Iona’s Big Ride – We Made It to Paris! (Age 12!) | Avenue Verte Part 3

We made it! From St Paul’s Cathedral in London to the Notre Dame in Paris, 12-year-old Iona has cycled 287 miles across two countries — completing her biggest adventure yet!

In this final chapter of our Avenue Verte Cycle Tour, we ride the last miles into the heart of Paris, take in the sights, and celebrate the incredible feeling of completing our journey.

Leaving our panniers behind at the campsite, we set off light for a day of exploring — fuelled, of course, by fresh, still-warm pastries from the campsite shop. Riding along the Seine, past Olympic sites and through the bustling suburbs, the ornate spires and grand boulevards soon announce our arrival in the French capital.

At last, Notre Dame comes into view — scaffolding and all — and we capture our victory selfies (with Chloe the Corgi mascot, of course!). We reunite with Betsy and Taylor, the inspiring runners we met in Dieppe, and swap adventure tales over coffee before continuing to tick off Paris landmarks: the Louvre, Place de la Concorde, and the Eiffel Tower itself.

Over the next few days we unwind at Camping de Paris, run Leparcrun, explore hidden corners of the Bois de Boulogne, visit the Arc de Triomphe and Champs-Élysées, and finally begin the long journey home — by train, ferry, and a few final miles by bike.

From the White Cliffs to Notre Dame, it’s been an unforgettable father-daughter bikepacking adventure — full of laughter, challenges, and memories to last a lifetime.

🇬🇧 – 🇫🇷 287 miles. 2 countries. 1 incredible 12-year-old.
Thank you for joining us on Iona’s Big Ride – London to Paris by Bike!

👉 Don’t forget to LIKE, COMMENT, and SUBSCRIBE to follow our next adventure!
https://www.youtube.com/alittleadventuretime?sub_confirmation=1

A Little Adventure Shop:
Clothes: https://a-little-adventure-time.myspreadshop.co.uk/
Badges: https://www.alittleadventure.uk/shop/

===============================
About Ian, Iona and Family
===============================
Each week on this channel Ian (Dad) and Iona share our little adventure experiences, often joined by Ewan (Iona’s older brother) and Ruth (Mum) too.

Our weekends often start with parkrun. Iona is on a non-repeat parkrun tourism streak having now visited over 100 different places since she started parkrunning. But we don’t just do parkun and dash home, we love exploring the area and often use bikes and trains for our travels to keep our carbon footprint low and because it adds to the adventure too. When school holidays arrive, longer adventures are possible with Ewan and Iona both being keen cycle tourists and mountain climbers!

So if you like heading outdoors and your idea of a perfect weekend includes parkrun, climbing a mountain or exploring new places on two wheels then we would love to have you join us on our adventures.

We’d love it if you subscribed so you can follow our journey and hopefully be inspired to get out the door and have your own little adventures. Do like and leave comments on our videos too on questions you might have or ideas for places to explore or adventures to go on.

===============================
Standard Filming Kit
===============================
Fujifilm X-S20 with 18-55mm kit lens: https://amzn.to/45nb4NR
DJI Osmo Action 5 Pro: https://amzn.to/4hPE05Q
DJI Mic Mini: https://amzn.to/4c1SQVw
RØDE VideoMicro Directional Mic: https://amzn.to/45nb4NR
DJI Neo Fly More Combo: https://amzn.to/42cSmIV

