Cathy McKenzie and her husband Lachie have travelled to France previously numerous times, including on an organised cycling tour. This year however, they decided to go and make up their own tour! They settled on a region to cycle in and booked bikes through a company that had an arrangement to store their luggage during the cycling leg of the vacation as well. That way they that only needed the paniers to carry with them and store everything they needed during the few weeks of cycling.
They cycled in a couple of different regions of France during this recent trip, mainly across the French riviera. Cathy locked in arrangements for weekends as this region is extremely popular during the summer months and she suspected accommodation could be more difficult to come by, when all the French locals descended on the coast as well! During the week though, they rode until they felt like stopping and if a village or area tugged at their heart strings, they stayed a few days. Sometimes Cathy booked accommodation a day ahead and on other occasions she took recommendations from locals or friends of the places they should head to next.
As well as the cycling holiday, this trip was also about completing a Grand Slam for Cathy and Lachie! They have been to Wimbledon previously and went to the Australian Open in January. The French Open was therefore on the itinerary in this 2023 summer and after Europe they travelled home to Australia via New York to attend the US Open.
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Louise Prichard is the host of the Loulabelle's FrancoFiles podcast.
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