Lac de Sainte-Croix Swim Ride
A 242 km loop
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Why this ride
Scenery first, traffic last, with checkpoints that make sense on a bike. Out of Nice and back again: 242 km, roughly 4 h 24 in the saddle. The stops in between: Castellane, Moustiers-Sainte-Marie and Lac de Sainte-Croix. The highest point is about 2,100 m. Long stretches are under trees.
Roadbook
- Nice
start
Nice rises from a wide bay of pebbles and blue water, with a ridge of hills behind it, and it has been a seaside resort since the English began wintering here in the eighteenth century. The Promenade des Anglais, the seafront boulevard they paid for, still runs for several kilometres along the shore, lined with palms, pale hotels and deckchairs, and the old town, Vieux Nice, behind the Cours Saleya flower market, is a tangle of ochre and pink houses with laundry hanging out of windows. Castle Hill, a wooded bluff at the eastern end of the bay, gives a view over the whole sweep of the coast. Italian influence is strong, as the city only became French in 1860, and the food shows it. Try socca, a chickpea pancake, a pan bagnat sandwich or a proper salade niçoise.
The Grande Corniche starts from here, the highest of three roads that climb the cliffs between Nice and Menton. It follows the line of the Roman Via Julia Augusta, and at La Turbie, around five hundred metres above the sea, the ruins of the Trophy of Augustus, built in the first century BC to mark Roman control of the Alps, stand on a ridge with a view down to Monaco. The road then passes Èze and other perched villages, where the bends are tight, the views are huge and the sun glints off the Mediterranean far below.
Riding here needs a bit of planning. Nice is large and busy, with heavy traffic, one-way streets and scooters weaving at every light, and the road along the coast is slow at any hour. Parking for bikes is easier than for cars, but be careful of theft and use a secure garage if you are staying. Fuel is plentiful in a city of three hundred and thirty thousand, though some stations in the old centre are limited, so use the ones on the outskirts. The Grande Corniche itself is best ridden early on a weekday, before the tourist coaches and the cyclists, and it can be windy on the open stretches.
Spring and autumn are lovely here. In midsummer the heat and crowds make the coast tiring, but the light is spectacular at dawn.
- Castellane
food
Castellane sits at the bottom of a rock, and the rock is the point. The town, at a little over seven hundred metres in the valley of the Verdon, is overlooked by a limestone crag nearly two hundred metres high, with a small chapel on top, Notre-Dame du Roc, which has been a pilgrimage site for centuries. A steep path climbs to it in about half an hour, and the view over the town's red roofs, the river and the surrounding mountains is superb. The town itself is small, with about sixteen hundred people, but it feels bigger in summer, when visitors fill the cafés.
Napoleon passed through here on 2 March 1815, on his march from the coast at Golfe-Juan to Paris, and the town claims him as a guest. The road he took, now the N85, is called the Route Napoléon and is marked by little eagle signs. It is one of the great motorcycling roads of France, mostly smooth and well engineered, with long bends and fine views, and it is busy with riders in summer. Castellane, at its midpoint between the coast and Digne, is the natural place to stop.
The Gorges du Verdon begin a few kilometres to the west, a canyon of extraordinary beauty, with cliffs of up to seven hundred metres and a river of turquoise water. The roads that run along its rim are narrow and exciting, with tight bends and long drops, and they are best ridden in the early morning, before the crowds arrive. Lake Sainte-Croix, at the western end, has beaches and boats.
Fuel is available in Castellane, which has several stations, and it is wise to fill the tank here before heading into the mountains. Food is Provençal, with a good selection of restaurants and cafés around the main square, and a market on Wednesday and Saturday mornings. The town is busy in July and August, and quieter in spring and autumn, when the light is soft and the roads are almost empty. Nights are cool at this altitude, even in summer.
- Moustiers-Sainte-Marie
sight
Seen from below, Moustiers-Sainte-Marie looks like it has been wedged into a crack in the cliff. A pair of limestone crags rise above the village, and between them hangs a star on a long chain, a golden ornament that has been renewed many times since the legend of a knight who vowed to hang one there after returning safely from the Crusades. The story is probably more charming than historical, but it gives the place its signature image, and you can see the star glinting from the road on a bright day.
The village sits at the western doorway of the Gorges du Verdon, around six hundred metres up, with a stream running through the middle and stone houses stacked up the slope. It was famous long before tourists arrived for its faience, a tin-glazed pottery with delicate blue and green designs that was made here from the seventeenth century, and workshops and boutiques still crowd the lanes. A steep path of some two hundred and sixty steps climbs to the chapel of Notre-Dame de Beauvoir, which commands a wide view over the roofs and the plateau beyond.
Riding to Moustiers is one of the good things about Provence. From Riez the road across the plateau passes lavender fields and almond orchards, and then winds up into the narrow valley and the gorge country, with views over the turquoise Lac de Sainte-Croix nearby. The bends are quick, the surface mostly smooth, and the light in the early morning is superb, though the summer crowds of cars and campervans can slow everything to a crawl by mid-morning. Come in June or September and the village feels like itself again.
The big caveat is parking: the village is small, the car parks fill early in July and August, and the lanes are too narrow for anything but walking. Park at the edge and stroll in. There are plenty of cafes, ice-cream stalls and restaurants, many with terraces over the stream, and a plate of the local lamb or a simple salad and a glass of rosé can be had for a fair price outside peak times.
For fuel, do not rely on the village: Riez is the nearest town of any size, and Digne-les-Bains is the major centre in the district, so fill up before heading into the hills.
- Lac de Sainte-Croix swim
- Nice finish