We had always thought that the best French tandem tour that we have ever done in terms of variety of scenery and towns to visit was our very first 1999 Bike Bus tour, which took in the Herault, Tarn and Ardèche gorges, climbed over the Montagne Noir and Cevenne, visited towns including Narbone, Carcassonne, Albi, Castre and Pont de Montvert and started and finished in Orange. Also we had intended to climb Mont Ventoux while on our Provence tour, but had been defeated by the mountain roads being closed for and event and appalling weather conditions. Add to this the fact that we had been invited to come to the first Salviac tandem rally being held by friends who live in Salviac; and we decided to recreate our 1999 tour, this time on three wheels, with the route extended to take in Salviac (bypassing Albi) before joining the Tarn. In order to take Gertie Greenspeed we decided to travel south by car and start and finish near to Sault so that we could have a couple of free days at the end of the tour to give us a chance of a fine weather day to take on Mont Ventoux. |
TOUR ITINERARY By car to Sault Day 1 Sault to Roquemaure (76km) Day 2 Roquemaure to Anduze (84km) Day 3 Anduze to Aniane (73km) Day 4 Anian to Narbonne (105km) Day 5 Narbonne to Carcassonne (78km) Day 6 Sightseeing in Carcassonne Day 7 Carcassonne to Castres (73km) Day 8 Castres to Cordes sur Ciel (68km) Day 9 Cordes sur Ciel to Cahor (88km) Day 10 Cahor to Salviac (51km) arriving at midday Days 11 & 12 Salviac Rally Day 13 Salviac to Vers (50km) leaving at midday Day 14 Vers to Villefranche de Rouergue (65km) Day 15 V de R to Villefranche de Panat (105km) Day 16 V de P to St Chély du Tarn (105km) Day 17 Sightseeing in St Chély du Tarn Day 18 St Chély du Tarn to Chamborigaud (81km) Day 19 Chamborigaud to Vallon Pont d’Arc (65km) Day 20 Vallon Pont d’Arc to Vaison la Romaine (88km) Day 21 Vaison la Romaine to Sault (72km) Mont Ventoux (51km & 1912m) |
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