Music from Epidemic Sound: https://www.epidemicsound.com/referral/o3mkb1

It’s the last day, Iona, of our actual ride. Obviously got a few more days of adventuring in Paris, haven’t we? We got rather soggy helmets put on our heads this morning, haven’t we? It kicked it down last night, and we both foolishly left our helmets hanging on our bikes. But you’ve got no pions on today, have you? We’re able to just leave everything here. So, you got a nice lightweight bike, just Chloe to carry and my phone. And your phone, of course, for the photos. Right, time to set off. Let’s head into Paris for the last leg of our adventure cycle. Are you ready for this? No. What are you most excited about? Eiffel Tower. Eiffel Tower. Then I can compare my photo with one of my friends’s photo. I see. You got to try and take some creative photos, have you? Cool. Let’s get going then. [Music] We’re back by the river, back on the Avenue Vert, having cut back across from our campsite and we’re now officially on the last leg of our journey. Yeah. And did you notice I didn’t take you up and over a big hill? I slightly tweaked the route last night so you didn’t have to do that hill again. Yeah. That we did yesterday. Do you appreciate that? Mhm. We still did a hill little bit, but nothing quite as bad as yesterday. It was hit at the end. A lovely smooth tarmac you cycle on at the moment. And I hadn’t I found a little insect in my bit of my pedal. Ah. Is it getting dizzy? I think so. I don’t know how it got in there, though. And now we’re back on the compacted gravel tracks that we were so familiar with with yesterday’s riding along by the River Sen. Basically, you’ve got this fantastic trail all the way around, snaking alongside the River Sen. Much better than the Tempame’s path, which I’ve tried to do. Once you get off the the main bit in the middle of London, it’s rather rough. This is a lot better and also a lot wider. [Music] All right. [Music] [Applause] [Music] We’re cycling into Paris now on the canal. Not a little narrow boat canal, but a ship canal. It’s our last section of the journey towards the Notradam. We’re heading straight to the center now. [Music] Jump. [Music] We have reached Plaza Bastile which is the site of the Bastile prison which was ransfaxed on the 14th of July by those in the French Revolution releasing the enemies of the king and those who were held in their epoch moment in the French Revolution and a moment for me that’s always noted on the tour to France. It’s a beautiful spot. Nothing remains of the prison now. this lovely steam fountain which I have been having fun playing in and this beautiful statue here. We’re almost at our finished destination. [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Music] We’ve made it a where we got to the NRAAM all the way from St. Paul’s to here on two wheels plus a ferry. Chloe’s made it as well on the front of your bicycle from East Ginstead. East Ginstead. You haven’t done the whole journey, Chloe. Do you need to go back and do the last little bit again? I think I’m okay. You think you’re okay? But we’ve decided, made an executive decision not to queue to go in, haven’t we, Anna? It’s crazy. The queue is incredible. But it is a very impressive building. A lot of carving. A lot of carving on the frontage. But we made it. Well done. Almost 300 miles cycled. You’ve done amazing, Iona. Congratulations on your biggest ever cycle tour. Right. Ice for next. Not just yet. Got to soak up the atmosphere here for a bit, have you first? Okay. [Music] So, [Music] we’ve just met up with our fellow crazy adventurers. We were busy cycling to Paris. They were busy running to Paris. So, we made it easy, to be honest. Um, yeah, they’ve run all the way from London to Paris. and some other amazing adventures they’ve now got planned as well, including rowing crazy distances, doing double iron mans, and all that sort of thing. So, definitely two people to watch for more crazy adventures. We’ll drop their Instagram things into the comments so you can have a look at those as well. Be good to meet you guys. Enjoy your journey back and we will see you at a park run hopefully in London. Oh, definitely. So, on our way back to the campsite now, having had a lovely chat with our fellow crazy adventurers, we’re doing this tourist spotting bits, aren’t we, and the first place we come to is the Louv and that amazing pyramid of glass there. Why? It’s just just a well-known piece of architecture. So, get a photo of it with you. Where next, IA? The Eiffel Tower, which is just over there. We can’t literally get it from just