Travellers’ tales: Travels with Bromptons

For 30 years my husband David and I have taken annual Brompton trips to France. Our first real encounter with the problem of taking full-sized bikes on trains was in 1980. We put them on a train from Venice to Tours and waited a day and a half for them to arrive. 

So when in 1993 we read about the Brompton, we bought one each. We’ve travelled with ease by train from our home station, using taxis, the tube, Eurostar, TGVs and other French trains. Our vintage Bromptons might be slower than our touring bikes but we simply aim to go less far. Our trips have not been without problems and adventures, which are chronicled in my book, ‘Travels with a Brompton in the Cévennes and other regions’. 

The title alludes to RL Stevenson’s ‘Travels with a Donkey in the Cévennes’. On one of our early holidays we crossed the path he’d taken in Florac. In July 2022 we returned to the Cévennes and the pleasant town of Le Monastier-sur-Gazeille, where the author bought his donkey, Modestine, and they started their journey. 

We also visited Le Chambon-sur-Lignon, location of the book ‘Village of Secrets’ by Caroline Moorhead. Courageous French people in this historically Protestant region hid Jewish children from the Nazis. They were helped by the area’s isolation and heavy winter snow which kept out unwelcome visitors. We were glad of the altitude as it was 40°C on the plains, and at 3,000-5,000 feet we were quite comfortable.