movement of small boats. All of the locks are manual and operated by lock keepers.
Their main job is to help boats pass through the locks, but they also maintain and improve the area around the locks (on land and in the canal) and provide information to users.
Locks are a place where cyclists, walkers and pleasure boaters meet, making them a great place to make connections and have a good time.
An oyster farmer in Charente-Maritime
You will find many oyster farmers along the La Vélodyssée route. Their unique expertise is emblematic of the region’s history and family traditions in permanent contact with nature.
“We were born here. By dint of seeing, we learned.”
Did you know that it takes six steps to get the final product? The steps are collection, detachment from their support, growing in a controlled environment, maturation and depuration. The entire process takes three to four years!
You may come across one of these experts around the next bend.
A winemaker in Landes
People are not always familiar with wine from Landes (in French only), but they have existed for quite some time. The Domaine de La Pointe (in French only) is easily accessible from La Vélodyssée on the Capbreton <> Bayonne segment and this is where the last vines from Capbreton’s historic vineyard grow. This estate has been known as a very unique wine growing terroir for more than 600 years. It now covers five hectares and vines are growing in a fragile dune ecosystem regulated by the ocean 800 metres away. Explore the vineyard on self-guided or guided tours.
You can also try other wines like Tursan and Vin de Chalosse at local cellars.
A chocolatier in Basque Country
The first cacao processing sites in France were created in Bayonne, on the right bank of the Adour river. This expertise was then shared with other Basque Country towns including Biarritz, Cambo and Ustaritz.
As you travel along La Vélodyssée between Bayonne and Biarritz, be sure to make a stop at one (or more) of these great places: Cazenave, Daranatz, Pariès, Atelier du Chocolat, Chocolat Pascal and Monsieur Txokola.
CHECK OUT THIS REGIONAL EXPERTISE AT THE MUSÉE DU CHOCOLAT IN BAYONNE