over there. What have we got to get, Iona? And I live Paris top exactly like Taylor and Betsy. So, we’ve just spotted one, haven’t we? On someone, but I don’t know where they are. Just up there. Oh, yeah. Let’s get one. So next tourist spot we’ve got to the plaster Concord pla concord um which is the home of the Luxor obelisk monument whatever you want to call it which originally comes from where I own it from outside the temple of Rammeses I think Luxor temple so there you go and of course this was also the site where Mari Antonet was um guillotined and I think the king as Wow. At this point, so you know, just what I wanted to know when being in a lovely romantic place. Yeah. Queens were guillotined here. Yeah. But wow, look at the beautiful spot. And look at what we can see just over there. I the Eiffel Tower. The Eiffel Tower. We’re getting closer, aren’t we? Y, are you looking forward to that? Yeah. And I’m now wearing a top that goes with the vibe. You got the top to go with the vibe, haven’t you? Yeah. Basically sty, [Applause] we’ve made it. Ia, was this the most exciting bit of coming to Paris? Yeah. Getting to have your photo with the Eiffel Tower. Mhm. What do you reckon? Does it look as impressive now you’re here or even more impressive? It doesn’t feel like I’m here. Does it feel slightly surreal to think you were in London a few days ago and you’ve now cycled all the way here other than there’s a bit of sea crossing on the ferry? Yeah. Wowee. It does look seriously impressive, doesn’t it? It’s giant. [Music] Well, Aya, we have done the touristy bits. Yeah. And I’m starving cuz it’s now 25 7. It may be a beautiful day, but it’s definitely well past tea time. I think it’s time for pizza, which means we need to get back to the campsite before they shut. So, let’s get cracking. [Music] We’ve made it back to the campsite and we have our pizza. Honey and goats cheese for me. Same as yesterday. Same as you. Yesterday for you. Lots of ham and mushrooms and olives for you. Yeah. Is this what we need after a day exploring Paris? What do you reckon to today’s adventure? Best day. Best bits. Eiffel Tower. Seeing the Eiffel Tower and finishing the last of the big day cycling. Right, let’s tuck into the pizza. Our final day. Well, not our final day of adventure, but our final day of the avenue vert is over. Time to go to bed, isn’t it? I own a few. I’ll catch up on some bits and pieces, but it’s been a great day, hasn’t it? And what have we got in store for tomorrow? Non park run. A nonp park run. So, France no longer has park runs due to various bureaucracy and bits and pieces like that. But one of the leftover park runs that used to happen still basically happens. It’s just not under a park run anymore. So, it’s only a few minutes from our campsite. Yeah. So, we thought we’d go and check it out in the morning, didn’t we? Right. Time for some sleep. [Music] So, this morning we have come to not Parkrun. Where is it? Ta. La Park. It’s La Parkrun. It’s like a bit like Parkrun, but they have quasonons afterwards, so it’s even better, isn’t it? And pan chocolate. You ready? 1 2 3 go. [Music] What have we just spotted, Aya? The Eiffel Tower. That’s the peak you won’t see normally on a park, isn’t it? You appreciating that view? I can’t see it again now. Just keeps hiding behind the trees. And then there it is. It reappears. Your first LA Park one done. How was it? Are you ready for your class on or in your case now? Are you? And a drink. And a drink. Fair enough. Let’s go and grab it. [Music] La Park run done. Great experience. Very like a park run. Lovely cafe chat afterwards and very nice quassons. And now we’re heading back into Paris to try and discover a adapter for power cuz I foolishly left mine in the Airbnb and then back to the campsite for a day of chilling. And I think today after all our adventures of the last few days, we were meant to have a chill day, but the sights of Paris were just too tempting. Before long, we were back on our bikes, ready to explore. It set the vibe for the rest of our time here. Riding around, taking it all in, seeing for real the places we’d only ever seen in photos or movies. From the Shanza to the Arctic Triumph, we wanted to see everything. [Music] Heat. Heat. [Music] We’ve made it up to the Arctic field. Famous of course as a cyclist where the tour to France comes up the sol. You always see this in the background as they’re doing their final photos and finish line and all the rest of it. What do we think of it, Iona? Big big and tall and tall. The carvings on it are amazing. You don’t realize until