Styling it out in Compiegne, Chantilly and Senlis

It was nice to be in Compiegne and have the chance to look around a stylish town. Riding around with a ton of luggage on my bike was beginning to get on my nerves, and I worked out that I could get up early and go for a ride sans luggage, up to Pierrefonds and back, before then loading up and riding across to Chantilly.

Very quickly after leaving the town of Compiegne the landscape changed from urban to the woodland of the Forest of Compiegne, and other forested zones. It was that time of day when those with jobs would already be at work, while those who would be taking things leisurely had not yet got up.

Pierrefonds Castle

So that meant I practically had these roads to myself. Pierrefonds village came around very quickly - it was only seven miles away on a flat road. At the castle things were fairly quiet, but I could see more and more coaches and cars turning up. This definitely seemed a popular place.

The first time I visited this area by bike, years ago, while trying to find Pierrefonds Castle, I bumped into an old local bloke. Even though he had lived in the area for over 30 years, he spoke about the castle with such passion and emotion like he was seeing it for the first time, and it was the most amazing thing.

He described how this wonderful sight just rises from the ground, suddenly towering over you in spectacular style. At the time I didn't know what all the fuss was about. But at this moment when riding there I understood exactly what he meant. One minute I was on a a narrow road with a few houses, then the next minute the turrets of this massive fantasy-like castle suddenly came into view, completely dominating the landscape in the distance.

The tower was clearly in view when in the distance, but then as I rode through the winding street that climbed uphill, the turrets disappeared out of view, only to become visible again when really close up.

I took the opportunity to photograph this castle before the seriously big crowds arrived. At this time, on a Friday morning, there was only a handful of tourists and the area was populated by local people at the market. It all looked very French and traditional.

Time was marching on, so I had to push on to return to Compiegne. This is such a lovely part of the world - if only I could have stayed longer. The practically empty roads only gently undulated through the woods, and the sun shone brightly. It was my ideal ride. Along the way, I passed an organised group ride of small children. They can't have been older than 7 years old. All of them wore high vis tabards, and there was a support car behind them like you would see in a professional cycle race. What a lovely introduction to cycling for this juvenile troop.

As well as the Pierrefonds Castle there was also the Armistice Memorial, and a museum of the First World War. Unfortunately time ran out on me as my visit was embarrassingly interrupted by a phone call from a panicked Veronique. The landlady of my studio had returned home during her lunch hour to clear out my room (thinking that I had already checked out). Finding my belongings, but no sign of me she rang fretting about where I was!

Once I dashed back she seemed more relaxed and a bit apologetic for making such a fuss. This panic from her was in addition to the fuss she had made the previous day when she dashed home from work, thinking that I would be at hers for 5pm, when in fact I didn't get there until about quarter to nine that evening. She was trying to juggle running the property while holding down her job, so I guess it must be stressful sometimes trying to get everything done on time.

A typical street in Compiegne

After a pleasant chat with Veronique and her son, I bade them good bye and toddled off along my way, headed for Chantilly. 
Before hitting the road for Chantilly I stopped off and took a few photos of around Compiegne town centre and its impressive gothic town hall that dates to the 16th century.

Compiegne Town Hall

This place definitely had an upmarket feel about it, with its timber-fronted architecture made the place look even prettier. It had the feel of somewhere like St Albans or Stratford-on-Avon, and made for a nice start-town for those who have to face the 260-km cobble-strewn classic bike ride from here to Roubaix! If only, I could have stayed longer - but I had to push on to Chantilly.

My ride to the town known as the Captital of the Horse, Chantilly, is highly recommended. Most of it was traffic-free or on quiet roads. The first part of the ride was on a tarmacked path that followed the river Oise. Then at Verberie, near Pont-Sainte-Maxence, I was then on a main road that had a segregated cycle path, and I continued along a rural road full of corn and pumpkins. It reminded me of my allotment, but just a gazillion times bigger! Looking at fields full of crops like this gives me so much admiration for the farmers, especially when I think about how much work I have to do just to maintain a 30sq metre patch of land, and they are responsible for 30 football pitches worth of produce.

Again, this afternoon the roads seemed so empty, to the point that it made me wonder if I hadn't received the memo about something that was going on! In the end I reached a place called Senlis, and I realised that that the memo had been for everyone to go and have coffee in this beautiful ancient town.

