Avenue Verte: Paris to Dieppe

Three days on the Avenue Verte, the route linking Paris to London, of which this section reaches Dieppe and the Channel. It starts at the basilica of Saint-Denis, necropolis of the kings of France, crosses the Vexin then the Epte valley, reaches Giverny where Monet made his house, water garden and the Japanese bridge he painted relentlessly, then Gournay-en-Bray, home of the Petit-Suisse cheese, Forges-les-Eaux and its converted railway line, before arriving beneath the cliffs of Dieppe. Most of the route follows former railways, so it is flat and separated from traffic. Leaving Paris is the least pleasant stretch, largely urban: many riders take the train as far as Gisors to begin.