Could I possibly ask how people manage on long distance rides with navigation?
Do most swear by a Garmin or other similar device?
I am planning some long distance rides through France soon and looking at the directions offered on mapmyride it would be a nightmare trying to do this the old fashioned way with a paper map (even iphone).

Are garmin (or similar) the way to go for continental road touring?

Map
Computer
Compass

Even when the times we've cycled in France.

Have you been to France?

Garmin Edge 1000 with external battery backups

I have cycled from Calais to Brussels before, and been to Paris a good few times, but my only experience of cycling was as mentioned.

Howcome?

A decent sense of direction will get you to most places without a map. For riding around the French countryside (one of my favourite places in the world to ride) I can usually get to where I want to go by reading the highway and road signs, a map serves as a rough guide. For keeping track of my rides, I mount my iPhone on the handlebar, and use a cycling app. These apps usually have good map features which allow you to see where you are, or plot a route. So far I haven't managed to get myself into a place where I can't get a signal on my iPhone, so the apps work pretty well.

Before your trip, study some maps and guides, and become familiar with the main routes, their numbers and names. Your GPS or phone might stop working, or someone might steal it.

theres the gadget GPS crowd and theres the Map Compass and talking to the people where You are And asking .. solution .

you know who you are.. like gadgets ?, go that way .. I got in a lot of long international tours before the gadgets were on the market.

We were able to travel there just fine with a small Michelin map + local maps from tourist info centres.


My Michelin map is an older version of this:
Michelin mini atlas: France|Michelin Maps & Guides

And the tourist info centres can give you scenic route and cycling specific maps. There are quite a number of cycling specific routes within France.

I use my garmin 810 (seems they have the turn by turn issues finally worked out two+ years after release) and map out everything beforehand but a crib sheet with turns on the stem works pretty well too.

Yeah a mix of map my ride and a garmin will do it nicely I think.

[Have you been to Boston? Just this week I posted a reply to a Californian asking about a route here, after investigating it on Google.

I'm that Californian Jim from Boston mentioned... We use Garmin's (I have 810 and my husband a Touring) and think they are amazing! Not perfect, but... I'd always thought the technology would be intrusive on our peaceful tours, but in planning our LEJOG (Lands End, Cornwall to John O'Groats, Scotland; 1100 miles) last year, the advice from those with experience was to get a Garmin or you will probably get lost. Britain doesn't seem to bother to mark many (most??) country intersections. The Garmins saved us countless time which would have been spent huddled over maps at intersections! We've done 4 or 5 tours in France, and all were pre-Garmin for us, and we did just fine with map and compass, though.
Never even considered going without them on our Sept 2015 tour to Massachusetts! And for a possible tour in France in 2016 I wouldn't dream of leaving them home. We always have paper maps just in case -and for getting a larger overview.

Navigation in France with a map and compass is not a "nightmare", it is no more difficult than any other area. Most cities have cycle routes from edge to centre, which simplifies navigation.
If you need to refer to the map frequently, use a bar bag map holder.
Compass is for cloudy and foggy days, forest trails etc.
Studying a map gives you a good feel for the terrain and creating your own route is more fun for me than following left/right directions.

+1

Where is the sun? Which direction is the sun traveling. What time is it. Where is North in relation to the sun. What cities are around me? What do the road signs say.

I rode for 40 miles using this method on Wednesday and I had absolutely 0 regrets of the route I traveled. I also found amazingly beautiful roads I would never travel on because I did not use my Garmin's GPS function or a pre-made map.

When I want to log serious data of lap times or need to navigate on a pre-made route for a group ride I'll enter a map. Otherwise, speed, cadence, power, time, heart rate, distance traveled and elevation climbed is what I like know while riding. I like to look at foliage, landscapes, and clouds when I ride.