Public and school holidays in France, 2026

Public holidays in France 2026

Public and school holidays in France, 2026

I’d like to wish you all a happy and healthy New Year from France and share my annual guide to help you make the most of the French holidays. Here you will find the dates of the public holidays, other notable dates and how they are celebrated, plus the school holiday dates, so you can avoid the busiest times on the roads or in the resorts.

 

Don’t forget, you can save the image and keep it to hand for reference during the year.

 

Public Holidays in France 2026

1^st January, New Year’s Day, jour de l’an 

5^th April, Easter Sunday, Pâques 

6^th April, Easter Monday, lundi de Pâques (note there is no Good Friday holiday in France unless you live in Alsace or Moselle areas)

1^st May, Fête du Travail (celebrated by giving a sprig of lily of the valley)

8^th May, Victory in Europe Day, Victoire des Alliés 1945 

14^th May, Ascension Day, jeudi de l’Ascension (note schools will have an extra day off on Friday 15^thMay for the bridge (pont)) 

25^th May, Pentecost Monday, lundi de Pentecôte

14^th July, Fête Nationale 

15^th August, Assumption Day, Assomption 

1^st November, All Saint's Day, la Toussaint

11^th November, Armistice Day, Armistice 1918 

25^th December, Christmas Day, Noël (note there is no holiday in France on 26^th unless you live in Alsace or Moselle areas)

 

Faire le pont

Except for the holidays linked to Easter: Easter Monday, Ascension Day and Pentecost Monday, the above dates are the same every year and the holiday is always observed on the actual date rather than being moved to the nearest Monday (as the UK would do). 

 

Public holidays can therefore fall on weekends (Sunday 15^th August); to make up for this it is not uncommon for people to faire le pont (make a bridge) if a holiday falls on a Thursday (Ascension Day) or a Tuesday (14^th July), by taking off the Friday or Monday to give themselves a four-day weekend. This leave will be part of their annual holiday entitlement, or the hours will need to be made up, so while most businesses will be open on bridge days, some staff shortages can be expected. 

 

No work May!

With Easter falling in early April this year, May will be hosting four public holidays and with two falling on Fridays (1^st and 8^th), plus Ascension Thursday (14^th) and Pentecost Monday (25^th), that means only one full working week in May and four weeks that will give us three-day weekends. For those of us working in the tourism sector this should get the 2026 summer season off to a good start.

 

https://www.vacances-scolaires-gouv.com

School Holidays

The school holiday dates in France are split into three zones and most of the holidays are staggered so not everyone is trying to hit the ski slopes or beaches at the same time, although be prepared for extra traffic on the roads on all Saturdays during the school holidays, or better still avoid driving on these days.

 

Here are the dates for 2026:

The winter holiday will be from 7^th February to 8^th March. 

Zone A gets the first two weeks, Zone B the middle two and Zone C the last two.

 

The spring holiday will be from 4^th April to 3^rd May. 

Zone A gets the first two weeks, Zone B the middle two and Zone C the last two weeks.

 

Thanks to Ascension Day falling on 14^th May, everyone will be off for a four-day long weekend from Thursday 14^th May to Sunday 17^th May, with Friday being a bridge day.

 

The summer holiday for all zones will be from 4^th July until 1^st September.

 

The October holiday for all zones will be from 17^th October to 1^st November.

 

The Christmas holiday for all zones will be from 19^th December to 3^rd January 2027.

Fête de la musique, 21st June

 

Other dates to note and celebrate in France

6^th January, Epiphany, celebrated in France with a Galette des Rois (see here).

7^th January, winter sales begin, soldes d’hiver. Sales are regulated in France and the winter sales will run from 7^th January to 3^rd February. 

21^st to 25^th January, Nuits de la lecture, national reading nights celebrated in libraries across the country.

 

2^nd February Candlemas day, Chandeleur, celebrated in France with pancakes (see here).

17^th February, Shrove Tuesday, Mardi Gras when carnival time begins in France and pancakes, or beignets (similar to doughnuts) are eaten.

 

29^th March, Palm Sunday, Rameaux a day where our local boulangeries bake something different (see here).

29^th March, clocks spring forward an hour to Central European Summer Time.

 

1^st April, Poisson d’avril celebrated in France with sticky fish (see here).

 

23^rd May, European museum night, Nuits des musées, where many museums open late or run special events. 

27^th May, National Resistance Day, journée nationale de la Résistance.

29^th May, Neighbours’ Day, fêtes des voisins often celebrated in France with shared meals.

