Cycling UK Forum

It was awhile ago, pre pandemic, but I remember very few unmade surfaces on the VF. There were some ex railway lines and some paths alongside a river that were gravelly and would be a bit trying on 25mm, but I'm sure you could avoid, using the maze of rural roads that criss cross the French countryside. The great majority is either small roads, or tarmac paths as far as I remember, its a really nice tour!

This may (not?) be of any relevance to your particular situation, but might give you an idea or two.
I travelled with Easyjet hrough Gatwick at the end of Feb this year with my bike wrapped in a CTC polybag. I had taken the precaution of printing the Easyjet bike policy found on their website, and also the page on wiggle where you can buy the bags, to explain that the polybag is indeed a bikebag.
The Easyjet supervisor insisted that I pay £25 for an additional polywrap at a nearby concession, which I refused. I showed them their policy and said I was happy to sign a disclaimer. After lots of twoing and froing, they just kind of lost interest. We then took the bike to the outsize luggage place, where it was sent on its way without even a raised eyebrow!
It all felt a bit like the easyjet staff on that shift were getting a kickback from the polywrap stall, so anyone reading this, please stick to your guns and make sure you have copy of their own policy.
On the way home from La Palma, not Bordeaux, we had to show them the easyjet policy again and also sign a disclaimer. No suggestion of polywrap this time. The bike was well treated on both journeys and arrived undamaged.
I think the moral of this tale is to have the print out of their policy to hand, and be ready to argue your case.

I get all the stuff (including beeswax) for my homebrew mixture from ebay sellers.
HTH

I've been using a homebrew molten wax lube for a couple of years.
I think I used about 30 % beeswax, 60% parafin wax, 10% black lithium grease and a spoonful of both teflon powder and powdered graphite. I then added ep 90 gear oil over the course of 2 or 3 heatings to soften the mixture, so the resultant wax wasn't too brittle.
I use a cheapo argos 1 litre chip fryer to store and heat this wax and don't make any attempt, other than a cursory wipe, to pre clean the chain. All (maybe?) the dirt and grit falls off into the mixture and then lives on the bottom of the fryer.
I've found this to work pretty well, although I'm not a mileage measurer.
The utility bike with IGH goes about a couple of months between dips, probably does about 100 to 150 miles in this time in all weathers and up and down a very muddy track.
I also use it on a 10 speed mtb. Winter rides of 30ish miles clay flinty claggy xc rides probably needs re-doing every 4 rides. Its been fantastic in these dry dusty summer conditions, I think needing re waxing every 200-250 miles. I think because the chain is essentially dry, no grit really sticks to it when it is dusty dry.
As stated above, it is nice having a dry clean chain, I shan't be going back to wet lubes except on a longish tour after the wax wears out.
I'm not sure about the etiquette around sending people off to another forum, but there are many threads on Singletrackworld forum about this, mostly around a commercially available motorbike wax. Just search for "putoline"
Some of them love it, others are not so keen!

+1 for the west vleteren brewery. There's a little campsite a couple of miles away that you can wobble back too after you have sampled all of their 3 beers. One is 12%! I was there last Saturday, it was full of cycle clubs enjoying a couple of post ride beers.

After wheel removal, if I don't follow the procedure I am about to describe, I get disc rub, despite clearances being set up correctly. I think it is just a simple way of aligning the disc with the caliper, BB7's FYI.
I put the wheel into the dropouts and while the skewer is still untightened, just tie the front brake lever tightly on with a piece of string, velcro strap or whatever comes to hand, so it grips the disc firmly. Only then do I tighten the skewer. You could also slacken the caliper bolts after tightening the skewer and repeat the lever trick before retightening the bolts, but the first way is quick and easy. HTH.

Yes, we just left our car at the terminal in Gill's bay. There seemed to be lots of room and we had no problems. It is a fantastic area to visit, with much of interest to see, nice camp sites, and really friendly locals. Make time to go to Hoy and Rousay if you can.

We did this journey two years ago, but didn't go through Paris. I think we changed at Le mans and Tours. As above, it was very simple. Captain Train was the site we used for info and booking, which has now been taken over by Trainline I think. Enjoy!

Went for 10 days two years ago. Loved it. Lots of little campsites, amazing civil engineering, barrages etc. Some good museums to do with the great flood. Went to Dordrecht to see the wind mills and took a waterbus to Roterdam which was fun. Nice wetlands area NE of Dordrecht with good camping again. Lots of picturesque town centres, but slighty less attractive outskirts! Dutch people were always lovely and the cycling experience and culture is awe inspiring.

There is a voie verte ( traffic free cycle path) leading out of Caen towards Suisse Normandie. It is well surfaced all the way, and scenic after the first couple of miles. When it finishes there is the usual web of d roads to choose from. Worth using to avoid aforementioned busy roads.
Agree about the compactness of the area.

Not sure what length spokes you will need, but if you need extra short, as lots of ebike hub motors use, I can recommend ryanbuildwheels on ebay. Just search for custom spokes or short spoke. No connection, but excellent fast service.

Ps
have you considered an electric driven trailer that you could hitch to a standard bike?

At the risk of repeating the same piece of advice, the pedelecs forum has some very knowledgeable people who seem very happy to help.
Your requirements maybe slightly outside their normal remit(solos non cargo etc), so the other place to try might be endless sphere. This is a US based forum, having different priorities, legalities to the European fora, but there are people moving big cargo bikes electrically, and indeed big people!
It can get a bit esoteric over there, but they also seem a friendly lot.
HTH

Maybe try the pedelecs forum. There are some very knowledgeable (about ebike stuff) contributors over there.

We went in June via Gill's bay. They were fine with us leaving our car in the car park on the dock for 10 days free of charge. (At our own risk)

So much to see and do, particularly if you like Neolithic, Iron age, viking remains.

Camp at hostels and there is usually cooking and lounging facilities under cover.

Highlights for us was Rousay and Hoy, although west part of mainland was great.
scara brae best at lunch time when cruise ship passengers are having lunch! Maes Howe has to be booked in advance for 1/2 hour slot.

Wheems Campsite on S. Ronaldsay, Camping at hostels in Rousay ,Birsay ,Westray as above regarding excellent facilities. The bothy on Hoy was an amazingly beautiful place to spend a couple of nights.

Also take shoes/boots so you can walk onto the cliff tops to see the huge seabird colonies! Watch out for the skuas!

We had a fantastic time, sometimes challenging weatherwise, but I can't reccomend it enough.