Today is a bit of a ride-and-stop kind of day on our Normandy, Loire, Champagne tour. The itinerary is dedicated to visiting Calvados Distillery, various memorial sites and, optionally, D-Day landing beaches.

Our first port of call will be the Calvados Distillery, where we will have a virtual tour and Calvados tasting. The distillery also has a fantastic, well-stocked shop, so make sure you have some spare capacity for a bottle or two in your top box.

From the Calvados Distillery, we’ll continue toward our next destination, the legendary Pegasus Bridge. It is the site where the British forces seized both Bénouville and the nearby Ranville Bridge. The victory allowed the Allied troops to pass through and continue. And as a little bonus, the riverside café next to the bridge offers a delicious menu and a pleasant ambience for a spot of lunch.
Only a short ride down the coast or a bit further down the coast are Sword Beach and Omaha Beach, respectively. Both beaches were heavily fortified, and they were assaulted by many units of the British and Allied Divisions.

These are just the two options we have selected. However, there are many other D-Day sites worth visiting. Therefore, if you have a particular interest or can relate to some of those places, please do your research.

This is about a 100-150-mile day trip, so that it might take most of the day.

Today the Normandy, Loire, Champagne guided motorcycle tour continues towards the Valley of the Kings. In general, it will be a quiet day in the saddle. It is also a shorter distance ride, so at a glance, it looks like there isn’t much to report home. However, this is precisely the beauty of touring France. France is one of the very few countries left in Europe where we can still experience empty roads and biking solitude. There will be no motorways today unless we choose to use them. So we’ll be able to wiggle our way through some of the most eye-pleasing countrysides, stopping as often as we wish.

Our final destination for today is the historic town of Blois. Our hotel is located in the town centre and will welcome us with a comfortable room and a relaxing town atmosphere.

The town is also home to one of the most magnificent chateaux in France. The chateau is only a short walk from our hotel. This magnificent architectural marvel is perched high-ish on the hillside overlooking the river Loire, the surrounding countryside and the town below.

Today is our day off, so feel free to organise your own agenda. Or, if you prefer, you can follow our suggested itinerary. But please bear in mind that opting to go for a ride might be a more obvious choice. However, it might not necessarily be the best choice.

The Château of Blois is not only one of the most visited but also one of the most magnificent royal monuments in France. It is located in the town centre, only a short walk from the banks of the river Loire. There are about 30 furnished rooms to visit—many with beautiful floors and ceilings. On display in the rooms, we can see thousands of historical items, including furniture, art as well as paintings. If we fancy it, we can purchase a combined entry ticket that includes the spectacular sound and light show. It is worth seeing and will provide perfect post-dinner entertainment.

After overdosing on château, we may continue and visit some other tourist attractions. These might include the Fondation du Doute, Maison de la Magie (Museum of Magic) as well Les Jardins de l’Ancien Évêché (the town hall). The town also has a fantastic restaurant and café scene. So we can pick our spot and people watch for a while.

From Blois, our onward journey continues with a leisurely morning ride following the river Loire. Once again, it is not a huge mileage, so we’ll have plenty of time to stop and explore. If we have, by now, developed a ‘sweet tooth’ for aristocratic opulence, we might decide to visit another… guess what? Château.

Château de Gien is an impressive architectual creation. It is perched on the banks of the river Loire overlooking the town of Gien. There are nearly 10,000 objects as well as works of art exhibited in the collection. We might also use this opportunity to have a second breakfast and a cup of freshly brewed coffee.

Our comfortable town centre hotel in Châlons-en-Champagne will be our base in the Champagne region for the next two nights. If we fancy it, the whole ride can be more or less a motorway free winding through the lush green countryside. So we’ll take our time and enjoy it.

Today is our free day. Therefore, we can rest and do whatever we wish. However, there is an excellent and very bubbly reason to park our bikes for a day and join our suggested itinerary.

The visit to the world-famous Joseph Perrier Champagne House includes a guided tour, museum presentation, entrance to the underground cellars and, in the end, the most essential part, the champagne tasting.

Our guide sommelier will take us inside the 4th-century Gallo-Roman cellars dug out of the chalk hillside. It is a journey into the past of men and women who were passionate about their craft.

The House of Joseph Perrier was a proud champagne supplier for Queen Victoria, King Edward VII, and London-New York Concorde flight for many years. And it also supplied Prince Charles and Princes Diana for their wedding.

So once again, on this tour, please have some spare capacity in your top box for a bottle or two of champagne to join the bottle or two of Calvados from the previous visit.

Following one last delicious French breakfast, we’ll head north. The route will take us along some stunning back roads towards Reims. Here we’ll join the motorway to the Eurotunnel and the rest of the journey home. 

Thank you for RidingWithUs on this great Normandy, Loire, Champagne tour. We hope to see you again soon.