Day 11: Ecstasy

The ecstasy

What an incredible machine the human body is…

We push it so much, through mental strength, sometimes through excess, and yet, it adapts. It absorbs, it improves, it repairs itself.

And today, it allows us to fully live what we came for: a short stage after yesterday’s exploits… but a magnificent stage, in the heart of the Provençal backcountry 🌿

Shaped hills, canyons sculpted by time…

We say goodbye, not without emotion, to Gauthier, our generous host and companion on the road 🙏

And we set off again, with two reinforcements: Hermès and Didier.

And it starts straight away. A “small” climb to warm up the legs. Thanks for the detour Gauthier 😅. It bites immediately.

But the weather is perfect, the landscapes are incredible, so we move forward. And then, without really realising it, we enter the Gorges de la Nesque. And there… 🤯

The raw beauty of a work shaped over millennia.

We are mesmerised. The bike is the perfect tool to enjoy it: we climb at our own pace, we breathe, we look….

A “mangere” break on a breathtaking viewpoint

We watch vultures and eagles dancing in the air, carried by thermal currents 🦅 A precious moment.

Hopefully humanity will know how to preserve this sanctuary.

We meet our Canadian friends 🇨🇦

who had gone ahead and came back up the route to meet us. The group is complete. We are 9.

A lively end of the stage, always those small country roads that make you smile 🚴‍♂️

Even far from the greenways, the pleasure is there.

We arrive early at the stage, at the foot of a medieval village perched on a cliff. Calm. The afternoon gently settles in… peaceful, simple, among friends

Today, no struggle, no hardship.

Just the ecstasy of being there.