Cycling in Provence

The cycling season has started! To refamiliarise ourselves with our bikes, we have been on a few short rides around Geneva, but our first big adventure was to take the bikes down to Provence for the Easter weekend. Once there we attempted two short rides, the first of which I can highly recommend.

From the town of Entrecasteaux (department of Var), there is a nice 40km loop to Cotignac-Sillans la Cascade-Salernes and back to Entrecasteaux. Riding in this clockwise manner ensured it was all uphill until the halfway point at Sillans la Cascade, then downhill for the remainder.

Sillans la Cascade was the perfect place to stop for lunch and a walk down to the waterfall (look for signs to La Cascade).

Overall, the roads we cycled on were quiet and in good condition. There are many other rides in the area, most of them with significant climbs. The Var cycling website (in French) provides details of all 22 routes.

On Easter Sunday we drove down to St Raphael to try the 'Mediterranean Promenade' ride featured in The Lonely Planet's Cycling in France book. It was our first visit to the Cote d'Azur and although it's visually stunning in places, we found it crowded and not that pleasant. The coast road is narrow and extremely busy, at least on the Easter weekend. The houses are built right on the waterfront, so views to the ocean are interrupted. We got 12.5kms down the road then turned back. There are lovely restaurants on the beachfront and we had a delicious lunch overlooking the sea. It beat riding into a headwind with cars continually going past!