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  4. Secrets of Caroline Segoni : How to Tour The Luberon By Bike With Your Family!

Secrets of Caroline Segoni : How to Tour The Luberon By Bike With Your Family!

Caroline Segoni and her family are budding adventurers! With her husband, Cédric, and their two young children, Caroline did an eight-month bike tour of France along greenways and designated routes. The Luberon made an impression on the whole family thanks to its special bike facilities, exceptional landscapes, and encounters that they will never forget.

Why did you decide to head off on a cycling adventure with your family?

Our family motto is: travel, explore, and share. With Cédric, we always had a taste for discovery. When we had children, we explored how we could continue to travel. We were avid mountain bikers, so naturally we turned to bike tourism..
The idea for a big cycling adventure sparked in Auvergne after our first one-month trip on the Vélo Francette. When we came back, we decided to head off for several months by bike exploring France. At that time, the children were 1 and 4 years old. We set up an association, Graines de Baroudeurs (French for “budding adventurers”), to encourage cycling tourism for everyone.

How did you decide on your 8,000-km route? And how does one best organise a bike trip when you have young children?

We prepared a lot, taking the time to gather information from tourist offices. We decided on a route that only contained greenways and designated routes for bikes. We also prepared a detailed logbook comprising of 3 hours of biking per day, or around 39 kilometres. Activities for the children determined the stops: swimming in a river, watching the barges go by, and visiting sites.
During our adventure, there were a lot of questions about the route, the equipment, as well as very practical questions such as accommodation or laundry. We collected lots of good tips on our blog, which is available to everyone: https://grainesdebaroudeurs.com/
I have to emphasize that we are not great cyclists! Since we had no electrical assistance and we were on mountain bikes, we were prepared to tow a lot of weight. Our youngest son was in a bike trailer, and our 4-year-old daughter travelled in a tagalong trailer bike. On the road, people called us the “wide load” (laughs)!

What are the advantages of the Luberon for a family cycling holiday?

We had read that the Luberon was a leading area for bike-friendly facilities, and we realised that it was true.
We appreciated the diversity of the bike paths. Vélo Loisir Provence helped us a lot in putting our route together. We have very good memories of our first encounters in the Luberon. We stayed with residents of Forcalquier via the Warm Shower network, dedicated to cyclists staying in locals’ homes.
We also loved the landscapes, those great hills, those jagged crests, and those steep valleys. Nature is so beautiful there! My daughter still recalls the hilltop villages that we passed through. Your calves get a good workout, but the setting is magnificent!
The Luberon remains a highlight of our travels. We recommend it to everyone!

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