Postcards from Provence and beyond

Finally, the summer cycling adventure has begun, and we can officially hang out the flags, as this time, both us and our bikes are on the train.

It’s been a bit of a nervy morning, and our anxieties were bubbling in our stomachs, as we both worried about whether the journey, would go OK, this time . But happily, everything has gone to plan, and we’re on the slow train pootling through spectacular scenery, on our way to Clermont Ferrand.

We spent yesterday evening in Aix, watching the rugby, in temperatures that made a feel as if we were sitting in an oven. We may not have won, but it felt as if we had completed the circle, watching the first 2 and last 2 matches of the season, during or just before our bike rides.

We had spent the day getting everything ready, the panniers had been repacked and loaded onto the bikes, we’d cleaned the house and I’d even made the porridge for today’s breakfast, so all we would need to do was to warm it up.

We had set the alarm for a little after 5am, as we wanted to get an early start, both to beat the heat (it’s due to be the start of a significant and lengthy heatwave today) and also to make sure we had plenty of time to ride through to Nimes (about 110km), to make sure we arrived in time for the train.

We had also decided that, if for any reason we couldn’t get us and the bikes on the train, we would just find one that we could get on to and reorganise the ride from there. Come hell or high water, or cancelled trains, the adventure was going to start today.

It goes without saying that we were both awake, waiting for the alarm to go off, just wanting to get on with the day.

And after coffee and porridge,

We did a final check, pushed the bikes outside and pedalled off.

The sun still hadn’t quite risen, and there was a gentle, apricot glow to the morning sky, and a delightful freshness in the air, as we turned onto the Veloroute du Calavon to ride through the valley, on our way to Saint Remy for a second breakfast.

It was a stunning time of day to be on the bikes. The path was empty, and the scent sat low to the ground, as we chased our shadows, cheered on by the nightingales and hoopoes.

The journey was underway and we pedalled along with grins on our faces, simply enjoying the ride.

The Veloroute du Calavon is an incredible facility, and even with our bikes fully loaded, we slipped easily along, reaching Cavaillon in just under 2 hours, even too early for coffee at our favourite coffee shop, which has become a bit of a tradition to the start of rides now.

The Veloroute forms part of the long-distance cycle route ‘La Mediterranée à Vélo’ and we followed the well-marked route through Cavaillon, crossing the river, and quickly picking up back-lanes that took us away from the busy main road.

The ride through to Saint Remy de Provence from Cavaillon is lovely. It follows quiet lanes that cut through pretty countryside, with glorious views across to the Alpilles.

In Mollèges, we left the Mediterrannée route, following another quiet road, that leads us to the edge of Saint Rémy. By now, we had pedalled nearly 60km, and our stomachs were calling for a second breakfast, so we popped into a boulangerie and indulged them with pain au chocolat and pain au raisin.

It was just after 9am and we had broken the back of the journey to Nimes. It had been a beautiful ride, and we now felt confident that we would get there in plenty of time. We hadn’t had a puncture, and we couldn’t think of anything we’d forgotten. All we had to worry about was getting on the train with the bikes, which was probably enough.

Stomachs quietened, we set off again, picking up another off road cycle path that is part of La Mediterrannée, making our way through to Beaucaire.

We had cycled this route a couple of months ago, on our spring bike ride to Pezenas, and it’s another superb piece of cycling infrastructure, keeping us away from main roads, pedalling through open farmland, along what appears to have been another old railway line.

With nearly 80km completed, we sat by the river in Beaucaire and enjoyed watching the boats bobbing on the water, before heading on again.

We were now on roads that were new to us. I had planned a route that would keep us on back roads, as much as possible on our way into Nimes, although it’s never that easy when heading towards a city, with motorways, main roads and a TGV line to cross too.

The route I had found took us through vast apricot, nectarine and peach orchards, the branches weighed down with fruit, and it looked as if it would be a bumper harvest.

We pedalled up an unexpectedly sharp hill, which came as shock after the almost flat journey so far.

Then when we emerged onto the top of the hill, we were hit by a wall of wind that seemed determined to stop us in our tracks or send us skewing across the road.

The Mistral wasn’t going to let us leave without a fight, and we had to bend into the wind and pedal hard to keep on track. It was such a change to the gentle stillness, at the start of the day. Every time the road changed direction, the wind seemed to change with it, always in our faces, or hitting our sides, never behind us to give us a little push along the way.

I’d be lying if I said that the last 15km into Nimes was easy

But we made it into the city, with just over an hour to spare, before our train arrived. So we found a shaded bench, and enjoyed some lunch before making our way to the station to wait for the train.

By now, we had both gone quiet as we were both wrapped up in our worries, especially as there was no platform showing for the train (despite all the other trains around it having the information available). But then, it flashed up and we found a lift and inelegantly loaded both bikes in, to get up to the platform.

There was the usual scrum to get on the train, but we went to the opposite end from the other bikes, and slipped them into the bike spaces that were available in the carriage, before collapsing into the seats, looking at each other and giggling with a slightly manic relief.

The worries were over, we were on the train to Clermont and the adventure was properly underway. All we could do was as sit back and enjoy the journey, spending 5 hours on what must be one of the most scenic train journeys, we’ve ever been on.

After passing through Alès the train climbs slowly through valleys and cuttings, crossing a magnificent viaduct

And following the meanders of a river that tumbles over rocks in the valley below (we’re sitting on the left hand side of the train, as we head north)

It’s spectacular scenery, stopping in tiny villages and small towns, and we’re already spotting roads that would be great to ride along, on future adventures.

All in all, it’s been a great start to the latest adventure. We’ll be staying in Clermont tonight, and then will be cycling out and starting our cycle ride north, tomorrow morning.

But for now, we’ll just sit back, enjoying the gentle rocking of the train on the lines, the clickety-clack as we pootle along, and simply enjoy the views.