Why this ride
340 km from Royan to Royan, about 6 h 53 of riding. On the way it passes La citadelle et le fort Paté et Médoc de B, Bordeaux, Jurisdiction of Saint-Emilion and back through Bordeaux. A steady touring day rather than a sprint.
CURVESCOUT / MOTORCYCLE RIDE
Cordouan Lighthouse and Jurisdiction of Saint-Emilion
Plan this ride
- Recorded distance
- 340 km
- Riding-time estimate
- 6 h 53
- Journey
- Recorded itinerary
Distance and timing basis
The recorded total and the leg detail need reconciliation. Inspect the leg notes before using this record for timing or navigation. 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. Cordouan Lighthouse
Cordouan is a lighthouse standing alone on a rock bank in the mouth of the Gironde estuary, seven kilometres or so out to sea, and you cannot ride to it. The lighthouse is a boat trip away from Royan or from the Médoc side at Le Verdon-sur-Mer, and only in season and when the tide and swell permit.
Read the complete Cordouan Lighthouse write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Cordouan Lighthouse is where the day begins. Next is La citadelle et le fort Paté et Médoc de B.
2. La citadelle et le fort Paté et Médoc de B
The Gironde estuary is wide enough here to feel like an inland sea, and Vauban saw it as the gateway to Bordeaux that needed a lock. His answer, at the end of the seventeenth century, was a triangle of fortifications: the citadel at Blaye on the right bank, Fort Médoc on the left bank at Cussac, and between them Fort Paté, a squat stone tower built on an island in the middle of the river. Together they could cross their fire over the shipping channel, and today they share a place on the UNESCO list of Vauban's works. The citadel of Blaye is the most impressive of the three, a fortified town in its own right, with ramparts, gates and old barracks set high on a bluff above the water.
Read the complete La citadelle et le fort Paté et Médoc de B write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
La citadelle et le fort Paté et Médoc de B comes up 59 km in. Next is Bordeaux.
3. Bordeaux
Bordeaux makes a confident start or finish to a ride, and you feel it the moment you come along the left bank of the Garonne: a curved river front of honey-coloured eighteenth-century facades that runs for kilometres, the Place de la Bourse at its centre, and the shallow Miroir d'eau in front of it reflecting the whole thing back at the sky. The crescent bend of the river gave the city its old nickname, the Port of the Moon.
Read the complete Bordeaux write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
118 km in you reach Bordeaux. Next is Jurisdiction of Saint-Emilion.
4. Jurisdiction of Saint-Emilion
Saint-Émilion is a wine village that looks like a stage set, with steep, cobbled lanes tumbling down a limestone hillside, golden stone houses, and a bell tower rising above the rooftops. The UNESCO listing covers not just the village but its whole jurisdiction, eight parishes of vineyards around it, recognising a landscape in which vines have been cultivated since Roman times. The village grew around the hermitage of Émilion, a Breton monk who lived in a cave here in the eighth century, and its most remarkable monument is the monolithic church, carved out of the rock beneath the bell tower.
Read the complete Jurisdiction of Saint-Emilion write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Jurisdiction of Saint-Emilion, about halfway. Next is back through Bordeaux.
5. back through Bordeaux
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Bordeaux write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
back through Bordeaux sits at 235 km, about halfway. Next is back through La citadelle et le fort Paté et Médoc de B.
6. back through La citadelle et le fort Paté et Médoc de B
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete La citadelle et le fort Paté et Médoc de B write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
back through La citadelle et le fort Paté et Médoc de B comes up 294 km in. Next is Cordouan Lighthouse.
7. Cordouan Lighthouse
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Cordouan Lighthouse write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Cordouan Lighthouse closes the day.
Leg by leg
Cordouan Lighthouse to La citadelle et le fort Paté et Médoc de B
Cordouan Lighthouse → La citadelle et le fort Paté et Médoc de B is 88 km of getting across. Ride it tidily and keep the enthusiasm for what comes after.
La citadelle et le fort Paté et Médoc de B to Bordeaux
La citadelle et le fort Paté et Médoc de B → Bordeaux is 44 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Bordeaux to Jurisdiction of Saint-Emilion
Bordeaux → Jurisdiction of Saint-Emilion is 45 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Jurisdiction of Saint-Emilion to back through Bordeaux
Jurisdiction of Saint-Emilion → back through Bordeaux is 45 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Bordeaux to back through La citadelle et le fort Paté et Médoc de B
back through Bordeaux → back through La citadelle et le fort Paté et Médoc de B is 44 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through La citadelle et le fort Paté et Médoc de B to Cordouan Lighthouse
back through La citadelle et le fort Paté et Médoc de B → Cordouan Lighthouse is 88 km of getting across. Ride it tidily and keep the enthusiasm for what comes after.
More motorcycle rides nearby
- Bordeaux and Cordouan Lighthouse · 257 km