Le Grand Tour Advent Calendar: Day 10 – Canal De La Garonne, France

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By Andrew on December 10, 2025 • ( 1 Comment )

After my experiences along the Canal de Nantes à Brest, the Canal de la Garonne felt familiar. It made for easy, comfortable cycling; the towpath was well maintained and mature trees provided ample, almost continuous, shade from sun. It was also very straight. I could see on my map the River Garonne wriggling erratically along a seemingly endless number of meanders while the canal continued a sensible path heading south-east. The canal presented as a parent on a mission to get to the shops, the river as a young child who simply wanted to have a bit of fun running up and down the pavement despite being firmly attached to its mother.

Le Grand Tour on a Bike Called Wanda recounts Andrew P. Sykes’ journey around France, into the Alps and down the Rhine in the summer of 2022. It is available as a paperback and as and eBook from Amazon.co.uk, Amazon.com (and other international Amazon sites). The paperback is also available from Waterstones or Foyles and the eBook from Apple iBooks. If you would like to gift a signed copy of the book, please complete the form below:

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