Loire walking tour


About Self Guided Tours

Contact Us

 

Travellers Stories



Testimonials

For more testimonials, Awards, selections, and references, please see this link. Also, our Pure Adventures site and Cycling Classics site also add more information to our background and authenticity. Check our VIDEO page for more about us!

5 Things to Know Before you Cycling in France

Tips For The Holiday Cyclist

5 Reasons to Cycle Alpe d'Huez
Bookmark and Share

Testimonials/Reviews "Barb and I had a great time on our bicycle trip arranged by you and DiscoverFrance in the Languedoc region. As with our first trip, everything went very smoothly with no problems at all."
R&B Smith.

"The Loire tour was awesome! It was a superb outdoor vacation, a great culture and historic tour, and the accomodations and dining took us to another world each evening. The Discover France staff and everyone at the hotels made every part of the trip more than I dreamed they could." M. Walker

"Our guides, Marc D. and Alain, were excellent. They were informative and fun to be with. The riding was amazing! Getting to see the Tour de France was and unforgettable experience! Thanks so much!"
M. Leibling

"Olivier (TDF) did an outstanding job of caring for each and every person in the group. His attention made the trip particularly good and enjoyable."
B. Gauny

"Everything was so great!! I was very organized and didn't have to stress about the little stuff, just ride, ride, and ride some more.. Thanks on a great tour, Ill never forget it. "
J. Prescott

"I'd just like to say that the whole holiday and experience was wonderful. The hotels you allocated us were fabulous, the people were friendly and the food was superb. Obviously the sights along the way also made our vacation. The routes that we took were so easy to follow, with some beautiful views on the way. So we would just like to say that we would recommend your company to anyone and won't hesitate to book another holiday through your company."
- D. Watts

"Our trip was wonderful. The sites were spectacular. The accomodations were excellent far exceeding our expectations. The B&B owners were very friendly and helpful. We found the French people to be more pleasant and accomodating than anywhere we have visited in Europe. ... This was my fifth self guided tour (the first with Discover France), and it was the best. We thank you for a wonderful experience!! We look forward to traveling with you again soon."
- R. Goracke

"I can't thank you enough. You have allowed our family to experience something deep that will remain as wonderful memories, all our lives."
- Mary M.

"Everything was very well coordinated. We hope to take another tour next year!"
- Anne A.

"It was a great experience that I've recommended to friends and would love to do again."
- Jeff C.

"We had a wonderful time and the choices that we were given with Discover France with regard to accommodations and tours were the best! We enjoyed every minute of our trip and felt that we were staying in the best places and had the best tours available. I would definitely recommend Discover France without hesitation to anyone who wanted to visit this magnificent country!!"
- Heather H.

"I wanted to thank you for the planning that you did for our recent trip to France. It was a wonderful trip, one of the best we had ever taken. All of your arrangements were great, and the French were especially warm and welcoming under current political/economic circumstances."
- Tim S.

"Just wanted to tell you everything was great. The hotels were wonderful. Nicole was very helpful, informative and flexible. Thanks for everything. I hope we get to use your company again."
- Marty N.

"Excellent trip cant wait to go on our next adventure.The velos were great, the hotel was superb and the riding fantastic."
A. Gelles

"I had an excellent time. I loved the cycling and found the tour a great way of meeting like minded people to get out on the road with. Would highly recommend it."
J. Patterson

"Bikes were great, we want to buy the bike that was rented to us - increadable. Guide Alain was great, very tolerant of all of us. please tell him thank you. Could not have asked for a more positive experience."
Z. Weiss

"Truly the sign of a great trip is that NONE of our family wanted to return home--not even the 15 year old socialite. We had the best time. As I start to work through 500 emails, I really wish we were still biking through Entre deux Mers."
S. Kraft

"The bike tour was fabulous. All the logistics were taken care of, accomodations were great, and best of all the bike route took us through beautiful landscapes and small towns. I'd recommend this tour to anyone who needs a break from the daily routine and isn't afraid to get a little sweaty!"
L. Schievelbein

"I had a wonderful time! The dining and accomodations were excellent, and the sites to see were all extremely interesting and beautiful. I would definitely love to do this again."

Thanks to our customers for their feedback! We do get recommendations for how to improve trips as well and we do listen. Each year, we review comments and in the offseason we are always looking to make the tours better. If that means changing a hotel that has begun to deteriorate, or changing the routes because of new road construction; we listen and try to get better and better!