31^st May, Mother’s Day, fêtes des mères.

 

21^st June, world music day, fête de la musique, celebrated with free concerts in towns and villages all over France.

21^st June, Father’s Day, fêtes des pères.

24^th June, summer sales begin, soldes d’été, and will run until 21^st July.

 

4^th July to 26^th July, Le Tour de France, with a planned depart in Barcelona, and with a finish on the Champs-Elysées in Paris. 

 

1^st August to 9^th August, Le Tour de France Femmes avec Zwift, begins in Switzerland and finishes nine days later in Nice. 

 

19^th and 20^th September, European Heritage weekend, Journées Européennes du Patrimoine, many museums and other cultural sites will be open to the public, often organising special events, and with free or reduced-price entry. 

 

25^th October, clocks go back an hour to Central European Time. 

 

Free museum entry on the First Sundays of the month 

Did you know many national museums in France open for free on the first Sunday of the month? Whilst not exclusive, as there are often restrictions in July and August, and some museums will close for some of the winter months, this is certainly a secret worth knowing and we’ve had some interesting visits over the years, all for free. 

 

Note: not all museums are national and without the financial support from the government, locally or independently run places will not have the ability to offer free entries. If you fancy a cultural city break, it would be worthwhile checking the museum websites to see if they are taking part and plan your visit accordingly.

 

I hope you’ve found this useful and that wherever in France 2026 takes you, you have a wonderful time. I’d love to hear about your adventures and new discoveries.

Advent day twenty-four, Happy Christmas to you all

Happy Christmas

Advent day twenty-four

Happy Christmas Eve and thank you for being a part of our French village life for another year. 

 

I just love this silly selfie we took on yesterday’s bike ride. It just about sums up our cycling year, smiles, blue skies, sunshine and rain. All being well, tomorrow will see me going over the 6000km mark on my Brompton (since 1^st January 2023) and it's been a blast.

 

Our Christmas Eve began with a bike ride – how I wish I could say that about every day of the year. It was just a short 16km round trip into Chef-Boutonne to ensure we had a lovely, seeded baguette for our picnic lunch tomorrow, and wouldn’t run out of dog food. For a Sunday morning, the small town of Chef-Boutonne was buzzing! There were queues at the butchers, the oyster stall was busy and by the time I came out of the boulangerie, the queue had spread across the pavement. I’d got chatting to a British couple in the queue, his opening comment being “you look so happy and excited”. Now, I’m not the most Christmassy of people, our decorations and celebrations are rather low key when compared to many households, and I had no idea how much happiness was radiating from me, but I’m glad it was. I think the lesson here is to never underestimate the power of a bike ride, however short or routine, to put you in a good mood. 

 

I hope you have enjoyed my Advent postcards, highlighting some of the interesting, remarkable, arty, or historical loveliness we’ve discovered in 2023 on our cycling adventures. I’ve certainly loved revisiting them when writing the posts. Some of these places are local to the Deux-Sèvres, some a long way from home. Some are places we’ve stumbled on as part of day trips, others on our cycle touring adventures to celebrate our twenty-fifth wedding anniversary year. Despite staying away in twelve different towns or cities (ten of which were in France), I purposely only included the villages or small towns we’ve visited in my postcards. It seemed more fitting for a blog called French Village Diaries. I think they have proven that slow travel on the lesser pedalled roads is incredibly rewarding. I do hope some of them have sparked an interest and inspire you to stop and explore next time you are on the road in France.

 

Happy Christmas to you all. 

Château de Javarzay, opening this weekend

Château de Javarzay, Chef-Boutonne

The Château de Javarzay, Chef-Boutonne 

My Five Top Tips for making the most out of your visit

 

This weekend I am delighted to once again be part of the team opening the doors to welcome visitors to the Château de Javarzay. Situated in Chef-Boutonne, in the southern tip of the Deux-Sèvres department, this fairy tale château with its towers and turrets really is worth a visit if you live nearby. 

 

There have been a few changes to the opening times this year, and our out of season hours (March, April, May and October) will be 14h to 17h30 on Saturday afternoons and 10h to 12h30 and 14h to 17h30 on Sundays, plus afternoons during the school holidays in April and October. From the beginning of June until end of September we will be open daily, 10h to 13h and 13h45 to 18h, except Tuesdays.

 

My first Top Tip for enjoying your visit is to ensure you give yourself at least an hour, as there really is a lot to see.

