Le Grand Tour Advent Calendar: Day 22 – Perros-Guirec, France

By Andrew on December 22, 2025 • ( Leave a comment )

A view from the handlebars of a bike on a forest path, with foliage on either side and a digital map displayed on the bike's screen.

Adopting the roads as it did, the route was set back slightly from the sea, often through wooded areas or gently undulating suburbia where it was difficult to judge where I was or how far I had travelled. But then I would descend slightly and find myself confronted with a picture-postcard view of a coastal village or an otherworldly beach. This was especially the case as I approached Tourony, but before I could explore, I noticed some familiar faces.

For several days now I had seen, from a distance, three young men on bikes. They had been at both the municipal campsite in Louannec on the previous evening and Camping Bellevue the night before that. I had also seen them on the road several times but up until this point we had only exchanged an occasional nod of acknowledgement. However, as they were standing beside a stone bridge spanning the estuary at Tourony, I introduced myself, eager to find out how their Breton cycling trip was going.

“We are Fabian, Julian and Guillaume,” explained Fabian in good English. “We started in Saint-Jacut-de-la-Mer and we are following the coast until… we are fed up,” he added, laughing.

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:

Le Grand Tour on a Bike Called Wanda (signed copy)

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