Milly Forest Roads and Gâtinais · short arc

Waypoint introductions and full write-ups

1. 1. Fuel stop near Vaux-le-Pénil

   Vaux-le-Pénil sits on the high ground above the Seine, just east of Melun, in the Seine-et-Marne department. From the edge of the plateau, you can look down on the river as it winds through its valley, with Melun on its island and the forest of Fontainebleau stretching away to the south.

   Read the complete High point near Vaux-le-Pénil write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

   May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.

   Planning note

   Milly Forest Roads and Gâtinais is where the day begins. Next is High point near Sermaises.

2. 2. High point near Sermaises

   Planning note

   You top out here; the road stops climbing. Next is Scenic stretch in Ablis.

3. 3. Scenic stretch in Ablis

   Planning note

   about 128 km into the recorded legs you reach Scenic stretch in Ablis. Next is Photo stop near Pacy-sur-Eure.

4. 4. Photo stop near Pacy-sur-Eure

   Pacy-sur-Eure sits on the river Eure in Normandy, about an hour west of Paris, in a valley of meadows, poplars and chalk hillsides. The town is a modest market centre with a Gothic church, a riverside setting and good access to the A13 motorway. It is also the starting point of a heritage railway, the Chemin de fer de la vallée de l'Eure, which runs along the valley on summer weekends.

   Read the complete Photo stop near Pacy-sur-Eure write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

   May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.

   Planning note

   Photo stop near Pacy-sur-Eure, about halfway. Next is Food stop in Dreslincourt.

5. 5. Food stop in Dreslincourt

   Planning note

   Food at 347 km, roughly 6 hours into the riding. Next is Paris / Île-de-France escapes.

6. 6. Paris / Île-de-France escapes

   Blérancourt is a village of about twelve hundred in the Aisne, in the green country between Soissons and Noyon, and it houses an unexpected museum: the Musée national de la Coopération franco-américaine, in the remains of a seventeenth-century château. It was founded by Anne Morgan, the daughter of the American banker J. P. Morgan, who came here after the First World War to help the villagers rebuild, and the museum tells the story of the friendship between France and the United States, from the American Revolution to the world wars. A fine garden and a pair of pavilions survive from the old château.

   Read the complete Near Blérancourt, on the way back write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

   May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.

   Planning note

   The route ends here after 434 km.