While I was confining myself this year, the local government of Uzès, north of Nimes, appears to have been busy building a new voie verte (cycling path / greenway in French) that will be a welcome addition to the neighborhood. This one – like most of the others I’ve been on in France – is built over an old railway, but more importantly, it follows a National Route. Riding on this fast road is fine for a road bike (there’s a big shoulder), but for families and leisure cyclists, it’s probably not the best choice. There is a series of small roads on the other side of the National that works fine, but the voie verte is just that much easier to follow.
And this path leads to the UNESCO Site below, so there’s a good reason to hop on it.
I’m not a big fan of greenways in general, but that’s only because, for the moment at least, I’m a ‘roadie’ and I find these things far more dangerous for me and those around me than a normal road in France. At least we don’t get yelled at here (yet) for using the road instead of the path if it’s available. I’ve heard that this can be the case in some other countries.
But a safe, car-free cycling path is nearly always a good idea. Here’s my review of the newest one in Le Sud. Weirdly, YouTube has decided that videos of cycling paths are not for viewers under 18 years old. Click at your own risk!
The Vicious Cycle 
Video is telling me it’s private, Gerry.
Is it still private, Lyn? Just tried to change it.
Yep – all good now. Thanks!
I agree that bike paths and speedy road cyclists don’t mix well. As a slow cyclist, particularly when I am with Mrs T, I resent people rushing along shouting at you to get out of their way. Leisure routes should be for leisure cyclists.
Luckily in the south of France we usually don’t have the choice, although every year a few more kilometers get paved over, so it’s adding up slowly. If you and Mrs. T come over again, there’s a near-finished voie verte along the Rhone River and into the mountains.
We pedalled along what seemed like hundreds of km of old railway lines turned into very good bike paths through the Landes when we went for St Malo to Toulouse.
The video worked for me. That track looks pleasingly wide.
I’ve been yelled at for using the road over the path. I can show you a guy who has two thumbs and doesn’t, ahem, care. Paths make non-cyclists exceedingly stupid and indignant. It’s basically a party.
I’m so rarely on these things that I can almost not comment, but basically every time I do venture onto a path (unless it’s winter) I nearly run over a kid zigzagging dangerously. And don’t get me started about walkers taking up the whole damn path!
Yerp. Agreed… but also, those knuckleheads are always deaf due to earbuds! You holler out, “on your left” and they don’t move! Now you got me started! ROTFLMAO
The greenways are great and they’ve opened up areas for a lot of people to either walk or ride. I think patience is important because as you’ve noted it can be full of people at times. However I’ve been on long stretches where I’ve ‘owned the road’. YouTube will likely be following me now that I’ve clicked to watch your ‘inappropriate’ video 😂. It’s a good start for my indoor cycling videos to watch though.
Yeah, there are some that I’ve been on that were like that. It’s a nice novelty not to have to be concerned about getting run over. I can’t wait to see why they flagged my video. Maybe my ‘thumbs up’ was too suggestive…
I am looking forward to exploring more of the “voie vertes” when I can get back to France this year. Thank you for your posts – now I know of another one to explore.
This one is short, but I think it hooks up with another one that is being extended on the other side of the Pont du Gard. Baby steps!