Advice on Food and Snacks

Cycle-touring, Expeditions, Adventures, Major cycle routes NOT LeJoG (see other special board)
Imtryin
Posts: 11
Joined: 10 Jun 2018, 11:22pm

Advice on Food and Snacks

Post by Imtryin »

Hi All

Myself and My wife and 11 year old daughter will be doing the London to Paris route. We've made it into a holiday, and so will be taking our time and taking the full 2 weeks in the Easter holidays, taking in the views and staying a couple of nights here and there along the way.

We have booked hotels each night, so an evening meal will be no problem, but we all tend to get "Hangry" and i don't want to be caught out with no food or snacks during the day.

Can i have some advice on some lightweight food / snacks to take that would be filling and nutritious. Because we are staying in hotel / BandB each night, we can fill a flask of hotwater, so meals that you just need to add water too are a possibility - But which one/type?

Many Thanks
Lee
Cyril Haearn
Posts: 15215
Joined: 30 Nov 2013, 11:26am

Re: Advice on Food and Snacks

Post by Cyril Haearn »

You could buy baguettes, cheese etc fresh for lunch daily, yoghurt is good, liquid, has some energy value
I try to take different things, biscuits, dried fruit
Plenty to drink, better take too much with you than too little

I would eat as much as possible at breakfast too, if it is paid for :wink:
Entertainer, juvenile, curmudgeon, PoB, 30120
Cycling-of course, but it is far better on a Gillott
We love safety cameras, we hate bullies
User avatar
Paulatic
Posts: 7804
Joined: 2 Feb 2014, 1:03pm
Location: 24 Hours from Lands End

Re: Advice on Food and Snacks

Post by Paulatic »

I always keep a few bars about my person ok for when you’re hungry. . Favourite at the moment is ALDI pear and apple. They are no substitute for that roadside bacon roll or indeed a baguette when you get over the water.
Whatever I am, wherever I am, this is me. This is my life

https://stcleve.wordpress.com/category/lejog/
E2E info
User avatar
Tigerbiten
Posts: 2503
Joined: 29 Jun 2009, 6:49am

Re: Advice on Food and Snacks

Post by Tigerbiten »

It's not like you're going to the wilds where it's 2-3 days between shops.
Check your route and time your ride right so just before lunchtime you get to a cafe, village shop, supermarket.
As others have mentions a baguette with cheese and ham makes a good lunch.
Then carry a couple of breakfast bars just incase.
I'm sure if you ask nicely at the hotel you're stopping in they will make you a packed lunch.
Lots of options.
Just remember a lot of places may well be closed on sunday and maybe the odd half day as well.

Luck ......... :D
bohrsatom
Posts: 807
Joined: 20 May 2013, 4:36pm

Re: Advice on Food and Snacks

Post by bohrsatom »

Finding your favourite snacks is part of the enjoyment of bike touring. These are mine:

Image

Also, a boulangerie will always make you a filled baguette even if there's no obvious menu. Ham, cheese or ham & cheese are three obvious choices. They might even do a cheese & ham if you ask nicely :lol:
Vorpal
Moderator
Posts: 20700
Joined: 19 Jan 2009, 3:34pm
Location: Not there ;)

Re: Advice on Food and Snacks

Post by Vorpal »

I mostly carry fruit; bananas, oranges, that sort of thing.

I usually just have water to drink, but I also carry some powder drink mix for an energy drink, like Powerade. That's only for use if I start to feel weak (like the hunger knock).
“In some ways, it is easier to be a dissident, for then one is without responsibility.”
― Nelson Mandela, Long Walk to Freedom
User avatar
mjr
Posts: 20308
Joined: 20 Jun 2011, 7:06pm
Location: Norfolk or Somerset, mostly
Contact:

Re: Advice on Food and Snacks

Post by mjr »

Flapjacks are my stalwart. Candied ginger and jelly babies are always popular quick fixes. I don't know that route but elsewhere in France small farms had vending machines selling seasonal fruit, which was welcome.
MJR, mostly pedalling 3-speed roadsters. KL+West Norfolk BUG incl social easy rides http://www.klwnbug.co.uk
All the above is CC-By-SA and no other implied copyright license to Cycle magazine.
User avatar
RickH
Posts: 5832
Joined: 5 Mar 2012, 6:39pm
Location: Horwich, Lancs.

Re: Advice on Food and Snacks

Post by RickH »

It is a good idea to have a small stock of flapjack type stuff to keep you going if you struggle to find food on your route.

From relatively recent experience (Channel to the Med in 2010 & Bordeaux to Barcelona in 2011), a lot of villages seem to no longer have a boulangerie (in fact in Northern France they seemed to have virtually no inhabitants - I suspect they had become largely dormitory villages for bigger towns). The other problem was closing days - some places the shops close on a Sunday, others it is Monday. But if they were closed on a Monday because it is a Bank Holiday then they will also be closed on Tuesday so they haven't missed their normal closing day for thst week. Cafés can often be shut for lunch too!

I quickly developed the strategy of buying food for the day at the first open shop I encountered.

