Routes of Santiago de Compostela in France and Provins

Scenic road chapters

Waypoint introductions and full write-ups

1. 1. Routes of Santiago de Compostela in France

   At the heart of Paris, beside the rue de Rivoli, stands a Gothic tower that belongs to a church that no longer exists. The Tour Saint-Jacques is all that survives of the church of Saint-Jacques-de-la-Boucherie, built in the early sixteenth century in the flamboyant Gothic style, and it was the traditional gathering point for pilgrims leaving Paris for Santiago de Compostela in northwest Spain. The church was demolished after the Revolution, but the tower was saved, and it now stands in a small garden, topped by a statue of Saint James.

   Read the complete Routes of Santiago de Compostela in France write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

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

   Planning note

   Routes of Santiago de Compostela in France is where the day begins. Next is Palace and Park of Fontainebleau.

2. 2. Palace and Park of Fontainebleau

   Fontainebleau is the palace French kings actually lived in, as opposed to the one they built to impress, and for that reason it feels more human than Versailles. Almost every monarch from the Middle Ages to Napoleon III added a wing, a staircase or a garden, so the place is a jumble of styles, held together by its forest and its long ponds. Napoleon called it the true home of kings, and in April 1814 he said goodbye to his Old Guard in the courtyard that is still known as the Cour des Adieux, at the foot of the horseshoe staircase.

   Read the complete Palace and Park of Fontainebleau write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

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

   Planning note

   Palace and Park of Fontainebleau comes up about 69 km into the recorded legs. Next is Provins.

3. 3. Provins

   Provins rises out of the wheat fields of the Brie like something from a film set, and the odd thing is that it is almost entirely real. In the twelfth and thirteenth centuries this was one of the four great fair towns of the counts of Champagne, where merchants from Flanders, Italy and beyond met to trade cloth, spices and money. When the fairs declined, Provins simply stopped growing, and so its ramparts, its gates and its medieval upper town survived the centuries more or less intact. UNESCO listed it in 2001 as a rare surviving example of a medieval fair town.

   Read the complete Provins write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

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

   Planning note

   about 124 km into the recorded legs you reach Provins. Next is back through Palace and Park of Fontainebleau.

4. 4. back through Palace and Park of Fontainebleau

   Return visit. Read the place description above.

   Read the complete Palace and Park of Fontainebleau write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

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

   Planning note

   back through Palace and Park of Fontainebleau, late in the day. Next is Routes of Santiago de Compostela in France.

5. 5. Routes of Santiago de Compostela in France

   Return visit. Read the place description above.

   Read the complete Routes of Santiago de Compostela in France write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

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

   Planning note

   Back at Routes of Santiago de Compostela in France. That is the ride.