Tour of the Pre Alps – Part 2

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In 2022, after two years of delay due to covid, I finally went to France to ride a seven day tour of the pre Alps.  Unfortunately the trip was overshadowed by heart issues I was having and I abandoned the tour after climbing Mont Ventoux.  I spent a night in Carpentras hospital.  Three years later, and after two catheter ablations, I decided to return to complete the trip. 

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Getting to Carpentras

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Since retiring I have decided to avoid using planes in Europe.  I love to travel and every year have been taking a long haul flight to distant parts of the world.  With no time constraints and sufficient money, it makes me feel a little better to use the train when I can.  It is, however, a challenge.  It’s not now possible to take your bike on the Eurostar to Paris, and much of the TGV network doesn’t take fully assembled bikes either.  Instead, I took the train from Leeds to London Kings Cross, from London St Pancras to Dover, and then the ferry to Calais on day 1.  Everything went to plan.  It was the first time I had taken my bike on the Dover Calais crossing.  The scale of the port is a little intimidating but in the end it proved quite straightforward to follow a red line to the ticket office and then to the boarding area.  I was the only cyclist on board. At Calais I had to wait for a car to escort me out of the port.  It took me through a back exit, used only by staff, with the peculiar effect that I didn’t pass through passport control.  I spent the night in Calais, staying at the Hotel Richlieu, which allowed me to keep my bike in my room.  It was comfortable and very cheap.  I ate at Restaurant La Route de Epices, where I had a couscous.  I can recommend it.

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The next day was much more difficult.  I was worried about missing a tight connection in Paris for a train to Lyon.  This proved impossible after my train from Calais was delayed by about an hour and a half, arriving well after the connection departed.  I was, however, able to cycle from Gare du Nord to Paris Bercy without too much pressure to catch the next train which departed two hours later.  The transformation of Paris into a cycle friendly city is incredible.  I didn’t have to depart from a cycle lane all the way.  I was taking the slow TER train to Lyon and hadn’t expected it to be that busy.  I arrived with 20 minutes to spare but found that all the seats had already been taken and I had to stand for the first two hours of the trip, then sit on an uncomfortable pull down seat for a further hour. It was only after the stop in Dijon, that I got a comfortable seat.  I eventually arrived in Lyon, 12 hours after setting off from my hotel.

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I stayed in the Hotel Simplon which touts itself as cycle friendly but in fact only had an outside, albeit secure, space for bikes.  Thankfully it didn’t rain.  I rushed out for something to eat and stupidly ordered a veal schnitzel. I have had previous problems, when I have not eaten much all day and have been dehydrated, when I have eaten burgers.  It seems that such dense foods agitate my heart and unfortunately this provoked an atrial fibrillation episode.  My heart was racing when I got back to the hotel, so I took a beta blocker which has the effect of reducing the rate, although not stopping its irregularity.  Having been told by the doctor not to be alarmed, I was no longer worried about anything dramatic happening, but it did put the rest of the trip in some doubt.  Thankfully in the morning, having had some breakfast, my heart reverted to normal and I went on as planned. I had no further issues for the rest of the trip. I caught the train to Avignon and then a connecting train to Carpentras.  I was there by 1230 on the third day.

 

The Ride – Day 1 – Carpentras to Sault​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​

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I didn’t linger in Carpentras, eager to start the tour at last.  I couldn’t find anywhere obvious to eat immediately close to the station, so I followed the road to Mazan, with the intention of picking up some provisions at a supermarket.  I was able to get some lunch at a bakery next to a big roundabout three kilometres out of town.  Shortly after that I left the main road, following quiet roads on a gentle incline all the way to Bauvac.  After a quick descent to Saint Esteve, the road then rises gradually for the next 20kms but is never steep.  Having started in sunny weather, there was a little rain and then cloudy conditions for the rest of the route.  After Villes Sur Azon, there is a turn off to the Gorges de Nesques.  I had my first view of Mont Ventoux, which I would repeatedly have for the next three days.  The Gorge itself is huge.  It’s an attractive road, with very few cars to spoil the route. After the gorge, there is a quick descent and then a final ride through less dramatic but pleasant countryside before reaching Sault.

