In February 2021, during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, I set out on a cycling adventure across southern France with my 2.5-year-old daughter—just the two of us, a trekking bike, and a trailer. From Carcassonne to Bayonne, we pedaled through beautiful landscapes, over the Pyrenees, and along the Atlantic coast, navigating lockdown rules, curfews, and plenty of surprises along the way.
Some of the challenges:
🚲 Riding through a deserted Saint-Jean-de-Luz after curfew because of a Booking.com mix-up
🚲 Finding food when everything was closed—many nights meant takeout in the hotel room
🚲 The joy of traveling slow, together, and making memories despite the pandemic
➕ Watch till the end for my favorite moments and lessons learned cycling solo with a toddler.
👉 Garmin Connect links for each day’s route:
Day 1: https://connect.garmin.com/modern/activity/6276617933
Day 2: https://connect.garmin.com/modern/activity/6282006924
Day 3: https://connect.garmin.com/modern/activity/6286733254
Day 4: https://connect.garmin.com/modern/activity/6293068892
Day 5: https://connect.garmin.com/modern/activity/6297602172
Day 6: https://connect.garmin.com/modern/activity/6302287076
Day 7 part 1 cycling: https://connect.garmin.com/modern/activity/6304889832
Day 7 part 2 hiking: https://connect.garmin.com/modern/activity/6302853792
Day 7 part 3 cycling: https://connect.garmin.com/modern/activity/6308742389
🔔 Subscribe for more family cycling adventures around the world: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCu3cb7ZmLNrvEPJb3sdWPdw
#FamilyCycling #BikeTour #CarcassonneToBayonne #CyclingWithKids #PandemicTravel #FranceByBike
In February 2021, the COVID pandemic was still in full force across Europe. In Italy, you couldn’t even leave your region. Germany was in full lockdown. France had a strict 6 pm curfew. Most hotels and all restaurants were closed and travel required special forms. So I set off with my 2.5 year old daughter on a bicycle trip across Southern France, from Carcassonne to Bayonne. I just bought a new trekking bike, pulled her in a trailer and packed two pannier bags with our clothes. Just the two of us riding and improvising along the way. So it’s 5:06 in the morning. We started about half an hour ago from Bern. The small one is sleeping back there. The small one still sleeps. At the border there was absolutely no control. There was no one there. Let’s hope that she can still sleep for a few more hours. I bought myself a new touring bicycle. Back there is the little one, who’s sleeping, and the two of us came for a ride, a bike ride in France. Everything is completely closed, there isn’t a single shop open… except, except… down there, there’s the only shop on the square: the funeral home: rest in peace. Hi everyone! I bought myself a new bike – a red one, a steel touring bike, around 15 or 16 kg. And yeah, I looked at the map: where’s the only place in the whole world where I’m actually allowed to ride? And here I am, somewhere in France… I’ll let you guess where I could be. I’ve got my daughter with me, the little one – ‘say hi to everyone’ – and we’re setting off for a few weeks on the road. So, we’ve arrived for today. The place is called Mirepoix. Ciao piccolina! It’s very, very beautiful here. Now we’re heading to this five-star hotel—9.2 on Booking.com Here she is! Say hi to mommy. Come on, say hi to mommy. You just want to run—that’s all you want to do. Today it’s warmer than yesterday, definitely around 15 degrees. Playground! Playground! She’s been playing with the kids for half an hour. I don’t know if she understands what they’re saying, but she’s having a lot of fun. Eh, there’s a bit of glare… What are you eating? Do you like pasta or hamburgers more? — Hamburger. That’s what I thought… you always eat so much meat! And there it is—our trusty travel machine. Here we are, little one, we’re almost there for tonight. The champion of the gravel mountain… let’s see how it is.Help! Help! Oh wow, this is hard… we’re getting there! This morning the guy forgot… okay, never mind. Yeah, another beautiful day. Over there are the mountains, over there are the pyramids. Hi, Mom! But you’re eating chocolate, you always eat so much chocolate! It’s the first time I’m sleeping with her in a double bed, and it’s not exactly a positive experience. She’s like an earthquake during the night, she keeps coming to cuddle. We stopped here somewhere in the middle of nowhere for lunch. The little one is playing by the river. We ate over there by that church— duck with pumpkin sauce, which we picked up somewhere in a supermarket. Maybe you can spot a red dot over there—that’s the bike. I show you the little one, Here it gets warmer every day. By now I’m in short sleeves. Little one! Captain! Hi sweetheart, say hi! Hi! We’re arriving in Navarrenx. It’s a bit deserted, it’s one of those ‘most beautiful villages of France.’ Ah, there’s the square over there, but it’s kind of… We’re in the French Basque Country. My helmet is crooked…Yeah, in the French Basque Country. It’s incredibly green! I don’t know if you can see it from the video, but it’s really so green. Over there… over there’s a mountain… Anyway, everything’s going great here. It keeps getting warmer—it’s over 20°C now. Well, we’re arriving… if you want to see where we are on the map, we’re getting to a town called Saint-Jean-Pied-de-Port, and it’s on the way to…If we went a bit further, we’d get to Pamplona, but of course we’re staying in France. Arrived in Saint-Jean-Pied-de-Port. That’s in the French Basque Country. It’s fantastic! There’s not a soul around, everything is closed. But I still managed to find a hotel. Yeah… everything here is really, really beautiful—just amazing. Let’s see… come on, little one! What are you telling us, little one? What are you saying? All good? What? Peekaboo! And what… what are you saying? Yes? Yes! Hooray! We’re in the Basque Country. It’s really, really beautiful and spring is already here. The flowers are on the trees. And now we’re heading towards Biarritz, towards the coast. Look at the sheep! Little one, say hi! Hi sheep! Say hi to the sheep! Hi sheep! Say ‘beeeeh’! The little one is watching some cartoons.. Little one, tonight it’s just you and me for a tête-à-tête. We’ll have a romantic little dinner… let’s set up a romantic dinner. There’s your little bed over there, here’s daddy’s bed. All that’s missing is the candle, right? And out there… what do you see out there? What’s there? — Roof. The roof? Yes, there are cats on the roof. And what do you see? Do you see something or nothing? — Nothing. Nothing at all? Alright then, you can have a bit of rice later too. Alright. Bye! — Bye! We’re on the road. There’s absolutely the strongest wind I’ve ever experienced—of course, right against our direction. And yeah, it’s tougher than a climb. We’ve arrived at the border with Spain. This here is the river. Beyond that… that mountain over there, that’s Spain, and here is France. And this, right here, is the river that flows all the way to the ocean—and I’ll show you the ocean in a moment. We’ve made it! We’ve been pushed only by the wind, sailing along just with the wind, I’m not even pedaling yet. Let’s see if there are any giant waves. Say hi to everyone! Say: ‘Long live the ocean!’ Here we are—we’ve reached the ocean. We’re right on the border between Spain and France. It’s full of people surfing, waves of… I don’t know, maybe 2 meters for the bigger ones here, and then further out there are the big ones. We just made it to the beach —to the ocean! And yeah, here is Hendaye, on that side is Spain. We’re in France here. I’m on the road with my daughter with this machine here —this is the whole equipment. What do you want, darling? How does the story of Snow White start? What are you saying? Say good morning to mommy. Huh? Are you going to say good morning to mommy or not? Nothing… We’re in Saint-Jean-de-Luz. We spent the night here and visited the town. I’ll show you a bit of the sea. Very, very beautiful. Hi, little mushroom! Who do you have in your hand? This was for me an unforgettable trip during the pandemic in winter, and the first time that I travelled alone for a longer time with my daughter. I hope you enjoyed it and see you next time.