Dream ride: Six gears in Provence

Creeping down the stairs of our rented apartment in the sleepy French town of Mirabeau, bike boots creaking and luggage clattering, doing our best not to disturb our neighbours.

It’s 6am and the sun is just cresting in the sky, the faint glow encouraging the cicadas to begin their incessant song.

The air is fresh, just 10°C at the moment, but that will soon change – July in southeastern France is hot.

The Romans called it Provincia Romana, today we know it as Provence. It extends from the Italian border to the east over to the river Rhône in the west and down to the Mediterranean coast in the South.

It’s a region that can conjure up many images in the mind, but perhaps the most striking are the huge fields of purple that adorn the lavender producing region in full bloom.

It is this wonderful vista that we have ridden here to see….