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I stayed at the Hotel Nesk, the hotel I had previously stayed in in 2022.  It’s a great set up for cyclists, with a dedicated bike storage, lots of memorabilia and helpful staff.  Monday evening in Sault was dead, with almost nothing open, so I ate at the hotel, which was OK but nothing special.

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Day 2 – Sault Round Trip

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I decided against climbing Ventoux, instead opting for a circular route with less elevation, north of Sault.  I rode out of Sault towards Montbrun les Bains.  Montbrun is a very pretty, small town which hangs above the valley, stopping there for a coffee. The route I had plotted through the town turned out not to be on roads but on paths with steps, which involved me pushing the bike.  Eventually I got to the other side and then followed a very quiet road through the Aulan Gorge.  There were spectacular views of Ventoux for much of the ride.  I went through yet another beautiful gorge at L’Ouveze, before reaching the only other town of any size on the route, called Buis les Baronnies.  The town was surprisingly busy given how few cars I had seen.  There were a few restaurants to choose from and I ate lunch outside.

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From Buis les Baronnies I took another quiet road with great views of Ventoux before returning back to the road between Montbrun and Sault.  It started to rain and I was caught in a huge thunderstorm.  I took shelter briefly under a café awning in Aurel but the forecast suggested the storm would last for another couple of hours.  I decided to head back, as I was only about 5kms from the hotel.  Within a few hundred metres I was hit with the biggest hailstorm I’ve ever been in, with pieces of hail a centimetre wide hitting me.  I managed, however, to outride the storm arriving in Sault where it was still dry.  I was soaked. 

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At the hotel, I was able to use their washing machine to clean my clothes and they dried overnight.  I had a better meal in the Hotel le Louvre that evening.  On a Tuesday night, it was one of the few restaurants open and was nearly full.

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Day 3 – Sault to Serres

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The third day represented the restart of my uncompleted tour from 2022.  The panniers went back on the bike and I set off for Serres.  The rain and clouds had gone and I was to enjoy great weather for the rest of the week, with temperatures perfect for cycling in the high teens and low twenties.

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As with previous days, I had stunning views of Mont Ventoux at the beginning of the ride.  There were two climbs on the route, the first being the Col de l’Homme Mort, which wasn’t as hard as it sounds.  From the summit, I descended to Sederon, a very pretty village, nestled under rocky outcrops.  From here, there was a tougher climb at about 7 to 10% up the Col de Saint Jean.  At the top were my first views of the Alps in the distance.  It was a fantastic sight.

I quickly descended to Orpierre, another beautiful village, situated under sheer rocks.  Unfortunately, I was too late for lunch at the one restaurant that was open, and had to survive on bananas.  I pressed on to Serres, following a backroad along the river, which like the rest of the route was almost entirely free of traffic. 

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I arrived about half an hour before the Hotel Fifi Moulin, where I was staying, opened.  I ate a crepe at a newly opened café next door, waiting for the owner.  Once opened, the owner took my bike to a huge barn like garage.  The hotel was perfect for my needs and the owner exceptionally helpful. I had a wander in the old part of Serres which is a warren of narrow paths, inaccessible to cars.  In the evening, I had a very good value meal at a Vietnamese restaurant next door, which was almost full.  There is a bar at the Café du Commerce, where I had a couple of drinks. 

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Day 4 – Serres to Corps

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Having missed out on lunch the previous day, I decided to take some with me on the ride to Corps, as there weren’t many obvious places to stop.  The hotel prepared a baguette for me, having asked them where I could buy one.

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I took the wrong turn out of the Serres and ended up cycling a couple of kilometres before noticing on my Garmin that I was off course.  What really gave it away was that it was busy road and the route I was following without fail chose quiet scenic roads.  Back on the right route, I rode along a beautiful backroad to Aspremont.

