Balades aux Croissants

We had a lovely evening in Castellane with a delicious dinner and lots of laughs. It really has been a lovely group to do this adventure with. So to the last day on the bike and of course it started with a two hour climb. Various body parts took their turn to complain so I took some ibuprofen and concentrated on the gorgeous scenery, making the most of this fantastic experience and feeling rather sad that it was coming to an end. The descent began just before the coffee stop at Gréolières with so many cyclists slogging their way up in the opposite direction. The fun descent was rudely interrupted by a very painful and horribly hot little climb, but we soon arrived at the outskirts of Cagnes-sur-Mer zigzagging through busy traffic until we reached the sea and the lunch stop. A very sweaty but very happy group of cyclists: I was in Nice for Katie’s Ironman World Championships last September and I know how busy the cycle path along the Promenade des Anglais can be, so I pedalled off on my...

Last night’s ‘dinner’ was a boulangerie picnic, rose wine and a very early night! Breakfast was at 7.30am so also a much welcome extra hour in bed. Today’s ride was all about the spectacular Gorges du Verdun, starting with a meander down the shoreline of the Lac de Sainte-Croix. We then climbed 12.5km up the southern rim of the gorge with spectacular views, light traffic and lots of photo stops. Thanks Chris for the last one. Near the top, I got chatting to some French tourists who thought I was completely mad! They kindly took this photo. Coffee stop was at a restaurant with gorgeous views and a lavender hedge crowded with butterflies. There was a bit of a descent them more sweaty climbing. Then our last picnic lunch (tomorrow’s lunch will be in a restaurant by the Mediterranean). The route came back down the gorge along the Verdun river with dramatic overhanging walls. I was tempted to have a paddle but my legs were like lead after all that climbing and were demanding an ice cream. T...

The riders who completed the route yesterday had a horribly long day confirming my decision to abandon, but bravo to them. Meanwhile I had a beer with lovely Dylan from Ride and Seek who lives nearby.  The hotel is bike themed and in a lovely location but unfortunately dinner was very slow and rather disappointing. I did have a delicious glass of local wine (my wine consumption on this trip is shockingly low!) Two of the riders and Luc the guide had an urge to climb Mont Ventoux so left in the dark at 5am. This urge was fortunately not infectious and this was as close as I came! Meanwhile back at the hotel, I’m still struggling to eat a big enough breakfast at 6.30am but today’s croissants were delicious. I really haven’t eaten enough for the past couple of days so this lasted less than a minute at the coffee stop. Today’s ride was gorgeous, very much Provençal with the scents of lavender, thyme and fennel. Sadly my photos can’t offer smellovision. The ride was long and hilly but l...

My plan was to walk to the river for a swim yesterday but it was 37c and the air conditioned room was just too inviting - zzzzzzz Dinner was at a nearby restaurant and although my Ardeche trout was delicious, the meal took far too long  on a very hot evening. The walk back to the hotel was beautiful and the air conditioning even more so. I really struggled to get going this morning and there was a lot of conversation about dodgy tummies at breakfast. The ride was planned to be 96 miles with another furnace forecast so my cycling enthusiasm was hard to find.  However the first part of the ride was really enjoyable along the side of the Ardeche gorge with spectacular views. One of the other riders sent a warning message ‘goats in tunnel’ which was very exciting and I had a great chat to these friendly chaps. We then crossed the Rhine and into Provence, following a bike path along the river but mostly in full sun. I struggled to eat lunch, not sure if I have the group tummy bug, ...