 

The Château de Javarzay is one of the first Renaissance châteaux in the Poitou region and now houses a fully interactive and multimedia museum. What remains of the building today is a tiny part of what it once was, but even with only two of its original twelve towers, there is a lot to see and to keep the visitor entertained.

The stonework of the Château de Javarzay

 

The museum is split into three parts, and I just love that the start of your voyage through time is a slow and steady climb up a spiral staircase, housed in a conical-roofed turret, complete with tiny leaded glass windows with views over the lake and the grounds. 

 

Ancient roof timbers at the Château de Javarzay

In the part of the museum featuring the history of the château, you can see the timbers and stonework up close and learn all about this beautiful building dating from 1513. One of my favourite things to do is to walk the circular path on the outside of the round tower, that gives you an almost 360º view of the park. As you would expect for a five-hundred-year-old residence, a number of families have called it home over the years and it is reputed to have had a Royal overnight guest too. If you happen to visit when I’m working, I’d be happy to let you know about some of the other residents who I’m sure are ‘in residence’ now. 

 

The recent renovation project was about so much more than just the necessary building works needed to ensure the château is preserved for the next generation. The museum has been completely re-imagined and is now a multimedia, interactive, bilingual experience that received rave reviews from visitors from all over the world last year. My Top Tip number two is to sit and listen to the rich tones of the voice of the château as he tells his story.

Coiffes (headdresses) of the 19th Century

 

The top two tower rooms, complete with cathedral like roof beams, house the part of the museum that is all about the life of women in rural 19^th century France. Why did women wear bonnets? When did they swap the bonnet for the more decorative headdress or coiffe? What was the daily life of the seamstresses who travelled from village to village to make and clean these works of art? With turret towers, fairy tale windows and lots of lacework, “Rapunzel, Rapunzel, let down your hair” always comes to my mind when I am up there. 

 

Try our fun Photo Booth the Coiffomaton

My Top Tip number three is don’t miss our fun photobooth where you can have your picture taken wearing the coiffe of your choice.

 

The museum dedicated to Jean-François Cail

The third part to the museum is dedicated to the French industrial revolution and one major player, Monsieur Jean-François Cail, who was born in Chef-Boutonne in 1804. Despite his humble beginnings, Jean-François Cail went on to achieve great things and the short film about his extraordinary life is worth watching. Most people leave with a sense of disbelief that someone who had such an impact, worldwide, isn’t as well-known today as his compatriots like Gustave Eiffel or Isambard Kingdom Brunel. As well as working in the sugar refining industry, Jean-François Cail was also involved in the French manufacture of the British designed Crampton steam engine. 

Crampton steam engine

 

My Top Tip number four is that no steam train fan will want to miss our fabulously detailed, scale model Crampton engine on display.

 

The château itself is set in a large park with a fishing lake, lots of picnic tables, a children’s play area and a riverside walk along the Boutonne. My Top Tip number five is don’t forget your picnic. After lunch, why not follow the 8km walk around Chef-Boutonne that starts at the château and takes in a number of lavoirs, one of which is at the source of the Boutonne river, and another has a little surprise waiting for you through a window.  

Tèrra Aventura

 

The Nouvelle Aquitaine has a fabulous Geocaching App, Tèrra Aventura and the château is one of the sites that has a treasure stash just waiting for you to find. It is also situated on the V93 cycle route that cuts across the south of the Deux-Sèvres department from the Charente to Niort and any cyclists can be assured of a warm welcome.

 

I know for many of you, a visit here will only be a virtual one through my shared photos and words, but for those of you who do live in Nouvelle Aquitaine, I hope this has whetted your appetite for a visit to Chef-Boutonne and if so, I look forward to seeing you at the Château de Javarzay very soon.

 

Château de Javarzay, 11 Avenue des Fils Fouquaud, Chef-Boutonne 79110

 

The souvenir shop at the Château de Javarzay

 

  

An Autumn ride from Aigre to Angouleme

Angouleme at sunset

November arrives in a flurry of changes

They say a change is as good as a rest, but so much has changed, in such a short space of time, that I’m finding it exhausting. 

 

We have said goodbye to October, which means my four-month contract working at the library is over, and the clocks have changed. It still amazes me how sensitive my body clock is to just a one-hour time adjustment and the gloomy early evenings really haven’t helped my mood. The first few days without the routine of work were busy, but then my motivation deserted me. I cleaned out the fridge, Adrian defrosted one of the freezers and we battled the crowds to do the weekly shop, foolishly thinking that as Lidl had decided to open all day on a public holiday, we’d be the only ones there – wrong – I’ve not seen a supermarket so crowded since life pre-Covid. I baked a cake, made a couple of batches of soup and tried my best to plan some exciting meals using food we’ve found in the freezer. I’ve got books to read and lists of jobs to do, yet for now, nothing seems quite as appealing as serving customers at the library.