Travel has so many components that something can go wrong, but it is important that all of our clients know that we will do everything possible to make it right and avoid problems, or when they arise, to rectify them as soon as possible. Our suppliers throughout the tours are vital components to keeping things running well and to fixing problems as they may arise. This is your advantage as a client, knowing that we have people on the ground where you are to look after you.





DISCOVER FRANCE Supports the Environment

Pure Adventures, Discover France, and Cycling Classics have in past years made all tours carbon neutral by purchasing carbon offsets from Sustainable Travel International to the total of about $18,000US. These funds have contributed to the development of wind power projects in the USA. For 2012 we will contribute again and are planning to establish a new give back initiative; details will be coming later in 2012. See a full description of our past contributions on our 'sister site' Pure Adventures

Examples of projects are also shown there.

Feel free to use the Carbon Calculator at this link below to know how much carbon is generated by your flight, and other daily activities you may find yourself doing: See the Carbon Calculator.

IATAN Certfied Acredited BBB Business128 bit encrypted through 2008


About Us

DISCOVER FRANCE ADVENTURES is the leader in self-guided bicycle tours to France. Our format is the same for multisport tours and with our offices in both France and the USA, we are positioned to provide the best trips, itineraries, and value to customers from anywhere in the world coming to France. It is our mission to provide exceptional cycling and hiking services that allow our clients to experience their destination in their own unique way. (references, awards, & testimonials) See our VIDEO Page for more about us and our services!

We are French and American owned and operated. In 2011 we celebrate 17 years in business! (See OUR STORY below. )We sell more than $3.0M US/year in bicycle tours alone! Travel agents and tour operators: See our Online PDF presentation.

Want to contact us? send us an e-mail! Our telephone number is just above. OR, subscribe to one of our newsletters. If you want regular France travel news and updates, we strongly encourage that you enroll in our blog feed which comes direct to your email inbox. Our Paris Blog Feed directs breaking news about Paris travel to your email inbox as well. The BEST way to get communications from us is via Blog, or Facebook, or Twitter! These options are short, timely, and informative.

Don't complete your travel plans without seeing our programs first! If you plan to go to France, then why not talk to a specialist!? Here is why you should choose us and why are we better:

Estabished - Since 1994 we have pioneered self guided travel for travelers to France & Europe. We are an award winning leader and recognized by reputable associations like National Geographic and Maison de la France. We are financially and operationally strong.

Professional - we are committed to giving our clients the best service and experience possible. We have the staff,, professional and certified guides, systems, and know -how. We are organized, operationally efficient, and adhere to the highest work ethic.

Knowledgeable - We are French, speak French, live/lived in France; our unparalleled insight into cycling and hiking and multisport travel and the little details that make a great vacation are essential. We can offer our clients a complete trip in France beyond your tour to fit your personal needs.

Flexible and Responsive - we can adapt tours to your needs, and we offer enough tours to meet just about everyone's needs. We pride ourselves on quick responses to your inquiries and our staff is very personable - not a call center. We are proud of the exceptional value we offer and will go out of the way to help. Yes, even private guided tours!

Superior equipment - only for our clients; children sizes and equipment available. In 2011, we are upgrading even more in this area with GPS bike mounted, and bikes that are superior in every region! Scott P3 hybrids and Look carbon bikes.

Uniquely designed routes; quality hotels and support services. From our base in the south of France and have a full network of local expertise and support that make these the best rides and hikes.

Local support - help always available, orientations, transfers, and other support services. Bilingual, and on board with our high standards. There is no better way to deliver the best experience and freedom in a foreign land as with our formula.

Extensive Pre-travel documentation designed by us to help you finalize and anticipate your tour. With this you can enjoy the excitement that comes in the lead up to a much deserved vacation. Our information will assist you and we are always available for questions.

Price - when you compare "apples to apples", there is no better value. Either guided or self guided - nobody beats our quality:price offer. We are not the cheapest option out there, but by comparison to luxury guided trips, our programs are incredible values offering many of the same places of lodging. And, for other companies that now offer self-guided, we know a small difference in price is not important for the superior quality we provide and the extra services included. Your vacation is valuable time, we won't let you risk it to save a few euros! That is based on 17 years of experience!

For the most part, price is driven by hotels and support services. It is easy to sell expensive luxury hotels, nobody is rarely, if ever, disappointed. The challenge is to find top quality family run establishments that give a regional ambiance, have a charm that is unique, superior standards, all at a great price. We give you both and focus mostly on 3 and 4 star hotels. But, in tough economic times we have launched a series of 2 star tour price options that actually include very good quality hotels - so an even better price!!. Meals are typically gastronomic affairs -meaning very good quality and never a cheap option.

discover france cycling toursOur France team in Lunel, near Montpellier is pictured.

