Cités de Montigny et du Moucheron and Beffroi de l’Hôtel de Ville d’Aire-sur-la-
Plan this ride
Recorded distance
244 km
Riding-time estimate
3 h 57
Journey
Recorded itinerary
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.
From Lallaing it runs 244 km to Lallaing; allow about 3 h 57 of riding. It goes by way of Beffroi de l’Hôtel de Ville de Comines, Beffroi de l’Hôtel de Ville d’Aire-sur-la and back through Beffroi de l’Hôtel de Ville de Comines. It crosses from France into Belgium - carry ID and check the toll rules.
Waypoint introductions and full write-ups
1. Cités de Montigny et du Moucheron
Montigny-en-Ostrevent is a small town in the Ostrevent, the strip of land between the Scarpe and the Escaut rivers east of Douai, and its miners' settlements, the Cités de Montigny and du Moucheron, are typical of the housing built by the mining companies in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. Rows of brick houses with small gardens, built along straight streets, often with a church, a school and a shop nearby, formed the backbone of community life in the coalfield. These cités are part of the Nord-Pas de Calais Mining Basin World Heritage site.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Cités de Montigny et du Moucheron is where the day begins. Next is Beffroi de l’Hôtel de Ville de Comines.
2. Beffroi de l’Hôtel de Ville de Comines
Comines is one of those towns the border runs straight through. The river Lys, the Leie to the Flemish, divides French Comines from Belgian Comines-Warneton, and you can cross from one country to the other on a bridge without noticing much more than a change in the shape of the street signs. On the French side the town hall and its belfry stand over the main square, a tall brick tower in the Flemish style with a pointed roof and a carillon, part of the group of belfries of Belgium and France listed by UNESCO.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Beffroi de l’Hôtel de Ville de Comines comes up about 63 km into the recorded legs. Next is Beffroi de l’Hôtel de Ville d’Aire-sur-la-.
3. Beffroi de l’Hôtel de Ville d’Aire-sur-la-
Aire-sur-la-Lys is the kind of small French town that rewards a slow walk with no plan. Its belfry rises from the eighteenth-century town hall on the Grand Place, an elegant classical building topped by a tall tower with a lantern and a carillon, and it is part of the UNESCO listing of belfries of Belgium and France. Across the square stands the Bailliage, a richly decorated Renaissance building from around 1600, with arches, carved figures and a little loggia, which once housed the guard and the town's officials. A few streets away, the great collegiate church of Saint-Pierre, built in a flamboyant Gothic style, rises above the rooftops.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Back at Cités de Montigny et du Moucheron. That is the ride.
Leg by leg
Cités de Montigny et du Moucheron to Beffroi de l’Hôtel de Ville de Comines
Cités de Montigny et du Moucheron → Beffroi de l’Hôtel de Ville de Comines is 63 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Beffroi de l’Hôtel de Ville de Comines to Beffroi de l’Hôtel de Ville d’Aire-sur-la-
Beffroi de l’Hôtel de Ville de Comines → Beffroi de l’Hôtel de Ville d’Aire-sur-la- is 60 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Beffroi de l’Hôtel de Ville d’Aire-sur-la- to back through Beffroi de l’Hôtel de Ville de Comines
Beffroi de l’Hôtel de Ville d’Aire-sur-la- → back through Beffroi de l’Hôtel de Ville de Comines is 60 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Beffroi de l’Hôtel de Ville de Comines to Cités de Montigny et du Moucheron
back through Beffroi de l’Hôtel de Ville de Comines → Cités de Montigny et du Moucheron is 62 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.