As I write, I’m watching the arrival of the Tour de France in Paris. I’ve heard it’s been a vintage year for ‘Le Tour’ but have to admit that I’ve only been following from a distance via the third parties of social media and the odd news report on the TV. Clearly I chose the wrong year to take a step back. But I’m here now and it gives me an opportunity of reflecting upon my own cycling arrival in Paris in 2015 en route from Tarifa in Spain to Nordkapp in Norway as later described in Spain to Norway on a Bike Called Reggie.

I’d cycled from the campsite at Fontainebleau – read what I wrote at the time in this post – and below is the route that I followed in the final few kilometres of the day before my, err… triumphant arrival at the Arc de Triomphe.

My mind is also cast back to 2017 when I was invited by Welcome to Yorkshire to pay a short visit to the Dordogne to witness the Tour de France. Read more about that trip here.