Out and about with a motorcycle in the south of France

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Out and about with a motorcycle in the south of France
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Out and about with a motorcycle in the south of France

Out and about with a motorcycle in the south of France

Out and about with a motorcycle in the south of France

Out and about with a motorcycle in the south of France

13th pictures

Out and about with a motorcycle in the south of France
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On the road with motorcycles in the south of France. There’s a lot to discover.

Out and about with a motorcycle in the south of France
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Asphalt surfing under the eyes of the Canigou from Prades to Sournia.

Out and about with a motorcycle in the south of France
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The historic monastery of Saint Martin du Canigou.

Out and about with a motorcycle in the south of France
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Views: the Canigou.

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Mysterious: the Cathar crosses on the paths between the mountains.

Out and about with a motorcycle in the south of France
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Epicurean revelation: the Prades weekly market offers real treasures.

Out and about with a motorcycle in the south of France
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Gloomy: Demon Asmodeus in Saunières Church of Rennes-le-Château.

Out and about with a motorcycle in the south of France
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Chapel at the Col de Jau.

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The devil’s stuff: The absinthe-like fire water comes from Thuir and is in great demand.

Out and about with a motorcycle in the south of France
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Summit of Mont Aigoual with a view of the sea.

Out and about with a motorcycle in the south of France
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The tires claw into the asphalt, that’s cornering luck.

Out and about with a motorcycle in the south of France
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Nice to take off: the curve festivals between the three mountains.

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This is where the Cathar Wars began: cloister of Fontfroide Abbey near Narbonne.

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Out and about with a motorcycle in the south of France

Curved stretches between three mountains
Motorcycle tour in the south of France

Myths, legends, conspiracy theories: there are as many of them in the south of France as there are winding roads. With the gasoline-powered divining rod, Dirk Schafer rummaged between three mountains for inclines and weird legends.

Dirk Schafer

03/15/2012

Three mountains! When the weather is good, one can see the next. And that although the two outer ones are more than 300 kilometers apart. Beeline. The three are called Canigou, Aigoual and Ventoux. The last one, a wild chunk, is certainly the best known thanks to the Tour de France. But the other two also hold exciting stories and wind adrenaline-stimulating streets around their figure. But we report from the beginning.

It was a set game from the start. And almost everyone fell for it. Don’t you? Then you either haven’t read Dan Brown’s book “The Da Vinci Code” or you haven’t seen the movie “Da Vinci Code”. It is about the search for the Holy Grail. And that inevitably leads you to the village of Rennes-le-Château, 45 kilometers south of medieval Carcassonne.

The national road is long behind us. Couiza, the last place, disappeared around a bushy bend several minutes ago. If the GPS didn’t insist that Rennes-le-Château appear right in front of us, I would have that “I think we are lost” feeling. The first white Pyrenean peaks are already appearing behind a knoll when a church finally peers over a bristly wood. The church of the enigmatic priest Saunière.

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Diana and I click the kickstand on the pavement. In a few steps we are at the entrance to the church. The gate creaks, and the beam of light that comes with us into the church illuminates the face of a demon that bears the holy water font. In other places there are skulls. No wonder people believed the priest was in league with the devil. Especially after he got incredibly rich here in this provincial nest.

He must have found treasure, there was no other explanation. The treasure of the Cathars or the Templars. Or the Holy Grail. Or all together.

This strange church is still hanging in my mind as we turn through the Aude Gorge south of Axat. The priest had obtained the money overseas with dubious means. Noël Corbu, an innkeeper, had made the story a legend with the Holy Grail. Primarily to spice up his badly performing restaurant.

Dan Brown, who later wrote the book “Da Vinci Code”, used his knowledge of priests and landlords to make the cash register ring for his part. A planned game! You just have to have the right idea at the right time.


Out and about with a motorcycle in the south of France


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The tires claw into the asphalt, that’s cornering luck.

Oops! I almost shot past the junction to Col de Jau. The pass makes its way into the valley of the Têt through rows of trees standing close together and between overgrown rocks. From now on your eyes will stick like magnets on the Pic du Canigou, the colossal mountain range of the eastern Pyrenees. Our next destination is so hidden on its northern slope that it was almost forgotten.

Passing the city walls of Villefranche, we climb meter by meter the Canigou towards Casteil. The pitted tar is not much wider than a sauna towel. Nevertheless, the two-cylinder purrs uphill under the midday sun. Above Casteil, on a steep plateau, a Count Guifred built the Abbey of St. Martin du Canigou 1000 years ago. He himself separated from his secular offices, his wife and children in order to become a monk in his own monastery.

The road continues to lurch to Mantet, a hamlet made of stone houses. The yellow and red flag of Catalonia dangles in the wind. It’s only five kilometers to the Spanish border. There is even a way to cross the truly green line here. It is older than the nearby abbey and served as an escape route for Christians from the Moors who occupied the Iberian Peninsula. The count was long dead when the Christians recaptured Spain. The abbey was abandoned and St. Martin du Canigou was soon forgotten. Legend has it that only the dead count stood up to the walls falling apart for over a century. Until the abbey was rediscovered at the beginning of the 20th century.

