This post recounts the tenth day of my English Channel to the Mediterranean cycle tour in France with Peak Tours in June 2025. Read Day 9: Mende to Grospierres.

What a day. One of the hardest of the whole tour, mainly because of the heat. Yet it was a ride full of extraordinary sights, including one of the world’s greatest canyons and our first glimpse of Mont Ventoux.

Breakfast at Bastide de Verbon was the worst of the holiday, with a meagre offering. To make matters worse, the milk ran out. Literally: the hotel had none left. Fortunately guide Mick grabbed a bottle from the van to save the day.

We set off back down the gravel track and then along an old railway path, with walkers and dogs enjoying a morning stroll. We crossed an impressive viaduct over the Truyère, with a handsome stone road bridge alongside.

The next stage was on busy roads: we were now in tourist country, heading to the spectacular Gorges d’Ardèche, one of the biggest gorges in the world. This prompted cries of ‘wow!’ as we got our first glimpse of this extraordinary landscape. The presence of kayaks – on the river, on the banks and on car trailers – showed this was a playground for watersports as well as walkers and cyclists.

An early highlight was Pont d’Arc, a near-200 feet wide arch formed when the river Ardèche broke through a narrow escarpment on its meander.

Now came the biggest climb of the day, up the road that followed the 30km length of the gorge. The route twisted as it climbed, and passed through a tunnel. There was a series of viewing platforms that gave fabulous views of the river below, and the sheer limestone cliffs that formed the sides of the gorge.

Our morning stop was at one of these viewing points. We didn’t have our usual hot drinks as the Peak Tours guides needed to be able to move on quickly if the police told them to do so. We admired the views, including people kayaking on the river far below. I envied them their flat route! (I also envied those riding e-bikes…

After a brief descent, we were climbing again. It was a very undulating morning through the gorge, made harder yet again by the heat, but the views were glorious. (I never knew France had so many gorges, some, like Ardèche and Verdon rivalling America’s Grand Canyon.)

After 30 miles, we came to the pretty riverside town of Saint Martin d’Ardèche, with its fine old suspension bridge over the Ardèche, which we passed under and then over. The next stage was nondescript after the scenic fireworks earlier. I experienced the only hostile driver of the whole tour, driving a beat-up old Peugeot 205, similar to my first car.

A milestone for me was crossing the mighty Rhône at Pont Saint Esprit. The bridge dates from the 12th century, and was repaired after the Allied bombing of this strategic town in 1944. Seven years later Pont Saint Esprit became notorious when hundreds of citizens were poisoned, with seven dying. The perpetrators have never been identified, although some blamed the CIA and – more prosaically – the local baker.

Soon after crossing the Rhône I had glimpses of the traditional and the modern France. A timeless sight of a farmer securing hay on a trailer, followed minutes later with a high speed train racing over the bridge across the lane on its way north. That’s an easier way to see France, I smiled to myself. (I must have crossed this very bridge on a TGV service to Avignon in 1989.) France opened its national network of new high speed rail lines from 1981 while Britain is taking decades to build its second such line, HS2. Stephenson and Brunel would be appalled in this 200th anniversary of Britain opening the world’s first passenger railway, the Stockton & Darlington.

We stopped for lunch just after the village of Mondragon. The mood at lunch was unusually subdued. The intense heat and effort left most of us feeling lethargic, while a number riders were ill or drained, opting to ride in the Peak Tours vans this afternoon.

I found this afternoon’s ride easier than I feared – I find that I cope well with the heat except on steep climbs. Many took to dipping their heads and arms in village fountains, as Steve is seen doing rather athletically above at Rochegude. The last big climb of the day was a trial, gaining almost 1,000 feet after Cairanne. I took the opportunity of taking a breather at the various vineyards along the climb. Suddenly I saw Jim heading to the side of the road – we’d reached the brew stop. I guzzled cold drinks to refresh myself as my remaining water was very hot by this point.

The remaining stretch to our destination at Vaison la-Romaine was far easier. We could see Mont Ventoux in the distance, which inevitably prompted thoughts about tomorrow’s ascent. Wendy, Jim, Mark and I indulged ourselves with ice creams at a bar in the village of Villedieu. It took a while for our choices to be understood by the friendly bar staff, but we were happy to wait at the cool bar.

We had a final short climb to Vaison, and another after crossing the Roman bridge leading to the old town. We wheeled our bikes up the final cobbled street to our hotel, the wonderful Hostellerie le Beffroi. My room was in a separate old building further up the street, with a splendid entrance hall – and a swimming pool! My bathroom was up a short staircase from my room, and had a bath, which was just what I needed after such a tough day. I’d have liked to have lingered here.

A few of us had an enjoyable meal in the lower town while a thunderstorm raged above the town. Steve has been predicting a storm for a couple of days, and has been proved right. But by the time we walked back to the hotel, the skies had cleared into a lovely sunset.

We took one last glimpse at Ventoux. A few of us have been pondering whether to opt out of the ascent of the Giant of Provence tomorrow, especially after today’s struggle in the heat. But I decided to go for it. I’ll never be as fit as I am today, while the alternative route around the mountain climbs 3,200 feet in 28 miles without the kudos of conquering Ventoux. I cast my vote on the tour WhatsApp chat: Ventoux! Let’s hope I don’t regret the decision.

Read Day 11: Vaison la Romaine to Sault via Mont Ventoux.

The day’s stats

69.19 miles, 4,350 feet climbing, 5 hours 30 mins cycling, average speed 12.6 mph.

The day’s highlights video