Autumn colours

 

Even without this huge change to my daily routine, November and December are my least favourite months of the year and it’s always been a challenge to keep my mind focussed. The weather has been changeable too, the sun has shone, the wind has blown, and the rain has poured down, sometimes all at once, but we’ve enjoyed the autumn colours on dog walks and bike rides.

 

Our studio apartment in Angouleme

Aigre to Angouleme

As a pick-me-up to take my mind off the end of my library work, we did manage to escape for an overnight mini adventure. The plan had been to finish work at lunchtime and cycle the sixty kilometres from home to Angouleme, enjoy a meal out, stay the night and then return the following day. Short, but sweet, however, things don’t always quite go to plan. 

Bright and breezy Autumn days in the Charente

Despite checking the weather forecast before making the last-minute booking, what looked like a breezy, dry, two days had changed for the worse by the day we left. The breeze had become a headwind of thirty to forty kilometres an hour, with bright sunshine, on day one and the return was looking to be wet and wild with stronger gusts of wind. They do say there is no such thing as bad weather, just badly equipped cyclists, however low autumn sun combined with wind creates flickering leaves and shadows, which is particularly risky for my photosensitive epilepsy. To say Adrian was concerned with me attempting a sixty-kilometre ride in these conditions was an understatement, so we took the disappointing decision to take the car part of the way in order to reduce the risk of an incident.  

A Charente village cemetery for All Souls Day

 

I can’t deny it was hard work battling into the wind, but the autumn colours were beautiful as we passed through villages, churches, cemeteries and vineyards. The villages may have been quiet, but the cemeteries were busy as family members placed colourful potted chrysanthemums on the graves for All Saints/All Souls Day. 

Sunset in Angouleme

The benefit of only having a forty-kilometre ride meant we’d arrived at our town centre AirBnB with plenty of time to wander around Angouleme in the daylight, catch a dramatic sunset and treat ourselves to an outdoor apero before dinner. 

 

Angouleme street art

Angouleme is a pretty town to walk around, with an impressive cathedral, a town hall that looks like a fairy tale castle, and superb views over the ramparts. It is home to an annual bande dessinée (comic book) festival and I especially love the themed wall art decorating entire building facades around the town. The apero treat soon turned into an eye-opening experience that was equally shocking and terrifying. To find ourselves amidst so many people out socialising, many in large groups, the students all greeting each other with multiple (unmasked) cheek kisses, almost made me run back to the sanctuary of our quiet rural village life. 

 

Le Bruleau Charentais restaurant Angouleme

We ate at Le Bruleau Charentais, a small, family-run traditional restaurant where the speciality is steak cooked on an open-fire, in full view of the diners. Most of their produce is locally sourced. For a grand total of fifty-five euros, we enjoyed a glass each of the local Pineau aperitif with a shared charcuterie platter, followed by entrecote steaks served with chips and a half litre of house red wine. This was our second visit here and easily lived up to our experience two years ago.

 

Breakfast in Angouleme market

Breakfast the following day was coffee and a croissant in the (almost deserted) covered market, surrounded by the deliciousness of the fresh produce. We made our escape before the rain started and although we’d lost the clear blue skies and sunshine of the day before, it was still a lovely cycle, criss-crossing the river Charente and returning to the car in Aigre, damp, but not as soaked as we’d feared.

 

River Charente in Autumn 

New beginnings

With a clearer head and an empty diary, the time has come to plan the next step in the adventure that is life. My dream job might belong to someone else, but I feel privileged to have been given the opportunity to look after it for her this summer. Life is too short not to make every day count, something that hit home this week when I learned of the sudden death of someone who had been a good friend to us since we moved to France. Her enthusiasm for life was contagious and over the years she taught me so much about French food, culture and the language, as well as sharing her gardening and sewing skills. If it wasn’t for her, I’d probably still only be able to speak French in the present tense. 

RIP Fatima

RIP Fatima. You were colourful, kind and caring, and lived life at such a fast pace, finding photos of you where you aren’t blurred in movement, or talking, was a challenge.

