Riding down through France

[Selle Francais]

Hi guys - does anybody have any knowledge, or websites etc about riding long distance in France?

My limited knowledge is that the French Govt actively encourages equestrian pursuits (throws money at it in fact!) and I've heard that there are "green routes" criss-crossing the country for horse-riders, and that they cover surprising distances.

Anybody know about this?

Ta muchly

SF

[LindaAd]

No knowledge, but I googled a bit for you. It seems that the voies vertes are aimed primarily at walkers and cyclists, some are tarred and not suitable for horses.

I found a forum here, where horse people are discussing it -- they're a bit fed up http://www.1cheval.com/membre/forum/randonnee/sujet.php?forum_9=20164&forum_10=0


and this is the central site - this one's in English
http://www.aevv-egwa.org/site/hp_en.asp


But if you know where you want to go, there seems to be a lot more information organized on a departmental or regional basis.

Linda

[Selle Francais]

Thanks Linda - they are very p***ed off, aren't they? :cool:
Oh dear, this isn't going well - might have to have a rethink!

Ta again for your valuable research

Sf

[LindaAd]

Thanks Linda - they are very p***ed off, aren't they? :cool:
Oh dear, this isn't going well - might have to have a rethink!

Ta again for your valuable research

Sf


Well, wouldn't you be?

We had a bitter battle here when the council tarred one of our few local bridlepaths - to make it better for walkers and cyclists. We didn't win, of course.

But if you're planning to ride down through France, you might be able to do it by working out a rough route then checking the paths in each departement or region.
You'll need to spend a bit longer on the research than I did <grin>. I guessed from your name that you probably knew French!

It sounds a great project, though,

Linda

[Selle Francais]

Yeah - it's an idea I'm tempted towards - probably complete nonesense of course, but - you know - it pulls me . . . ?

More research needed!! Onwards and upwards, you have nothing to lose but the odd shoe and all your dignity!:)

Thanks again Linda

SF

[old_woman]

You might find these sites helpful:
http://www.find-your-horse.com/fyh/fr/cartes/cartesconsult.php

http://www.mancherandonnee.com/voies_vertes_cheval.html (this one especially if you cross to Cherbourg - you can ride on all the Voies Vertes and chemins d'halage in Manche!)

http://www.chevalfrance.org/ (Federation Francaise des Relais d'Etape et de Tourisme Equestre)

I am led to believe that you can also ride on the chemin d'halage of the Nantes-Brest Canal.

I have lots more French language links if you are interested.

[jinglejoys]

Also try the longriders guild

http://www.thelongridersguild.com/LRG.htm

[Selle Francais]

Thanks so much OW - those are sites I shall explore further, and they seem to have lots of relevant stuff in them. I would have thought that the French, with their love of bureaucracy, would have got something a bit more more co-ordinated by now, ah merde - you can't rely on anybody these days!

Thanks also Jinglejoys - I do know the Long Riders site, it sort of inspired this idea (well that and a couple of bottles of wine anyway) - to be frank their sort of stuff is way beyond any ideas I have, those guys are true adventurers, but there is loads of useful preparatory info there, which one would be a fool to ignore.

Well, I'll keep exploring the idea, thanks to the help from all you folks out there.

SF

[old_woman]

Glad to be of help!

I started building a freewebs site a week or so ago as I have got a LOT of information about European riding routes and wanted to start to gather it all together. It's still very much in the early stages yet, but you might find something useful on it, SF, and I'm adding bits and pieces to it almost every day.

http://www.freewebs.com/bridleways

[LindaAd]

That's a great site, and an inspiring idea ... I've never even been on a Bridleways ride; my daughter did one once, but my pony was lame and I couldn't go.

I'd love to know more about your ponies - what breed are they, have you had them long?

[Lucyad]

Wow, how inspiring, old_woman! Look forward to hearing about your jouneys - I hope you take a laptop with you!

[old_woman]

The two ponies, and the dog, have long since gone to the meadows in the sky ... they were a Heinz 57 cobby 13.2hh, strawberry roan mare and an unregistered black full-sized shetland gelding of unknown breeding, who acted as pack-pony. They were both purchased in a shocking state for practically nothing from Beeston sales many years ago. The dog was a rough-haired JR bitch who would sit in front of me on the saddle when she got tired!

[old_woman]

I hope you take a laptop with you!

I am already looking into solar panels and their ability to charge a laptop's batteries! It would be much quicker to update the route on a daily basis, download photos etc, then merely transfer the info when I reach a cyber cafe, than have to start tapping away on keyboards of different nationalities while paying inflated prices to do so ...