Some D-roads seem simply made to guide you and your bike to and from your destination, but what you encounter along the way is always a surprise. A castle suddenly looming, one of the last Bailey bridges with its rattling planks, or a dormant classic among the nettles and brambles. On these routes, it's almost always possible to avoid the big cities and simply cruise through the smaller towns and villages.

This is the first of three routes to western France and can be used as a starting point for one of the other routes in this area, as described in the Motorcycle Tour Guides parts 1 and 2.

Enjoy a scenic drive through the countryside to the French west coast or towards Ile d'Oléron. It's a lovely drive around all the major cities, using only D-roads that are easy to get to. Ideal! This route takes you from the Loire Valley to the Charente region just north of Bordeaux. From the end point in Ruffec, you can choose to continue to the coast south of Bordeaux, or to the Basque Country, or you can even stay overnight there.

The starting point is in Jargeau. Continue along the D921 through Marcilly-en-Villette to La Ferté-St.-Aubin. From there, take the D922 towards La Ferté-Beauharnais. From there, continue along the D922 through a beautiful landscape with dozens of small lakes to the Romorantin-Lanthenay bypass. Enthusiasts can stop in this town to stretch their legs and visit the Matra Museum. Matra is the largest employer in the town and has a rich racing history, as well as being the designer of the Renault compact cars.

If you want to continue, stay on the ring road; it'll save you a lot of time. Take the D724 and exit just after the airport towards Chabris, where we cross the Indre River. Then on to Valençay for lunch. The town also boasts a beautiful castle, the Château de Valençay, with its gardens and a car museum, both of which are definitely worth a visit.

The fastest route to the west coast is via the D8 to Eceuillé and then the D975 to the town of Lureuil. Along the way, you'll pass through the picturesque town of Châtillon-sur-Indre. East of Lureuil lies the second lake district on this route. The Brenne Regional Natural Park is known for its many artificial fishing ponds. This earned the area the nickname "land of a thousand lakes." It covers 1,672 km² and encompasses around 1,200 lakes. This marshy area is one of the largest inland wetlands in Europe and is a treasure trove for nature lovers. Plenty of minor roads meander through this area, and there are even several campsites in the villages if you want to drive a bit longer and stay overnight.

For this review, I didn't take the quick route, but the D48C, D43, and D17, which took us through the nature park on more scenic roads via Paulnay, St. Michel-en-Brenne, and Le Blanc. From Le Blanc, we continued on the D951 to Chauvigné, where we rejoined the original route. We continued via the D2 and D1 to the end point in Ruffec.