The road to Veynes was equally quiet, with more views of the higher mountains I was riding towards.  I popped into Veynes for some more water, as there were no shops en route and then began the longest climb of the week, the Col du Festre.  This road was wider than usual for the route but again had very little traffic on it.  It’s a gentle climb, averaging under 5%.   At the top, the café was closed but I stopped to eat my own sandwich and take in the views.

I descended the D937 to La Combe, where I stopped at the only restaurant I saw along the route.  Having eaten, I only had coffee and cake.  It was an easy shallow descent to the Lac du Sautet, beneath my destination of Corps, with beautiful views.  The toughest climb of the day was up to the village itself which sits at around 3000ft.

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I had wanted to stay at the Hotel la Poste but they were unable to offer secure cycle storage, so I had booked the Hotel Napoleon.  It’s a large hotel but I appeared to be the only person staying that night.  They allowed me to keep my bike in their dining room, which was shut that evening.  The town is very pretty but was also pretty dead.  I had assumed that I would be able to eat at the restaurant of the Hotel la Poste, which is quite high end, only to find that they had no free tables.  The only alternative was a small fast food bar, which offered a ready made pizza – by far the worst food of the trip.  With all the bars closing by about 9pm, it was an early night.

 

Day 5 – Corps to Grenoble

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I wanted to catch a train from Grenoble to Dijon at 1320, so my final day had a bit more urgency about it than all the previous days when I had ridden completely at leisure, stopping to take lots of photographs along the way.  I set off after an early breakfast before 8am, retracing a few kilometres back to the lake and then heading westwards.  Again, it was a beautiful and very quiet road, this time with a series of short climbs and descents, for the first 25kms.  There was then a sharp descent to the  river Le Drac along a very remote road, where I saw no traffic at all.  There is a sharp climb of over 9% when the small road crosses the river, before rejoining civilisation on the D116.  There are beautiful views all along this stretch of the Lac du Monteynard and the surrounding mountains.  There had been no shops at all along the route to fill up my water bottles.  I was lucky enough to be able to go into a library at La Motte Saint Martin, where they allowed me to refill.  From Monteynard, the road is busier but it was fast and easy for more than 10kms of descent.  I had followed the road from Monteynard in 2018, when coming to Grenoble from Alpe d’Huez and I repeated the same entry to Grenoble via the last climb of the trip over Champagnier, which brought me to the outskirts, from which I followed cycle paths all the way to the station.  I arrived with half an hour to spare, time to buy myself food for the train journey onwards.

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I travelled to Dijon, with a change in Lyon, arriving before 6.  Again I was impressed by the cycle infrastructure in French cities, which allowed me to travel to my hotel on segregated paths.  I stayed at the Hotel le Jacquemart, which was the nicest hotel I stayed in during the trip.  I regretted not having more time to enjoy Dijon, which looked to be a beautiful place.  I ate outside at the Bouillon Notre Dame in front of the church.  The setting was superior to the food, although it was absolutely fine. 

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The Return

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By reaching Dijon the previous evening, I avoided the long trip I had experienced on the way to Lyon.  Instead, travelling on the Saturday, I had an uncrowded journey to Paris, a simple ride to the Gare du Nord, and then an equally uncrowded trip to Calais.  In the evening I ate at Le Chanel, where I had my best meal of the trip, a beautifully cooked Sole Meuniere.  In the morning, I was a little apprehensive that my passport hadn’t been stamped but it didn’t prove to be a problem at border control.  I had an entirely trouble free journey via Dover to St Pancras and London to Leeds.

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Concluding Thoughts

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This was long awaited trip which lived up its promise.  I have now finally completed the seven day round tour from Grenoble described by Paul Henderson in Cicerone Cycling in the French Alps.  I have done three of the tours in the book, which I recommend without any reservation.  This route in particular follows less well travelled roads, apart from Ventoux, that it would be otherwise hard to find.

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The inability to take my touring bike to Paris on Eurostar is a big nuisance and may deter me from repeating a trip to this part of France in future.  For those who choose to fly, however, to Lyon or Geneva, it’s readily accessible and thoroughly recommended.