Cycling, hiking, and Multisport travel is our savoir-faire, it is primarily all we do! We are progressive in our use of technologically advanced systems and dynamic services including our proactive environmental policies and local community support. We pride ourselves on being a forward thinking organization that embraces positive change at a local, regional, and international level.

Our ongoing curiosity to explore and uncover all the out-of-the-way secrets and treasures is woven into our offers and helps us continue to evolve. Your own sense of curiosity will allow you to experience the magic of discovery inherent with self guided travel.

STAFF:

USA and FRANCE based personnel who will ensure your satisfaction throughout your journey:

Loren Etape Cycling

Loren Siekman - Scottsdale/USA
President/Founder of Discover France. Marketing, business development, CFO. Former expat resident of Paris; bilingual French English, has cycled/hiked extensively throughout France. Races MTB, road, cross. Graduate of Arizona State University; lives in Scottsdale.

Thomas Boutin - Gerant/Director of France company, Responsible for France offices, bike shop, business development, Tour de France liason, Bike School, as well as corporate team building programs, incentives, youth camps, vehicles, and our bike fleet. Former Top 10 MTB French Pro cyclist. Thomas was awarded a top business honor for entrepreneurs of small business in 2010.

shy maggie

Magali Badio - Scottsdale
Vice President of Operations; Oversees both offices in France and USA, Group Sales Manager, Tour de France project leader, reservations systems manager, and all around chearleader! Native of Bayonne, France. Fluent in French, English, and conversational Spanish.

discover france guide

Thibaut Boutin - Bike Shop Manager - mechanics, equipment, seminars, team building, events, logistic, bike store sales, certified professional guide. Semi pro mountain biker, road racer, and cross racing.

Aurelien Banciot - Manager Bike School and Guide Service, manages bikes, seminars, team building, events, logistics. Certified professional guide, cat 1 road racer, downhill racer, mountain bike, cross racing.

David Renvoise - Sales Consultant & Tour Logistics, Emergency Support. Masters degree in sports management and marketing, professional cycling guide, bilingual French/English, top 40 finisher 2 times at Etape du Tour. Best memory finishing 26th at the Leadville 100 in 2009.

Sebastien Rambour - Loire Valley; all tour support, route development, logistics, orientations. Speaks French, English, Spanish. Has an engineering degree but decided bicycle touring was much more interesting (after a career at Alstom). Has traveled in many countries of the world by bike. He once cooked his dinner on a geyser!

discover france adventures

David Martin -Tour Sales Consultant USA.  MBA Marketing, BA French Literature – Bilingual English/French.  Over 15 years tour guiding experience in France, Tour de France tour specialist. From Marin County, CA, an avid cyclist, he can often be found riding the trails of Mt. Tam.

Maggie Berardino - Tour Sales Consultant in our USA Colorado office. Maggie has a degree in psychology from the University of Missouri-Columbia. She lived in Australia for a couple of years and taught English in Japan for three. When she’s not hitting the slopes in the winter,  you can find her cycling the trails of the Rockies and training for triathlons.

Ryan Cullinan - Marketing Coordinator, recent hire and graduae of TCU, Ryan brings a business education and international travel experience to her position. Ryan is a triathlete currently moving up to Olympic distance! Sign up to get our Enews or Facebook blogs, Ryan keeps you informed!

cycling france

Francois - Professional cycling guide, tour orientations, route book preparation, tour sales and support, Tour de France logistics coordinator. Bilingual French/English, Francois works in the France office. Key hobby includes knocking heads on the rugby field!

Wendy & Elsa - Wendy works in our USA office and Elsa in the France office handling the vast majority of our book keeping and accounting functions as well as reservation system data management, tour documentation. Pictured is Elsa, Wendy will have to be taken by surprise!

Elodie Rodrigues - Tour logistics support, back office support. An intern, Elodie is bilingual French/English and works in the France office.

Julien - certified professional guide (diplome d'etat), bilingual French/English. Julien leads trips for our tour operator clients and is a specialist in all the area of Mont Ventoux where he has covered nearly all the terrain. Julien likes to do hand stands from the roof mounted bike carriers we have on our vans.

Patrick- certified professional guide (diplome d'etat), bilingual French/English. Patrick is an accomplished ironman triathlete and professional ski guide in winter. Nicknamed Ninja by our clients for getting them up all the big mountains of the Tour de France!

