I flew through France today. Didn't see much, because I wanted to get close to the EuroTunnel before nightfall, to make tomorrow an easier day.
The ride started with a transit of the Jura Mountains up the D1005 and N5. There are some great roads up there, and not very busy. Lots of cyclists pounding away on the ascents. Once the mountains were past though, I caught the A31, A5, and A26 to Saint Omer, making a fast transit of the country. The A's seem to be toll roads; paid out about €30 on them.
I can't say that I feel at all cheated about the fast ride. I saw a few signs along the way (Vimy - Canadian Memorial, and a Canadian Cemetery near Calais in particular) that I want to see when I have time later. I had a great and relaxing day on the road, which I had gotten used to doing riding around North America.
I did notice that the French are kinda particular about their language. I tried speaking a few words in french, but I generally got a frustrated frown back, and a terse "correction", which often included a bit more of a roll on the R, more stress on enunciating the vowels, or just plain horror. If I spoke english, they didn't like that either. Greeting them with a "Bonjour!" would result in them happily talking at me in french for a few minutes, then I'd have to interrupt them, ask for english, and watch them get cranky. They just don't like me.
I stayed at an ibis in Saint Omer. When in doubt, I try to stay at economy chains; ibis is reasonably respected throughout Europe, and I figure there is a good chance I won't wake up with bedbugs the next morning.
Premium (95 RON), prices in France appear to be about EUR 1.68/L, or CAD $2.09/L.
Averaging 6.1 L/100 km today, at roughly 130 km/h
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