Cro de Granville and La citadelle et le fort Paté et Médoc de B
Plan this ride
Recorded distance
402 km
Riding-time estimate
6 h 15
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.
A 402 km round trip from Rouffignac-Saint-Cernin-de-Reilhac - roughly 6 h 15 in the saddle. On the way it passes Jurisdiction of Saint-Emilion, La citadelle et le fort Paté et Médoc de B and back through Jurisdiction of Saint-Emilion. A steady touring day rather than a sprint.
Waypoint introductions and full write-ups
1. Cro de Granville
The Cro de Granville is a rock shelter in the Dordogne, near Rouffignac-Saint-Cernin, in the part of south-west France where the limestone plateaus are riddled with caves, shelters and overhangs and where early humans lived and painted for tens of thousands of years.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Cro de Granville is where the day begins. Next is Jurisdiction of Saint-Emilion.
2. 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.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Jurisdiction of Saint-Emilion comes up about 130 km into the recorded legs. Next is La citadelle et le fort Paté et Médoc de B.
3. 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.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Back at Cro de Granville. That is the ride.
Leg by leg
Cro de Granville to Jurisdiction of Saint-Emilion
Cro de Granville → Jurisdiction of Saint-Emilion is 130 km of getting across. Ride it tidily and keep the enthusiasm for what comes after.
Jurisdiction of Saint-Emilion to La citadelle et le fort Paté et Médoc de B
Jurisdiction of Saint-Emilion → La citadelle et le fort Paté et Médoc de B is 87 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
La citadelle et le fort Paté et Médoc de B to back through Jurisdiction of Saint-Emilion
La citadelle et le fort Paté et Médoc de B → back through Jurisdiction of Saint-Emilion is 55 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Jurisdiction of Saint-Emilion to Cro de Granville
back through Jurisdiction of Saint-Emilion → Cro de Granville is 130 km of getting across. Ride it tidily and keep the enthusiasm for what comes after.