Ancient facades in Senlis

This must be one of the best kept secrets in France. I had heard people talk about Compiegne and Chantilly previously, but never Senlis. But in fact, I would say this town had more character than the other places. The buildings date from Roman times, and hark back to ancient times when royalty lived there. The place certainly had a historic with interesting facades, lining cobbled streets. There was a pretty descent smattering of luxury cars parked outside some of the cafes, as well as folks on Harley Davidsons. I was quite happy to people-watch on my old faithful Planet X push bike!

By this time it was around 4pm, the sun had gone in and the sky looked quite threatening, so I quickly made tracks to Chantilly, which was about five miles away. Once again I was on a quiet, woodland lane. Google maps suggested I take a forest trail which followed quite the tributary River Nonette, but it would have been a bit too bumpy for my pannier rack and I didn't want to to take the risk. It turned out to be useful on-road rather than off-road because suddenly I got caught in a massive shower, which could have been a messy affair! Instead, I was able to stop on a recessed part of the road and shelter under the trees for around half an hour.

Once the rain stopped my run in to Chantilly was straight forward as I basically followed the signs on what was the bike route of the triathlon, so the route took me straight into the grounds of Chantilly Castle, where I was able to pick up my race pack and start getting nervous about my challenge for the next day!

Click here for my route from Compiegne to Chantilly.

Somme bike ride!

My plan had been to ride from Abbeville to Compiègne, but because I hadn't managed to ride around the lovely medieval town of Saint Valéry sur Somme the previous day I wanted to get that in first before advancing further inland.

It wasn't going to take long to get back to the coast, as Saint Valéry was only 11 miles away, and there was a convenient cycle path along the river to use as well.

So I set off from my lodgings, a nice studio apartment (La Vie est Belle) in the centre of Abbeville. A few chores I had to do got in the way and I ended up hitting the road at almost lunchtime.

I didn't take the canal path to get to Saint Valéry, preferring to save that for the return journey to Abbeville, while going along the road on my outward ride to the coastal town. In fact the roads might as well have been traffic-free given that once I was on the D3 from a village called Cambron there were hardly any vehicles. It was a very quaint sleepy village with practically no one around. Further along the road were a few cows that looked a bit startled to see any other form of life passing by!

The country lane undulated and twisted and turned through woods, and although the general direction was towards the sea, there was hardly any sign of it. It wasn't until after I reached the roundabout approaching Saint Valéry sur Somme that the coast came into view.

Saint Valéry was a very touristic place, as you would imagine. People were headed just for the main feature, the medieval city, making the paths crowded so on the bike it was a bit of a faff getting round everyone. There was a road, but it was cobbley, and with the load on my bike I think that would have been a bit too much for the frame as well as my bones!

To visit all of the medieval city you need to have lots of energy and comfortable shoes for the uphills as Saint Valéry is set on different levels. I had neither. What energy I had was being saved for my ride to Mont Didier, near Compiègne.

So my visit was confined to the highest point I could feasibly ride to, which was conveniently near an old church, the Eglise Saint-Martin, and a café thematically named Au Velocipède.

Eglise Saint-Martin opposite Au Velocipède café, St Valéry sur Somme

Although this wasn't the very top of the town where the abbey is situated I was still high enough to get a panoramic view across the bay, where Le Crotoy was situated. That town had been on my list of places to visit, but time had run out, so a visit to Le Crotoy would have to be for another day.

Seeing as it was now afternoon I made a beeline through the town to try and pick up the cycle path back to Abbeville. This is where I wasted a lot of time. I couldn't seem to find the start of the path, and at one point I joined the main N940 road and ended up cycling over it, feeling a massively frustrated as flew over the bike riders below me, not knowing how to join them. It took me almost an hour of faffing around in Saint Valéry before I was able to join the path. It was a relief to see the sign and know I was finally on the right track and I could look forward to getting back to Abbeville, grabbing a bit of lunch, and continuing onwards.

This path was really pleasant, with a smooth surface, and regular points to stop for a picnic on the various benches, plus little cafés as the path crossed various hamlets. This path, also part of a Eurovelo network, is popular, with all types of cyclists - organised recreational groups on hybrids, couples, friends, families with children, and club riders looking for a quick work-out. If this cycle path was anything to go by I would be in for a treat on the section along the River Somme to Amiens, as that would be a meandering path through woodland, as opposed to this path which was completely straight along a canal. The route from Saint Valéry to Abbeville was 15km (9.5 miles) so it wouldn't be long before I would be stopping for lunch and a photo opportunity at the big church.

