A New Long Distance Cyclepath in France

The new Chemin Vert (green path) between Heudelimont and Eu in Normandy is a mixed blessing. Cycling along I met a few people who liked it for “ballades”, leisure time on the bike or on foot, but could not imagine anyone using it for commuting for instance. Relatively big parking spaces for cars at every intersection show the cyclepath`s main purpose, and an official speed restriction of 20 km/h isn´t too tempting for daily runs either, especially not on electric bikes.

Also a cyclist remarked that a great number of trees had been felled, so she preferred to cycle on the old chemin, not more than a small path in the jungle (see picture below) that had grown on the railway line which had been disused since 1982. It had been built 97 years before that, necessitating a great number of bridges, a large viaduct and a lot of deep incisions into the hilly countryside.

Very few railway artifacts remain, for instance the old station houses were torn down decades ago.

Here are a few pix, hopefully largely self explaining.

The border between jungle and civilization

Crossroads are well marked, but planners obviously didn´t dare giving cyclists right of way

One of the few junctions of cyclist traffic; the path from the right coming from a road joining the Chemin Vert

Not everything is ready yet

“Don´t jump off the bridge” – it seems that some peple need to be told that

Not even all the roads crossing the railway line are still in use

The large brick bridge crossing the…

… Rue des Canadiens in EU

And here we are. Eu. The journey ends here. All passengers are requested to leave the train. No gap to be minded.