Postcards from Provence and beyond

We always get back from a bike ride saying we’d had a lovely day, it’s hard not to…. But today, all we could say was ‘wow, just wow’

After yesterday’s long ride around Beziers, we thought we’d take a shorter route today, especially as we start to cycle home tomorrow, so will have another long day on the saddle as we make our way across to Aigues Mortes.

Looking at the map this morning, I earmarked a little route that would take us out through the vineyards to a village called Gabian, before heading up into the hills on a loop, returning via Neffiès. I imagined it would be perhaps 50km and would just give us a taste of the hills above Pezenas.

This morning dawned bright, but fresh again and as we cycled out of Pezenas towards Tourbes for breakfast, I wished (for the first time) that perhaps I had popped my gilet on over my jersey. There was a real autumnal feel to the early morning, although as soon as the first rays of sun touched us, we quickly warmed up, and enjoyed a peaceful time watching the world pass by, as we munched our pain au chocolat & drunk a coffee at the café in the centre of the village.

It was destined to be a much slower day today, and by the time we cycled out of the village, the sky was a vivid blue and the temperature was already starting to climb.

The cycle out, took us along quiet roads, passing through vast vineyards and past huge wineries, where the air was filled with the scent of fermenting grapes. We passed large Domains too, including one with an old press at the entrance.

We pottered between villages, dominated by beautiful chateaux, with their Rapunzel towers sitting above the rooftops.

It really was the most perfect route out..

Leaving Gabian, we followed the signs to the hamlet of Montesquieu, taking a road that could easily have been mistaken for a cycle path. After leaving Gabian, we passed under a narrow bridge and for the next 12 (or perhaps more) kilometres, we saw no vehicles at all, not even another cyclist.

The road snaked up through a pretty valley, before starting to climb in earnest, with tight hairpins taking the worst of the gradient out of some of the climbs. It was utterly glorious.

At first, as we climbed, we had views back across the plain below, but soon we were swallowed by woodland, creating a shaded tunnel for us to cycle through. It was so peaceful, with just the birds for company.

The road wingled its way up, to a tiny hamlet, where roses, flowers and the vivid blue skies made it seem more like July than October, we couldn’t help but grin from ear to ear.

After a little bit more climbing, we finally started to drop down following the edge of a reservoir, before stopping for lunch at Vailhan.

Just below the village is a picnic area and small lake, where we stopped to do today’s Lunchtime Update

All we could do was smile, as the cycling had been so good and we still hadn’t been passed by a car, since leaving Gabian.

We climbed out of Vailhan, aiming to return to Pezenas via Neffiès, but when we got to the junction, we decided it was one of those days when we just wanted to keep cycling, so turned left instead of right and continued to climb.

Honestly, it was the best decision we made. The road (edged with green on the Michelin App) was spectacular. A perfect ribbon of tarmac, skirting the rocky hillside, with jaw-dropping views out across the plain.

It was peaceful, beautiful and made our grins even wider, even as our legs started to feel the constant gradient.

Then as it started to drop, the road hair-pinned its way down through rocks and garrigue, before that turned back into vineyards and the road started to roll towards Caux.

The ride back was a perfect end to a lovely day, rolling through pretty countryside and peaceful villages, before we arrived back in Pezenas for a cooling beer.

As we sat in the café, we chatted about the day and what cycling means to us both. We have always enjoyed the getting somewhere, more than the actual being somewhere, and doing it on 2 wheels just makes our hearts sing. At times today, we both felt like 12 year olds, whizzing down hills, grinning like kids and simply loving the absolute simplicity of being in the countryside without having to deal with anything else.

There is a simple joy of getting from A to B by bike, and even at 60 & 56 we appreciate every moment of pushing the pedals. For us, it’s not about going fast, it’s not about chasing Cols, it’s simply about exploring an area by bike and being absorbed in what we see and hear. There really is nothing like it to put a smile on our faces and make our hearts sing.

And today was just perfect, it really was …