 

Pyrénées Cycl'n'Trip 2020

Col du Soulor 1471m Pyrénées Cycl'n'Trip 2020

Pyrénées Cycl’n’Trip 2020

 

This time last week we were having a blast in the Pyrénées, stretching our legs in the most extreme way; climbing mountains on our Bromptons. 

 

It was a lucky chance that I stumbled upon an advert on Facebook for the type of organised event that France does so well, Pyrénées Cycl’n’Trip 2020.

 

Col du Couraduque 1367m Pyrénées Cycl'n'Trip 2020

This in an annual five-day event that allows amateur cyclists to experience riding up the best cols (mountain pass climbs) that the Pyrénées has to offer on partially closed roads. Having enjoyed a traffic-free climb up Mont Ventoux earlier this year (thanks to road works) this seemed too good an opportunity to ignore, even if I’m still a little cautious about my mountain climbing abilities.

 

Col du Soulor 1471m Pyrénées Cycl'n'Trip 2020

On each of the days, from 9h to 12h, up to three different cols are closed to motor vehicles, but open for cyclists. The choice of cols each day includes a biggie like Hautacam (14.5km closed road at an average gradient of 7.4%), and a not so biggie, like Couraduque (7km closed road at an average gradient of 5.7%). You don’t have to book, or even put your name down in advance, just turn up at the start of the climb, at any time during the morning road closure. You are free to do as many or as few climbs as you choose, at your own pace, and although you can book a full accommodation or luggage transfer package, there is no obligation to do so. 

 

Volunteer-run fees zone Col du Soulor Pyrénées Cycl'n'Trip 2020

At the top of each col was a feed zone where cake, fruit, water and electrolyte drinks powder were on offer, along with a souvenir (a handy neck tube) and a stamp for your col-collector passport. The best bit; all of this was offered by the Hautes Pyrénées tourist board for FREE.

The first stamp in our passport Pyrénées Cycl'n'Trip 2020

 

We joined in three closed road climbs in two days (Col de Couraduque 1367m, Col du Soulor 1471m and Col d’Aubisque 1709m) and then went on to do another two (Col des Bordères 1161m and Col du Tourmalet 2115m) on our own before heading across the mountains to the Pays Basque. 

 

Starting the Col d'Aubisque 1709m Pyrénées Cycl'n'Trip 2020

Everyone is welcome and we saw couples, clubs, groups of friends, families, electric bikes, tandems, road bikes (from all price brackets) and hybrid bikes. The only Bromptons we saw, however, were ours. Everyone we met, from other cyclists, to the Gendarmes (joining in on their electric bikes), to the volunteers at the bottom and top of the closed roads, were friendly and encouraging. I’m so glad I saw the advert and that we decided to act upon it. This year we are all about seizing the moment and an extra, unplanned week away was magic.

  

The cycling equivalent of playing football at Wembley Stadium

As an organised event, with such great flexibility, and all for free, I give it 5 stars and I’d certainly recommend next year’s event to anyone wanting to try out the Pyrénean Tour de France greats in a safe and friendly way.

 

Stunning views cycling in the Pyrénées

You can read more (in French) on the Hautes Pyrénées tourist board website here and on the Cycl’n’Trip website here. More Pyrénean cycling information can be found on Freewheeling France here.

 

Big bikes and little bikes at the top of the Col d'Aubisque 1709m Pyrénées Cycl'n'Trip 2020

Conquering Mont Ventoux

Mont Ventoux by Brompton #KTTinyTourer

Two weeks ago, I achieved something epic, something that put me way out of my comfort zone and something that six years ago I would not even have considered attempting. I cycled up Mont Ventoux, the Beast of Provence; a barren, rocky mountain summit, almost 2000m above sea level where little grows. A cyclist’s dream ascent (or nightmare), home to many Tour de France winning highs, but also lows, notably the death of Tom Simpson, one kilometre from the top, in July 1967.

 

We had arrived in Montbrun-les-Bains on Wednesday afternoon, for the second part of our South of France, post-confinement getaway, and a quick check on the weather forecast told us that Thursday morning would be our best chance of kind weather to attempt Mont Ventoux.

 

This had been Adrian’s dream since early 2014, when the plan had been to spend some time in the area on our Mini Cooper road trip, with Adrian hiring a road bike from Sault and cycling to the top of the mountain. I would provide the back-up, food stops and water refills from the comfort of Gizmo, the Mini. It never even entered our heads to think of parking up Gizmo for the day, hiring two bikes and cycling up together. My fitness at that time would have made it impossible. Gizmo breaking down on day two of our road trip, meant it was impossible for Adrian that year too.

