Why this ride
Scenery first, traffic last, with checkpoints that make sense on a bike. Out of Paris and back again: 182 km, roughly 2 h 32 in the saddle. Long stretches are under trees.
CURVESCOUT / MOTORCYCLE RIDE
Chartres Plains and Perche Return
Plan this ride
- Recorded distance
- 182 km
- Riding-time estimate
- 2 h 32
- Journey
- Loop
Distance and timing basis
Ordered leg totals agree within rounding. Stop distances are approximate sums of rounded legs. Stops, delays, approach and any separate return travel add time. Basis: producer-declared routed record.
Reading history stays on this device. My road watch requires a separate selection; opening it does not subscribe this ride.
Distance and riding time are measured on the routed road. Check local closures and conditions before you ride.
Waypoint introductions and full write-ups
1. Paris
It is a gift from the ruler of Egypt, about three thousand years old, and it was set up here in 1836 on the spot where the guillotine stood during the Revolution. Louis XVI was executed on this square in 1793, and so, in the Terror that followed, were over a thousand others. Now the square is a roundabout with fountains, ringed by traffic and framed by the Tuileries gardens on one side and the Madeleine church on the other. The banks of the Seine in this part of the city are UNESCO listed.
2. Chartres
The spires of Chartres cathedral appear on the horizon while you are still deep in the wheat fields of the Beauce, two mismatched towers, one plain and one flamboyant, rising out of the flat land like a mirage. For pilgrims, for centuries, that first sight was a moment of joy, and it still is if you approach on the quiet roads from the east or south.
3. Paris
Return visit. Read the place description above.