The cycling in France is great but sailing past an open shop thinking it is too early & then finding nothing open when you are hungry can take the edge off the enjoyment a bit. One day, early on the Channel to the Med ride, we decided around 11:30 we'd stop for lunch at the next place we saw - that ended up being around 3pm & probably 30 to 40 miles further on!
Former member of the Cult of the Polystyrene Head Carbuncle.
User avatar
al_yrpal
Posts: 11537
Joined: 25 Jul 2007, 9:47pm
Location: Think Cheddar and Cider
Contact:

Re: Advice on Food and Snacks

Post by al_yrpal »

In France a visit to the Boulangerie at lunchtime is a treat. If there are no other shops in a village there is always a boulangerie, its a part of French life. Everywhere does filled baguettes and then a nice sweet desert. No need to carry anything IMO.

Al
Reuse, recycle, thus do your bit to save the planet.... Get stuff at auctions, Dump, Charity Shops, Facebook Marketplace, Ebay, Car Boots. Choose an Old House, and a Banger ..... And cycle as often as you can......
User avatar
MrsHJ
Posts: 1823
Joined: 19 Aug 2010, 1:03pm
Location: Dartmouth, Devon.

Re: Advice on Food and Snacks

Post by MrsHJ »

al_yrpal wrote:In France a visit to the Boulangerie at lunchtime is a treat. If there are no other shops in a village there is always a boulangerie, its a part of French life. Everywhere does filled baguettes and then a nice sweet desert. No need to carry anything IMO.

Al

+1. They often do mini quiches and pizza squares too. The pizza squares with an apple tart to finish would be an easy lunch option. The main thing is to pick up your lunch before midday as lots of places close from say 12:30-14:30. I would usually pick my lunch up at a promising village or town early on in the day rather than waiting for later. Google maps is often your friend in identifying where the boulangeries are.

I take a picnic kit ie sharp knife, chopping board and a bit of olive oil, vinager and oregano. This then with some baguette, local cheese and a tomato is usually my lunch. I really like fresh fruit to snack on when touring too and there are lots of small supermarkets in the villages and towns where I can pick up some fruit etc. The supermarkets have plenty of snacks o suit whatever your tastes are so I carry some cashews usually and I also carry chocolate for moral support in case I hit a hill at a low energy point.

IMHO France is the best place to cycle and enjoy your food so taking bars or gels rather misses the point for me.
Cyril Haearn
Posts: 15215
Joined: 30 Nov 2013, 11:26am

Re: Advice on Food and Snacks

Post by Cyril Haearn »

Flapjack, porridge on a stick. Without the stick

Do French hotels do porridge?
Entertainer, juvenile, curmudgeon, PoB, 30120
Cycling-of course, but it is far better on a Gillott
We love safety cameras, we hate bullies
User avatar
foxyrider
Posts: 6044
Joined: 29 Aug 2011, 10:25am
Location: Sheffield, South Yorkshire

Re: Advice on Food and Snacks

Post by foxyrider »

A bag of Haribo bears (other inferior brands may be available). Those mini boxes of raisins are useful but nothing can beat a stop for coffee and cake! I generally have a tube of Bloc energy chews in my bag for emergencies, I usually end up bringing them home but they are there 'in case'.

Do stop for lunch, however you cover it, pushing on 'just a bit further' is sure to make for grumpiness!
Convention? what's that then?
Airnimal Chameleon touring, Orbit Pro hack, Orbit Photon audax, Focus Mares AX tour, Peugeot Carbon sportive, Owen Blower vintage race - all running Tulio's finest!
Vorpal
Moderator
Posts: 20700
Joined: 19 Jan 2009, 3:34pm
Location: Not there ;)

Re: Advice on Food and Snacks

Post by Vorpal »

Touring in general, but especially with kids, I think that it is important to stop regularly for proper meals. As above, bread with things to eat with it are good.

Kids may need more breaks from cycling just on general principal. But between meals, I eat (and feed my kids) mostly fruit. My kids sometimes forget to drink regularly, and they can't easily do so on the bike, so regular breaks with reminders to have a drink are also good.

I reward/bribe my kids with regular ice creams, as well. :lol: :lol:
“In some ways, it is easier to be a dissident, for then one is without responsibility.”
― Nelson Mandela, Long Walk to Freedom
Richard Fairhurst
Posts: 2030
Joined: 2 Mar 2008, 4:57pm
Location: Charlbury, Oxfordshire

Re: Advice on Food and Snacks

Post by Richard Fairhurst »

RickH wrote:The cycling in France is great but sailing past an open shop thinking it is too early & then finding nothing open when you are hungry can take the edge off the enjoyment a bit. One day, early on the Channel to the Med ride, we decided around 11:30 we'd stop for lunch at the next place we saw - that ended up being around 3pm & probably 30 to 40 miles further on!


Exactly that. We got caught out on the Avenue Verte in just that way - 35ish miles from Gisors to the suburbs at Cergy.
cycle.travel - maps, journey-planner, route guides and city guides
User avatar
andrew_s
Posts: 5795
Joined: 7 Jan 2007, 9:29pm
Location: Gloucestershire

Re: Advice on Food and Snacks

Post by andrew_s »

Fig rolls have been my emergency snack of choice when in France.
Post Reply