Unfortunately, things didn't go to plan, when I got a puncture about 3 miles from Abbeville. What a heartsink moment when you know that even though you can sort it out, it is nevertheless going to delay you further. Also I never feel confident that I can pump up my tyres to sufficiently - particularly when I need high pressures to support my ever expanding panniers!

Well, my worries about pumping up tyres just got worse when I took out my pump only to discover the piece to attach it to the valve had snapped off (God knows how) so I had no pump at all!

Feeling somewhat folorn, I reattached the back wheel to the bike, reloaded the panniers onto the rack, and then wheeled everything, with difficulty to the nearby cafe. Although there were lots of cyclists riding by I didn't feel comfortable interrupting their rides to borrow their pump so I preferred to see if either the café owner or a cyclist on their café stop could help me. Luckily that worked, and I was able to get a pump from two Belgian women who were cycle touring.

If I was worried about the load I had on my bike, I shouldn't have been. They looked like they were each carrying a house on their bikes. Everything but the kitchen sink was piled high. When they offered to give me their pump I had to wait more than 5 minutes while they onloaded their stuff to find it! They were doing a circuit around Northern France before returning to their homes in Antwerp. Between us I don't know who was more impressed with whom - they admired how I was managing to find my way round France alone, while I was impressed at how much they could balance on their bikes. Once back on the road I was soon back in Abbeville and at a bikeshop that I had sighted the previous day as I rode from the train station to my lodgings (Vélo
80).

Just to be sure that I wouldn't have further problems I got a new rear tyre fitted, as I realised it was a little worn and I just didn't want to take any risks.

By the time all this was done though, it was going to 5pm, the sky was looking threatening, and I wasn't sure if I really wanted to ride in what could be a heavy storm. Perhaps I could just ride to Amiens and then catch the train. Looking at the timetable, the train would leave Amiens for Compiègne, where I was headed, at 7.30pm, and according to Google it would take me 2 hours 30 to cycle to Amiens.

They guys in the bike shop reckoned it would take an hour and a half, but they also mentioned that part of the cycle path was closed, and I would need to take a diversion via Eaucourt and Pont-Remy, but if I could ride at 25 kmph (16 mph) I would be fine. I wasn't sure I could average anywhere near that speed on undulating ground, and I often stop to consult the map on these rides. It would be touch and go as to whether I could reach Amiens by 7.30pm. The train after that would be at 8.30pm, meaning I would get to my lodgings in Compiègne at almost 10pm. Not what I wanted. I didn't want to do a stressful ride where I would be up against the clock either. This was meant to be a holiday after all.

Perhaps I could do a leisurely ride up to a village called Longpré, pick up a train from there, change at Amiens, and then get another train for Compiègne. In fact that was my intention. But when I saw that there had been heavy rain in Eaucourt and the sky still looked threatening that made me change my mind about cycling over there, and return to Abbeville from where I could get the train. It is wasn't really what I wanted to do but I feel it is always important to travel in a way where you have a fall-back plan.

So my cycle ride ended just outside Abbeville, with less than 60 km on the counter, and not much further along the road through France than I was at the start of the day. There was no pleasant ride along the River Somme, no chance to see the wonderful cathedral at Amiens, and no regal entrance through the Compiègne forest into the former royal town. It really felt like a wasted day.

Eglise Saint-Vulfran, Abbeville

I really hate that feeling of having missed out on seeing something that I had just assumed I would get to see. I had been looking forward to getting to Amiens. Maybe I shouldn't have gone to Saint Valéry, but then that was a place I had really wanted to see too. And in any case why should I have had to choose between the two? It was perfectly possible to ride to both. I wanted to berate myself for not planning properly. And I cursed at the fact that I had packed so much stuff, which had meant that my bike was just too heavy for me to ride at a decent pace. But then again, given that the first part of my day was an out-and-back from Abbeville, I could have left my luggage at my lodgings and then done a quicker load-free ride. Perhaps I should return to the area in a couple of weeks so that I can just ride those parts that I missed. There were so many thoughts going round in my head.