Jade - certified professional guide (diplome d'etat), bilingual French/English. She is actually an American transplant in France who studied in France and obtained all her diplomas. Also a very accomplished female racer and works our Tour de France tours.

placeholder

Other Guides - not pictured (for now!) - Jean Francois, Martin, Olivier, : all certified professional guides (diplome d'etat - issued by the French Government), bilingual French/English; lead groups on private guided tours and for our tour operator clients. They also conduct orientations.

Our Mechanics - Greg and Seb located in the bike shop in Lunel. Competent professionals looking after every bike - rentals and new sales!

Our Story - 18 Years Selling France

Rather than post this at the top of the page, we put it down here for those who might be interested to know how we got here - after 18 years! In 1994, Discover France wasn't yet born in name, but it was that year we started operations as a tradtional travel agency selling mostly corporate travel. Loren & his French wife , moved to Arizona from Paris in 1993 to start a business, and the travel industry is where we landed. "We bought a floundering agency and quickly quadrupled sales and became the Tempe AZ Small Business of the year by 1998." But, during this time the cycling tours were more than just pet projects that the couple would lead. The internet revolution was in its infancy and the decision to move more toward tour operations and away from airline tickets and agency operations proved visionary. The travel agency was sold in 98 and 100% full time operations were dedicated to the development of cycling & hiking and outdoor adventure tours in France.

There have always been many companies selling cycling tours, but in those early days almost none were offering self guided trips in the North American market. "We have published articles and feel like we have made a significant contribution toward the awareness that exists now outside Europe for self guided travel.", says Loren. This has long been the core strength , but at the same time, Discover France has always had a philosophy about the guided trip as well - the best guided trips are those led by locals who are professionals. That means professional certification. We don't believe in student leaders and passionate cyclists leading trips as "guides". Another one of our philosophical differences with other tour companies is in the VALUE equation. So many companies go over the top with lodging and extremely high margins. We believe we can offer a superior quality trip in mostly 3 star family run country inns and small hotels of charm. We do also offer 2 star and 4 star, and we do offer upgrades to deluxe lodging. The choices are important; we don't impose luxury, we give every customer a choice, and at each price point we deliver corresponding quality trips. That has always been our philosophy and is not marketing speak for the economic downturn!

To back up just a moment, we would like to explain how this formula has served us in our growth. Until 2012, only 1 year was down from the previous; every other year since 1994 has been a growth year! The down year was 2003 when the USA invaded Iraq and France did not support that war effort. At times we were concerned for our personal safety, and it was in that environment that we launched Pure Adventures and Cycling Classics. Pure Adventures served the purpose of diversifying our offers into other countries and limiting our dependence on just travel to France. It also gave our repeat clients a chance to go somewhere else and continue to work with us. Cycling Classics launched in a new direction and has captured a part of the market that was largely ignored at that time: challenging, high level cycling trips that focus on the big mountains and long routes. These trips are all about the cycling first.

In 2009, we came somewhat full circle. Discover France has grown to 2 offices in the USA and France and we work for some of the biggest tour companies in the USA, Canada, Belgium, Australia, Norway, and so on. Our clients come from around the globe. We sell direct to travelers, or to travel agents, and to tour operators. We are continuing our growth and expansion into Multi Sport tours and the fastest growing segment of our volume is Custom Guided trips. We hope to make you a customer soon, if you aren't already! Thanks for reading this far, and never hesitate to contact us. We welcome all questions and all comers; we will help the beginner or the expert.

Notes:

To see references, testimonials, and the like - click here to go to our Testimonial Page.

Discover France is a brand name owned by LRB Flagship, Inc. In 2012, LRB enters its 18th year of operations. We are not in any way affiliated with Discover-France.info, DiscoverFrance.net, or other foreign companies who may have a similar URL. We are not an affiliate site filled with links trying to make commissions. We are a traditional service staffed by travel professionals who take seriously the job we do.

Discover France along with Cycling Classics, and Pure Adventures supports youth cycling. We have donated time and money to a nationally recognized U25 bicycle racing team dedicated to youth development. Our donations have helped to fund the development of future pro cyclists. We also make numerous other contributions to environmental and charitable organizations. See the Testimonial Page for info.

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Discover France is a brand name wholly owned by LRB Flagship, Inc. which also owns the brand name Pure Adventures, Europeds, GotoParis.net, and the brand Cycling Classics. Our French company Active France Adventures does business as Discover France Adventures in France. Discover France (SM) is a registered Service Mark with the US Patent & Trademark Office.