 

In 2017 he planned once more to give it a go. There is something about Mont Ventoux that when it takes hold, its grip is difficult to shake off. Once again, he never even made it to the start point, having crashed off his bike in the Ardeche, damaging his shoulder. There was a small part of my head that felt someone was trying to warn us away from this particular cycling challenge and the best thing to do would be to forget all about it. Then earlier this year I found myself thinking, what if we give it one more go, to celebrate his 50^th birthday and this time do it together? Everything seemed to be in alignment this time. Cycling has become a regular part of our lives, winter and summer, meaning we are both much fitter now than either of us were six years ago. His Mum gave me her blessing, even agreeing to come over and dog sit while we were away and the cherry on the top was discovering that due to road works at the summit, the road would be closed to motor traffic all this year. Then Covid-19 burst into our lives and all plans were on hold.

 

Adrian celebrated his 50^th during lockdown with a virtual ascent of Mont Ventoux on his turbo trainer in the garden, but it didn’t quite quench his thirst. A quick look on the map of France when planning our route to and from Lou Messugo on the Côte d’Azur, showed us that Mont Ventoux was once more a possibility. Something even more poignant was that our last conversation with our nephew Ben before he died, was about cycling up Mont Ventoux. This time it seemed the mountain was ready for us.

Mont Ventoux in the distance from Montbrun-les-Bains

 

The closer we got to Mont Ventoux on the drive in, the bigger and more intimidating the landscape looked, despite a pleasing, softening blush of lavender in its first days of flower all around us. The enormity of Mont Ventoux and our plans to attempt to climb it really hit home, right in the pit of my stomach. I could taste and feel my fear. A quick text to fellow blogger Julie, from Vauclause Dreamer, who has conquered Ventoux on her bike many times, helped to calm my nerves. Her advice was to take it slowly, don’t rush it, stop when I wanted to and enjoy the ride. I’m not sure I’d ever considered the possibility of enjoying it until I read her text, but it worked.

 

The climb from Sault is twenty-eight kilometres, but we were staying twelve kilometres from Sault and not wanting to use the car unnecessarily, at 8.30am I found myself cycling (uphill) towards a morning coffee stop in Sault where the top of Mont Ventoux looked a long way away. 

 

By the time we set off a steely determination had taken the place of the fear, especially as we were doing this For Ben, clocking up the kilometres on our virtual cycling challenge to get our teams the 7500kms from Loughborough to Istanbul and back. Our Mont Ventoux kilometres would be special ones as today would also be the day that the fundraiser hit its £30,000 target.

 

Lavender fields leaving Sault

I don’t remember every twist and turn in the road, but I do remember cycling through fields of lavender, the sun warming us as we slowly began the climb. The fields were then replaced with pine forest and steeper corners where cyclists who had already been up were sweeping down towards the sunnier planes. There were other cyclists with us, some who overtook us, some who we overtook. Some were friendly, some ignored us with our odd looking small wheeled bikes. Those who did speak, wanted confirmation that they were electric assist, which they are not – if only we had a euro for every time that was asked.

Tom Simpson memorial Mont Ventoux

 

At Chalet Reynard we feasted on coffee and snacks, the stark rocky mountain looking fierce from the bend in the road where the café is safely situated. The final six kilometres are the hardest, but I was ready. Slow and steady I plodded on, turning the pedals rhythmically and steadily. Some were out of their saddles, rocking from side to side with the effort, not me, I just sat and concentrated on safely getting to the top. I even managed to smile for some of the professional photographers who sit in wait to snap you at your lowest point, and although many overtook me, surprisingly there were some who I overtook too. We stopped, as is the custom, at the Tom Simpson memorial, my legs shaking with the effort to stand, the last kilometre looking to be the longest yet. The view is harsh here, with no contrast from left to right, just stark rock all around, and the only thing to do is keep looking forward and turning the pedals, each turn a little closer to the top.

Top of Mont Ventoux

 

Rounding the last bend and joining the throng of weary cyclists at the top was quite a strange feeling. I’d done it. I hadn’t had to get off and walk and my legs no longer felt like jelly as they had only a kilometre ago. My breathing wasn’t dry and ragged like I’d thought, I didn’t even need to sit down. I was smiling and elated as I stood proudly at the sign for my victory photo. Mont Ventoux was conquerable and we’d done it, in Adrian’s 50^th year and #ForBen.

Together and smiling as we cycle up Mont Ventoux