High-speed link it definitely isn’t, but if you have three or four days to spare, a sturdy pair of calf muscles and a yen to visit Paris the greenest way, then the promised Avenue Verte, or Green Avenue may - eventually - be right up your street.
Or rather, right up your traffic-free canal path, country lane or rural bike track. The Avenue Verte is attempting to convert the 240-mile bike ride to Paris, from St Paul’s in London at its northernmost point to Notre-Dame cathedral in the south, to a fully-signposted, traffic-free rural idyll by 2012 – on the French side, at least.
London officials admit that, Rosbif-side, things may take somewhat longer, with gnarly problems thrown up by the route including heavy-traffic zones such as around Gatwick Airport, giving a projected completion date of…2020.
Still, plenty of time to get into training. Bon courage!
By Cat Wiener.
Photo / Wheelosopher.com
