Planning a short tour with a group of novices, Cherbourg to Paris to catch the last stage of the Tour.

Was wondering if anyone had cycled this route, and what the options were likely to be for lunch stops and overnight given there are maybe 16 of us.

Was thinking cafes and Etaps.

Also whats the terrain like? I have vague recollections of long straight roads and undulating not-steep hills from last time – about 20 years ago.

Any other tips welcome

I did this route back in June; not so close to Paris but flat to rolling hills mostly.

I got food from supermarkets and whatever I found in towns along the way and stayed at Formule 1 hotels which was perhaps a mistake – easy to organize but not usually in useful locations but that didn't really matter as only for sleeps.

We toured Channel to Med this year, mainly camping. We always seemed to be out of synch with shop opening hours around lunch time (12:00 – 14:00). When we were ready the shops were shut and when we weren't, they were open.

We normally start around 08:30, stop for a snack a couple of hours later then stop for lunch a couple of hours after that – right in the middle of the lunch time shutdown. We normally don't eat cooked food for lunch, just bakery or supermarket (Boulangerie et Supermarche if you prefer..) and most of the places we stopped were quite small so not much choice/many alternatives.

Personally, I'd also avoid the F1's like the plague. Yes they are cheap and convenient but as commented above, they tend to be out of the way (i.e. usually souless retail parks on the edge of town) and just not very…French. Get into town to the local hotels etc and meet the locals 🙂

Have you tried the CTC website?

Would you consider camping, or are you credit-card touring?
Camping would give you plenty of flexibility, I think every town of a certain size in France has to have a "Camping Municipal" – basic camping facility.

I'd be happy with a bivvy bag, but I think 'credit-card' touring is more likely lol!