France is such a diverse country, and offers such sharp contrasts of medieval vs. ultra-modern and heavy dark forests vs. high speed tollways, and huge fields of sunflowers next to endless vineyards. However, some missing things are shopping malls, walmarts, Sam's, etc. I did see a few modest malls in medium cities or on the edge of them, but not the monsters that inhale thousands of acres. Surely nothing at all is cheap. You need to pack plenty of money.
The French post office has a large amount of its employees on electric bikes (above) now. They cost about $3,000 each and it is hard to see in this photo, but there is a large battery in that yellow "C" behind the downtube and just above the pedals. It is quite emblematic of the use of electric and mixed power in Europe and France right now.
A lot of cycling tourists now rent such bikes for travel. It is amusing to read of traditional cyclist powering up a steep and long incline with their legs only to be passed rapidly by some old person smiling and waving from atop their power assisted bike.
There is a lot of cycle tourism in West France - I suspect one of the attractions is the relative (often absolute) flatness of the region. I did some cycling on the separate paths along the Loire and enjoyed it. But the roads, although well paved are really narrow. I think a two-lane highway is about 20-25% narrower than here and no shoulders at all.
It was disturbing to me to see those ghastly wreaths along the roads where there had been a fatality as most (or possibly all that I saw this trip) were along straight, flat stretches, with no intersections or common reasons for a car crash. I suspect probably all of those fatalities were either pedestrians (not many out there tho) or cyclists - the most likely victims.
The French drive terribly fast and are indisputably selfish and arrogant on the road. You might think Og gave cars, trucks and roads to French men to get from one place to the other. No, silly, that's not it. It is all so that when they have exhausted their families, bosses, employees, etc. of their constantly being the south end of a northbound horse (Mark Twain), they can get on a highway and enjoy making your life miserable, or even end.
The major toll roads are really fast - 80 mph standard. The secondary roads can be almost relaxing, scenic and a pleasure to drive. The tertiary roads are actually just slightly over one lane wide and are great to drive, but you need to stop and maneuver when meeting an oncoming car. So, of course, some of the worst male drivers cannot possibly adjust their 80 mph highway race car driver beings to country roads, and they drive like absolute hell. I suspect these drivers of causing the proliferation of those wreaths along the roads.
The nation, and every city and burg have all taken extreme measure to alter and partly block roads to slow them down. But the only one I saw that had an effect was photo radar. Where signs showed that it was automatic and the speeds were 90 or 110 kmh, almost every vehicle suddenly dropped to precisely the limit and not a fragment more.
The Loire is one of the destinations you might wish to avoid due to being over-touristed. But I would say do not let that bother you, and go anyway. The one place I would avoid is Mont St. Michel, which is the definition of over-touristed and after all the great Chateaus and cathedrals along the Loire, not really worth the visit with 5,000 other people being herded though.
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