Cycling to the boulangerie

We live on a currently blissfully quiet Route Nationale and my wife, who only came to bicycles in her fifties, is for the first time able to cycle to our artisan boulanger in the next village. This has boosted her confidence and means she doesn’t need to drive there for bread. Perhaps I should add that, though I’d never describe her as resembling Marie Antoinette, in our household bread and cake are her gastronomic responsibilities, whereas the rest are mine (but I won’t bore you with the very sound reasons for this division of labour).

Now then, today she was told by an ex-pat English friend that cycling has been forbidden and that she was in danger of getting a whacking great fine if caught bread-handed - sorry for that one (but not really sorry). OTH according to this evening’s Huff Post Française, the French and presumably us non-French too, are being encouraged to visit our local boulangeries once or twice a day.

I know there’s a restriction on cycling hundreds of kilometres for daily exercise, but does this also prohibit local bicycling for the staff of life? I’d argue that the latter is an essential and entirely different form of activity, characterised by elderly rusty bicycles (and bicyclistes), straw hats rather than carbon fibre helmets and wherein lyrca is most definitely proscribed.

I don’t see a problem (from the guidelines) if she has her piece of paper and ID with her.

Several points come out in the reply:

  1. recreational (sport) cycling outside is a no-no, that’s come straight from the sports minister and the FFC. we’re all on home trainers now.
  2. you can cycle to the boulangerie or shops or work (provided you’ve got your attestation duly signed and dated and you specify the time you left home.
  3. yes, use local shops but not twice a day. Buy half a dozen baguettes and freeze what you don’t eat that day, that way you won’t need to go out for a few days.
  4. I sent two people away empty handed today as they wanted non-essential scratchcards and nothing else. I emailed la française des jeux demanding they make things clearer to people/the public.

#resterchezvous :wink:

ps, I think you’re in my old neck-of-the-woods, which boulangerie…?!

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Bike, beret, baguette - it’s in the DNA.
Abandoning the cultural icons is tantamount to surrender! Can’t believe France would ban that.

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Andrew, thanks for the clarification (and also the restraint in your reply, as I’m sure it must be a very frustrating time for sport cyclists).

We don’t make make twice daily trips to the boulangerie, firstly because we only buy pain au levain, but also because the proprietor, being the highly respected artisanal guru of young new wave Aveyronais boulangers, only needs to open his shop between 4 pm and 6 pm on Tuesdays and Thursdays, and on Saturday mornings.

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Eric in Boisse-Penchot

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Round out way cycling on roads, and using chainsaws, and all those normal everyday things are discouraged as they are trying to avoid extra pressure on health service from accidents. So a quick bike ride along a recreational cycleway, or if that is your only means of transport to get to an essential job then fine. But depending on the gendarme you could find cycling to get a baguette costs you a lot more than 1.20€.

Got you but can’t say I’ve ever tasted his bread though. It’s a very strong département gastronomically talking and my OH still feels expatriated here in the Tarn, kids still not sure if they’re aveyronnais or tarnais, but I’ll alway be l’anglais ! 7 years in and around “le bassin” and work in all three départements. Old cycling mates at the cyclo-club-firmi-aubin-cransac… happy memories !

if it’s recreational then no more than 1 km from home and then the FFC and sports minister have still said “non” ! :wink:

Maybe serious cyclists need to creatively use their gears to make the journey to the boulangerie as difficult as possible!

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Can’t agree with you on this. If you have your paperwork and are headed for the nearest bakers you will be fine. Rather than fined :slight_smile:

I wobbled back from town recently en velo and met a gendarmerie vanette coming the other way, it slowed down to look but didn’t stop me. Maybe they just took pity on an old-timer.

Upon thinking further about the differences between 'cycling’and ‘bicycling’ it struck me that perhaps the latter could have its own national competition, albeit a Tour de Commune rather than a Tour Nationale.

My proposed model would only admit over-sixties (or over-seventies if preferred), all bicycles should be at least thirty years old and have only one working gear. The route would take in a boulangerie, a boucherie and a cafe or bar within the boundaries of commune, and as you might expect, under these rules, the winner would be the last one to finish. In addition, competitors (if that’s quite the right word) would be expected to stop at least three times in order to chat to other residents of the commune. As you might expect, the dress codes mentioned in my earlier post would apply.

I’m sure it would make compelling live television.

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As I said, depending on the gendarme… mass confusion re bikes as one minister says no and another yes so it seem local forces are making own decisions. Family with small kids on stabilisers wobbled up the road today with no problem, but man in lycra (who could have been off to get baguette) was stopped. Could of course have been gendarme’s cousin and just stopped him for a chat…

A marvellous proposal! My bike would qualify, it has no gears and is over 50 years old and in excellent condition. It flies along the highway. It is now fitted with panniers that hold a week’s groceries and four baguettes with ease. Count me in the tournée.

Google Photos

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With great pleasure Peter, but the Committee might have to be called in to adjudicate on whether or not time taken out to post on SF could be included in calculating a competitor’s time for slowest completion of their commune’s circuit.

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