Why this ride
385 km from Blaye to Blaye, about 5 h 41 of riding. On the way it passes Jurisdiction of Saint-Emilion, Roc de Saint-Cirq and back through Jurisdiction of Saint-Emilion. It suits an unhurried touring pace.
CURVESCOUT / MOTORCYCLE RIDE
La citadelle et le fort Paté et Médoc de B and Roc de Saint-Cirq
Plan this ride
- Recorded distance
- 385 km
- Riding-time estimate
- 5 h 41
- 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.
Waypoint introductions and full write-ups
1. 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 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.
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 comes up about 55 km into the recorded legs. Next is Roc de Saint-Cirq.
3. Roc de Saint-Cirq
The Vézère is the river of prehistory, and the valley around Les Eyzies is so crowded with caves, shelters and decorated walls that archaeologists have been working here since the nineteenth century. The limestone cliffs form a long, golden wall above the water, full of overhangs where people lived and painted for tens of thousands of years, and the whole group of sites is on the UNESCO list. The Roc de Saint-Cirq is one of those places, a cliff and shelter close to the small village of Saint-Cirq, set on a bend of the river.
Read the complete Roc de Saint-Cirq write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
about 193 km into the recorded legs you reach Roc de Saint-Cirq. Next is back through Jurisdiction of Saint-Emilion.
4. back through Jurisdiction of Saint-Emilion
Return visit. Read the place description above.
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
back through Jurisdiction of Saint-Emilion, late in the day. Next is La citadelle et le fort Paté et Médoc de B.
5. 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 at La citadelle et le fort Paté et Médoc de B. That is the ride.
Leg by leg
La citadelle et le fort Paté et Médoc de B to Jurisdiction of Saint-Emilion
La citadelle et le fort Paté et Médoc de B → Jurisdiction of Saint-Emilion is 55 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Jurisdiction of Saint-Emilion to Roc de Saint-Cirq
Jurisdiction of Saint-Emilion → Roc de Saint-Cirq is 138 km of getting across. Ride it tidily and keep the enthusiasm for what comes after.
Roc de Saint-Cirq to back through Jurisdiction of Saint-Emilion
Roc de Saint-Cirq → back through Jurisdiction of Saint-Emilion is 138 km of getting across. Ride it tidily and keep the enthusiasm for what comes after.
back through Jurisdiction of Saint-Emilion to La citadelle et le fort Paté et Médoc de B
back through Jurisdiction of Saint-Emilion → La citadelle et le fort Paté et Médoc de B is 54 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.