Well, I guess one can go on about all the if-onlys, buts, perhaps etc, but I guess in these situations it is better to just look forwards. It's also good to look for the positives. The puncture happened when I was near others who could help me, rather than on a completely lost and lonely lane. I didn't get caught up in the pouring rain, where others had been on that day, I had taken some nice photos at Saint Valéry, and the big church in Abbeville.....

My trains got me to Compiègne on time, and I was met by a very friendly, bubbly lady called Véronique who showed me into a rather stylish studio right in the centre of Compiègne (Studio Centre Ville Compiègne).
Between that, and arriving to a very picturesque and pretty town, I felt like my day had not been so bad. It was a shame I only got to see Amiens train station, but I have been to Amiens in the past and I am sure I will be there again some time in the not too distant future.

Here's the route I did.


Related Posts
Around the Pas de Calais Coast

Cycling to Paris again

On the road in Northern France

Can-do Girls - Annaleena does Paris-Roubaix...in midwinter!

Following on from my post a month ago for International Women's Day I will be continuing my series on women who have done impressive things or accomplished amazing achievements. Those that have been where others fear to tread and have come out on the other side deserving a massive badge of honour as well as a big piece of cake!

These are the Can-do Girls. These women really can. We all know of celebrity female athletes and adventurers who have achieved outstanding feats in sport, and I have already mentioned some of them in my previous posts. This series will focus on Jane Bloggs or Jane Doe who has done extraordinary things.

Today I want to talk about my co-worker, designer Annaleena Piel Linnå. As cycling fans get ready to watch the professionals battle it out on the cobbles of Paris-Roubaix spare a thought for Annaleena who rode the cobbles on her own on her 30-year-old steel touring bike all alone in December!

Luckily for her the weather stayed largely clement, but it still didn't get her out of riding on the various cobbled sectors. 

Starting from central Paris, (as opposed to Compiegne where the masses start their ride) Annaleena set off on Boxing Day last year and headed northwards. She recorded her story with nice photos on her blog. Here's how Annaleena summarised her trip when I spoke to her:


Paris-Roubaix was actually my plan B!

I did Rapha Festive 500 for the first time last year [2014-15] and thought this is so good I’m gonna do it every year, so I was looking for a way to get in 500km over Christmas.

I had wanted to do Land’s End to John O’Groats but couldn’t find any accommodation past Glasgow at that time.

Also the floods came and I thought I’m either gonna die or it would be a really miserable week.

Then while on train journey to Paris with my bike thought, why not Paris-Roubaix? So there I was downloading the official route from last year and doing the planning just two days before I set off!

After spending Christmas Day in Paris and I set off on Day 1 from the centre of the Capital to Compiegne, which was about 112km. Because of my recovery from flu and needing lots of rest I ended up leaving Paris around noon so I didn’t arrive in Compiegne until around 7 o’clock that night. So the last 3 hours was spent on unlit roads with loads of drivers beeping at me through the dark, shouting “Crazy girl, what are you doing on the road?!”

The next day the weather was sunny all day long and the temperature was 14degC, which was so lucky.

There were around 52.7km of pavé but I did about 12 sections of them and I don’t know exactly which ones I did because a lot of them were ridden in pitch black! I’d be riding along, barely able to make out what was coming – then it would go all bumpy and I would realise “Ooh, I’m on the pavé!” The worst one was more than 2km long and it hurt my head so much.

I had wanted to do all of the pavé but many of them were being reworked. I’d get to a few of them and there’d be a dozen old people there, The Friends of Paris Roubaix, with their tools fixing the road!

My tactic throughout was to keep calm and keep going. People had given me tips to go really fast on the cobbles and weigh down my bike. That wasn’t difficult as I had 12kg in the saddle bags!

It would have been nice to stop for a long lunch during the ride but nothing was open. I even had to go to a nursing home to use their toilet, and that was an adventure in itself!

Arriving in Roubaix I felt so jubilant. The ride felt so much better than everyone had told me. My ride didn’t end in Roubaix though as afterwards I had to ride another 18km to Lille, where I was staying and do another 120km to make it 500.

I have lots of great memories from the trip and would absolutely recommend doing it independently. If you are riding over Christmas bring loads of food, because at that time absolutely everything is shut and I ended up riding around starving!

Just get on your bike and do it!

Photos by Annaleena Piel Linnå