This page is about the route that Roy and Gordon took in 1953. Firstly, there's a map of the route, taken from one of the entries in the diary. Then there's the itinerary itself as a table which shows you the places and the distances from place to place.
The map
Sat 8th Aug. We looked around Metz, and bought a few provisions. The German bottle of methylated spirit in Gordon's handlebar bag burst in the sun. We left Metz at about 11 a.m. and travelled 29 miles before lunch. There was a good wind behind us, the road surface was excellent, and it was not too hilly. We had lunch beside a well-kept German cemetery of the First World War. Then we discovered that the next Youth Hostel was 66 miles away, at Chalons-sur-Marne. We decided to make it if we could. We passed through Verdum where 300,000 Germans and 300,000 French died in the First World War. There were many war cemeteries and we particularly like the way a village had been named REST.
| Day | Date | Journey |
Km (approx) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Sat 5 July | Plymouth- Weymouth via Exeter (UK) | 150 |
| 2 | Sun 6th July |
Weymouth- Jersey via Guernsey (Condor ferries sailing 0715) |
0 |
| 3 | Mon 7th July | Jersey- St Malo (0830 sailing)- then to Domineuc (Brittany, France) | 40 |
| 4 | Tue 8th July | Domineuc- Bain de Bretagne via Rennes | 60 |
| 5 | Wed 9th July | Bain-de-Bretagne -Nantes (Loire Valley) | 80 |
| 6 | Thu 10th July | Nantes- Lucon via La Roche | 90 |
| 7 | Fri 11th July | Lucon-Royan via La Rochelle and Rochefort | 90 |
| 8 | Sat 12th July | Royan area | 15 |
| 9 | Sun 13th July | Royan-Bordeaux via Blaye | 120 |
| 10 | Mon 14th July | Bordeaux- Agen (Canal de Midi) | 80 |
| 11 | Tue 15th July | Agen- Moissac | 80 |
| 12 | Wed 16th July | Moissac- Montauban region | 40 |
| 13 | Thu 17th July | Monteban- Villefranche via Toulouse | 80 |
| 14 | Fri 18th July | Villefranche-Narbonne via Carcassonne | 90 |
| 15 | Sat 19th July | Narbonne- Sete (Mediterraenean Sea) | 80 |
| 16 | Sun 20th July | Sete- Nimes via Montpellier | 80 |
| 17 | Mon 21st July | Nimes-Orange via Avignon | 60 |
| 18 | Tue 22nd July | Orange-Valence (Rhone river) | 80 |
| 19 | Wed 23rd July | Valence- Grenoble (Vercours mountain range) | 110 |
| 20 | Thu 24th July | Grenoble region | 40 |
| 21 | Fri 25th July | Grenoble-Aix les Bains (Alps) | 70 |
| 22 | Sat 26th July | Aix-les-Bains- Annecy | 60 |
| 23 | Sun 27th July | Maison-Neuve area | 0 |
| 24 | Mon 28th July | Annecy- Geneva (Switzerland) | 40 |
| 25 | Tue 29th July | Geneva-Orbe (Lac Leman) | 80 |
| 26 | Wed 30th July | Orbe-Biel/Bienne | 70 |
| 27 | Thu 31st July | Biel- Basel | 90 |
| 28 | Fri 1st Aug | Basel- Freiberg (Germany) | 70 |
| 29 | Sat 2nd Aug | Freiberg-Baden-Baden (Black Forest) | 100 |
| 30 | Sun 3rd Aug | Baden-Baden- Heidelberg | 90 |
| 31 | Mon 4th Aug | Heidelberg area | 15 |
| 32 | Tue 5th Aug | Heidelberg-Frankenstein via Mannheim | 80 |
| 33 | Wed 6th Aug | Frankenstein- Saarbrucken | 100 |
| 34 | Thu 7th Aug | Saarbrucken- Metz (France) | 60 |
| 35 | Fri 8th Aug | Metz- Chalons en Champagne | 140 |
| 36 | Sat 9th Aug | Chalons- Meaux | 100 |
| 37 | Sun 10th Aug | Meaux- Paris | 50 |
| 38 | Mon 11th Aug | Paris area | 0 |
| 39 | Tue 12th Aug | Paris- Abbeville | 140 |
| 40 | Wed 13th Aug |
Abbeville- Le Torquet then Lydd- Romney Marsh (UK) (Lydd Air flight time 1730) |
90 then 30 |
| 41 | Thu 14th Aug | Romney Marsh- Worthing via Brighton | 110 |
| 42 | Fri 15th Aug | Worthing- Bournemouth via Southampton | 120 |
| 43 | Sat 16th Aug | Bournemouth- Exeter | 120 |
| 44 | Sun 17th Aug | Exeter- Plymouth | 60 |