you actually up close just how detailed they are and the continuous stream of traffic going around the island. It just goes beeping with horns and all the rest of it. But we made it across, didn’t we, we had been told, however, we got tight told off by the police for locking up our bikes against one of the barriers while we went to sign to say so. But he’s very nice to us, wasn’t he? He wasn’t nasty about it. And the eternal flame as well. What’s that about Ayanna? The in memory of the soldiers that died in the war. Yeah. Defending the republic. So yeah, incredible to come and see this for real. Right. Got to do what you got to do as a cyclist. We got to ride down the shelves. Where is that? Down there. [Music] We have just been and visited Sephora. Why is that so essential? Um because you’d find that um though we’re not in America, but there’s some places that you’d find if you’re an age like me or 13 or 14, you’ll find that a girl has at least been in Sephora at least once. So you can now say you’ve been in Sephora once. There aren’t anywhere near us in the UK. In fact, I think there’s just one opening in Oxford, isn’t there? But I know about it. Well, from the fence students I’ve taught all talked about Sephora. This is probably the one they go in. Could well be. There’s lots of them. So, you’ve now feel you’ve achieved something. Do you visiting Sephora? Forget Arctic Triumph Eiffel Tower. No, we visited Sephora. Just stopped off on our continued explorations of Paris, aren’t we? In a rather lovely park. Feels very enjoying a rather tasty lunch, aren’t we? From the little supermarket we found. got chickeny thingy breadcrumbs, haven’t you? So, basically, you found chicken nuggets again, haven’t you? But they’re healthier but with noodles. But I feel like these are healthier. Healthier cuz with noodles rather than with chips and No, and they’ve got bits of salad in there as well. Yeah. So, they’re it’s a bit more healthier. Bit more healthier. I like I think the actual chicken is a bit healthier as well cuz it’s how it’s the breadcrumbs are done. Okay. Yeah. It’s lovely just here. I like this. And we’ve decided that wooden spoons in France are better than the ones in England. Have you? Yeah. Why is that? Because they’re a lot thicker and they won’t break as easy. Well, that’s it. The end of our last day in Paris, Iona, we have spent the last couple of days exploring all the sites, haven’t we? We’ve seen lots of things. Do you reckon you like Paris? Yeah, I have to cuz what my top says. Your top says it. Yeah. Lots of the photos that we’ve taken. Paris. You love it, do you? Yeah. What’s been the best bits? Um, seeing the Eiffel Tower. Just all the iconic places really. Yeah, I love the Arctic Triumph. I was well impressed. I mean, the Eiffel Tower is impressive. The Arctic Triumph equally. So, it’s just Is it more or the same? The same. I think it’s just the detail of the carvings. And for me with the tour to France, it’s iconic as well. So, time to tuck ourselves up in bed, get some sleep, ready for a long journey home over the next 24 hours. Yeah. So, get the ferry out overnight, but not properly overnight because we’re not cabin. Right. See you in the morning. Well, that’s it. Tent’s truck. Tanya’s all loaded. Time to leave the campsite for the last time. Last night of camping. In 48 hours, you’ll be back in your own bed. But meantime, you’ve got a night of trying to get a bit of sleep on the ferry. Yeah. In a seat. But just about to leave the campsite. Head through Paris for one last time to the station, isn’t it, Diana? How are you feeling? Sad, but I’m excited. Sad to leave. Excited to be going home and get in my normal bed. Got a good time. Yeah. Yeah, love Paris as your t-shirt says. Right, let’s get on those rather heavier bikes than they have been the last two days. Yeah, it feels strange. Feels it feels heavier than when I had them on the in the first place, but they’re not. So, no, just just the way it feels. Yeah. You good? Right. Let’s go. What do you think of the cycle paths here, Iona? Nice. Pretty good on the hole, haven’t they been on this side of Paris? That’s the one thing I do like about it. And the drivers treat us pretty well, don’t they? Yeah. Even on that crazy roundabout by the Arctic Triumph. The drivers are actually quite good with us. Yeah. We’re doing one last ride down the Shelles to investigate a giant ball that we can see behind the plastic Concord. We’re watching the model yachts sailing on this pool that there is in the gardens here, packing their way across the waters. We’ve discovered the reason