Do the Ventoux

Start your ride through the village of Séguret, perched on a cliff, punctuating a panorama of vineyards as you leave Violès. You are on the Route des Côtes-du-Rhône. A bit further along, Vaison-la-Romaine, with its ruins and medieval village, attracts many travellers. You will reach Malaucène on a plane-tree-lined road—there, you’ll want to grab a table at one of the many bar terraces before attacking the legendary, the one and only Mont-Ventoux.

Looking into the distance, riding is a real pleasure on this meandering, 20-kilometres-long road, between Malaucène and Mont Serein, which is worth the trip alone! At your own pace, you sweep through a series of turns on a wide quiet road, the freedom blowing in the wine and the landscape giving you a full eyeful at every turn. After Mont Serein resort, the arrival at the Ventoux Meteorological Observatory is worth its weight in gold.

This place can’t help but induce awe. In the full blast of the wind, you discover this famous mineral landscape made up only of screes, stripped of vegetation that has been blown away. You’re on the Moon! Well, nearly – at more than 1,800 metres, you will appreciate having a light jumper, even in the summer.

You start down by the Bédoin slope, where cyclists come from all over the world to experience the lunar tarmac. In Bédoin, the temperature rises and you continue on your way, crossing ancestral villages, including Crillon-le-Brave, perched on a hill where cypresses show the direction of the wind.

You pass the outskirts of the Château de Barroux, whose tax collector used to keep watch for travellers on the road below. After crossing this must-see location, you dive with curiosity into the Dentelles de Montmirail, a rocky setting of vines and little hills crossed by a pleasantly curving, if narrow and steep-sided road. Arriving at the village of La-Roque-Alric, built on a limestone outcrop, is worth this naturally beautiful detour. The last stop takes place in Beaumes-de-Venise, where lovers of fruity, alcoholic nectars can fill up on Muscat. Return to Violès, where vines have colonised the plain, settling down in your memories too.