check in your bike at the Eurostar Baggage Office at the railway station up to one hour before your train departure. This service also costs £20, but there is no guarantee that you and your cycle will travel on the same train. In this case, your bike will usually arrive a few hours after you, but Eurostar only guarantees that it will arrive within 24 hours after check-in, so at worst you could have to wait up to a day to retrieve your bicycle.
On most TGV services you will have to transport your bicycle in a bike bag no larger than 120 × 90cm, although a few TGV services now have a luggage van in which bikes can be transported without dismantling, for example on the Paris to Marseilles route. This service cost €10 per bike per journey in 2008. It may be that in the future this facility will be extended to other TGV routes – check the current situation and regulations on www.velo.sncf.com.
The Express Bike Bus is a company offering coach transport from England with bicycles towed in custom-built trailers. There are various pick-up points in England, including Leeds, Manchester, Birmingham, London and Dover. Their ‘Mediterranean Route’ service includes a drop-off near Montpellier. Services operate from early May to late September, with varying weekly/fortnightly departures and returns (see Appendix F, Useful Contacts).
There are several advantages of using a private vehicle to transport your bike to the Massif Central. Firstly, the bike does not need to be dismantled in any way, packed in a bike bag or box, nor re-assembled at journey's end, and you have total control at all stages, remaining with your bicycle for the duration of the journey. You alone are responsible for securing your bike onto your vehicle, so that there are no concerns over possible damage by airport or train staff during handling, and no additional bike transport costs to pay. In addition, the use of private transport allows total flexibility over journey dates and timings.
Sign for a typical gîte
The disadvantage, unless you have a vehicle back-up person or team, is that somewhere must be found for the safe storage of your car while on the GTMC. It is best to book a hotel or similar accommodation in advance for the first night, asking for your vehicle to be left in the establishment's car park for the duration of your holiday. (It is only reasonable, if the hotel grants this, to pay a reasonable daily parking fee, and to offer to stay a second night at the end of your trip before leaving for home.) The obvious place to drive to is Clermont-Ferrand. Leave your vehicle here and take a non-TGV train back with your bike from Sète/Montpellier at the end of your holiday.
Accommodation
Hotels, gîtes d'étape and chambres d'hôtes
Booking accommodation from the UK these days is relatively easy, thanks to the internet and e-mail. Some of the hotels and gîtes d'étape along the route now have websites, and enquiries and bookings are often possible by e-mail. Main tourist offices in the region (see Appendix F, Useful Contacts) will also send out lists of accommodation on request.
Hotel de Paris in Murol (Stage 2)
During the main summer season, and particularly between 14 July and 15 August (from Bastille Day to the Feast of the Assumption), many hotels and gîtes d'étape tend to be heavily booked, especially in the main tourist areas, so those intending to ride or walk the GTMC during July and August, or over French public holidays, are strongly advised to make reservations. At other times of year booking accommodation in advance may not be necessary, although it is always advisable, if possible, to phone for a booking one or two days ahead, particularly if you wish to take dinner on the evening when you arrive. If speaking French over the telephone is a problem for you, then either ask the proprietor of your current hotel or gîte d'étape to phone ahead for you, or ask the staff of a tourist office to do so. Most people are usually very willing to help.
Hotels in France are star graded according to a system very similar to that used in Britain. A basic hotel is a one-star establishment, and usually reasonably priced, clean and comfortable. Most of the hotels in the area covered by this guidebook carry a one- or two-star grading. One pays for the room in France, so there is seldom a reduction for only one occupant, although if cycling or walking alone it is always sensible to enquire.
The French gîte d'étape has similarities with the UK youth hostel, but is operated either privately (most are family-run small businesses) or by the local community (gîte communal). Many gîtes d'étape are in sympathetically restored traditional buildings, typically accommodating between 10 and 30 people. All have hot showers. Dinner is usually provided in a gîte d'étape and this nearly always consists of excellent home cooking, often to a much higher standard than that found in tourist restaurants. Most gîtes d'étape also have a fully equipped kitchen for those wishing to prepare their own food. Accommodation is in a traditional dortoir, usually of four, six or eight beds, but increasingly these days, rooms for two are also available at a little extra cost.
Checking gear before leaving the gîte (Stage 8) (Alan Sides)
Demi-pensions are common and usually offer the best value for money. You will almost certainly meet other like-minded outdoor people here, usually walkers, mountain bikers or other cyclists, and these establishments are noted for their hospitality. Staying at a good gîte d'étape can be one of the highlights of walking or cycling in France. See Appendix C for a list of the gîtes d'étape along the GTMC Trail. There is no umbrella organisation to join, but details of most of them can be found at www.gites-refuges.com.
Chambres d'hôtes are bed-and-breakfast establishments, similar to their British counterparts (although, of course, do not expect an English cooked breakfast). The cost always includes breakfast, but dinner is often not available, although it can usually be taken in a nearby restaurant. Chambres d'hôtes are becoming more and more popular in France, and to attract foreign guests will often be signposted as ‘Bed & Breakfast’, ‘B&B’, or ‘zimmer-frei’.
Camping
There are many campsites on or near the way – plentiful in some areas, but rather thin on the ground in others, particularly after Stage 13 until the coast is reached. For campers intending to ride or walk the GTMC late in the season, it is important to note that most campsites on the route close some time in September, often at the end of that month, but more than a few in the first or second week of September. If you intend to camp wild (camping sauvage) along the trail, be aware that you must seek permission from the landowner before doing so (it is illegal to do so otherwise). An uncontaminated water source will also have to be found, unless enough water is carried from a town or village. Leave no sign of an overnight camp, remove all your litter and take care not to pollute water sources. Particular care should be taken with matches and stoves, as forest fires are all too common during hot, dry summers, and do not light open fires. Note that wild camping is completely prohibited in the Cévennes National Park.
Food and Water
The mobile butcher calls at Vacquerie-et-Saint-Martin-de-Castries (Stage 14)
Shops, and in particular grocery shops (épicerie) and bakers (boulangerie), tend to open earlier than their equivalents in Britain (usually around 7.30–8.00am)