there are sailing boats out on the pool here is because you can hire them to have a play with. You don’t have to bring your own. You can just hire one when you get here. €6. We’re continuing our journey to try and find out what this giant ball is, aren’t we, Iona? Yes. We’re approaching it now. It turned out to be the Paris 2024 cauldron, a 7 m diameter ring suspended from a 30 m tall helium filled balloon flame simulated by illuminated mist jets. It looked incredible. It was created for the 2024 Olympics and harks back to Paris’s central role in the early days of ballooning. Are we living the high life? Yeah. McDonald’s with cold pizza that we had leftovers from last night. Sitting in the station waiting for our train. We’re on the next train. Now, ours was delayed by about 20 minutes or so, but actually, unlike UK trains, they held our train for a bit. The next train was to catch, so we didn’t miss it. So we should still be in DEP as planned. Well, we have made it to DEP. The trains got us here, didn’t they? Yeah. Few interesting experiences on route. But we got here. The sun is shining. I think it’s time to find the beach and yet castle everybody keeps saying about, don’t you? We won’t go up to it cuz it’s on the top of a hill. You don’t fancy cycling up a hill, do you? But we’ll hopefully appreciate the view of it and go to a playground. And maybe find a playground and maybe a cold drink and something to eat. Sound good? Yeah. Let’s go explore. [Music] Well, with time to kill until our ferry, we’ve been doing a bit of exploring of DF, haven’t we, cuz we couldn’t really do it on the way. No, when we arrived here at midnight, everything was rather shut and dark, wasn’t it? Yeah. But now everything’s open and we’re able to explore a bit. And we’ve come to two different churches to explore. St. Jack, which is the one we’re at right now. And before that, we went to St. Remy as well. My friend’s little sister. Your friend’s girlfriend got called Remy. Called Remy as well, haven’t you? Yeah. So the churches are amazing. They need a bit of their stonework on the outside is looking a bit worn out, isn’t it? They look a bit depressed. Yeah, they could do a bit of a TLC on their stonework. Get some stonemasons at work. But inside the windows are fantastic. And what do you like? The chapels with the flowers. They’re very pretty flowers. Lots of little chapels all around the sides, aren’t they? Basically, it’s not like one big church. They’re all just like mini little chapels. Yeah. Yeah. Inside of one big church. Yeah. And the ceilings are incredibly high and the Yeah. You can’t see the full top though because they’ve got I’m assuming that’s cuz the stone works so poor or they’re worried about and if it’s falling it wouldn’t be very good for you. It’s just going to blow. So we’ve got a few more hours to kill till we catch the ferry. Yep. Perhaps time to get something to eat and do a bit more exploring or just chill. Or just chill. Okay. We’re just tucking into our last meal in France, aren’t we? Iona, you’ve gone for chicken nuggets, but they don’t look like your normal chicken nuggets, do they? They look very impressive. Said fillets, but like I was cuz that’s usually sometimes what they call them. But no, it’s a literal fillet of chicken. And that was a children’sized portion. Yeah, we’re sorted here. And I’ve gone for a Normandy burger. Thought I better have a bit of taste of Normandy as my last meal. Yep. Enjoy one of tea. [Music] [Music] Are you [Music] Well, we’ve made it back to the UK. Was that a good night’s sleep on the ferry? Not the best, was it? But now, now we’ve got a bit of cycling to do, haven’t we? To get to Brighton train station. So, a little ride along the coast. A little hill to get up to begin with. Might be a bit of pushing. Let’s get on those bikes and make sure we remember to What side of the road we got to ride on? Yeah, we got to start to the left. [Music] It has been one steep climb at a New Haven. So, we’re just taking a breather to appreciate the view behind us. [Music] Thank you. [Music] Did you enjoy my early morning? I used to feel a bit not the best night sleep on a fair chair. [Music] [Music] And just like that, we were back where it all began. A few trains, a ferry, and many miles later, London to Paris and home again. It was a fantastic adventure. Paris was amazing, but I’m looking forward to being back home in my own bed. I’d love to hear your thoughts on our trip and where you think we should head next on a cycle tour. Make sure you subscribe so you can join us on another little adventure soon. Bye.