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.

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