From the Canigou we head north through the Cathar country and get into a true festival of curves. A quick look in the map compartment is enough to surf from one green line on the Michelin map to the next. The GPS can be stolen from us right now. Only with Beziers does some calm return to the chassis, and we end the day in Avèze at the foot of Mont Aigoual.

The starting shot is given in Le Vigan. 35 kilometers of the finest asphalt surfing without traffic lights, even practically without a place or other vehicles. Unlike the Canigou with its narrow streets, it is wide, almost expansive. And the route is reminiscent of the Carrera track that I set up with my nephews the other day at Christmas. How nice that something like this is also available on a 1: 1 scale.

We are even more lucky: Mont Aigoual is the rainiest place in France, and we patter towards it under a steel-blue sky. Because of the sometimes extreme weather conditions, a fortress-like weather station was built on the Aigoual in 1894. If it weren’t there, you’d drive past the summit smoothly, it’s so flat. We look over to the Pyrenees and down to the sea without any problems. We don’t see the third mountain, the Ventoux. The morning light is still too deep in the west.

There are supposed to have been special lights around the Aigoual at Pentecost for many years. A girl from nearby Dourbies was courted by three brothers, and she couldn’t decide what love would want. She promised to marry the one of them who would return unscathed from the Crusades. All three returned just the day the girl died. At Pentecost, the three men lit fires on the surrounding mountains. Little by little they went out. But to this day, the inhabitants of Dourbies make pilgrimages to the rock of Saint Guiral on Whitsun.


Out and about with a motorcycle in the south of France


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Summit of Mont Aigoual with a view of the sea.

From the Cevennes to Provence. What are not all worthwhile goals here! But next to the Canyon du Verdon, the Mont Ventoux owns the crown. Driving anyway. It can be seen on the horizon from afar. No promontory blocks the view, no neighboring mountain disputes its appearance. The robust outpost of the Alps was climbed for the first time almost 700 years ago. Not from a mountaineer, but from a poet named Petrarch. Some claim that this laid the foundation for alpinism. Instead of having crampons on your shoes with a quill in your hand.

Whatever the case, the Ventoux, like the Aigoual, is one of the few mountains where you can drive to the summit. And how! The worst off are the footrests. Especially if, like us, you choose the approach from Malaucène.

The track has just been thrown off with a microfiber cloth and the tires claw into the asphalt like Stallone in “Cliffhanger” into the rocks. In every bend, the 800 series pulls a flight of sparks behind it like the New Year’s fireworks. Which comes to an end sooner: the rest or the ascent? The footrests owe their remaining material to the observatory on the summit. Even though I’ve climbed this mountain umpteen times, the release of happiness hormones is at an all-time high. On top of that, the view from the Alpine peaks to beyond the Rhône acts as a cocoa crisis. As the sun sets, the Cevennes seem to be getting closer and closer. A pale gray stripe shimmers across the Mediterranean. Either it is the exhaust plume of a ship or the Pyrenees with the Canigou ahead. The sun goes down. It really could have been the Canigou. And if not, it’s not sacrilege either.

Info


Out and about with a motorcycle in the south of France


Werel

Travel time: 5 days. Distance covered: 1500 kilometers.

Combining three high mountains in the south of France on a motorcycle tour is a different approach. What makes the route so appealing are its enormous density of curves and the places steeped in history.

Arrival / travel time:
The tour to the three peaks takes place in the hinterland of France’s Mediterranean coast. The Pic du Canigou (2784 meters) in the west is one of the highest mountains in the Pyrenees, and the Mont Aigoual (1567 meters) is the second highest and southernmost in the Cevennes. As the easternmost of the three, Mont Ventoux (1912 meters) is already in Provence. The Ventoux and the Aigoual can be driven to the top, while the Canigou can only be approached off-road for the last few meters. Its summit, however, is reserved for climbers. There is an official winter closure (November-May) only for the Ventoux. But the others are only recommended in spring, summer and autumn. The Canigou is 1200 kilometers from Frankfurt and the Ventoux around 1000 kilometers. The express journey via the French motorway is chargeable. With the DB Autozug (www.dbautozug.de) the journey to Narbonne can be more relaxed.

The distance:
There are around 570 kilometers between the distant peaks of Canigou and Ventoux. The first few meters on the flanks of the Canigou are always paved, but sometimes a bit bumpy. As soon as you have reached Prades, the road conditions are good to excellent. There are also regular curve festivals. The routes from Le Vigan up to the Aigoual and back down to St. Jean-du-Gard and from Malaucène to the Ventoux are real blasts. Most of the passages offer fantastic turn surfing even for less experienced pilots.

Stay:
Right at the foot of the Canigou is the Villa du Parc hostel, which is designed by Oliver and Mireike Zehner (www.villa-du-parc.com) and specializes in motorcyclists. Depending on the choice of room, you can see the mountain at any time of the day or night. In Avèze near Le Vigan, the Auberge Cocagne (www.auberge-cocagne-cevennes.com) is recommended. The hosts Ginette and Christophe also ride motorbikes and offer tips for the region. The rooms are rustic in different ways. The Hostellerie du Val de Sault (www.valdesault.com) is of a different caliber. Here you can find dignified accommodation in the middle of the Provencal landscape. The neighboring Sault, within sight of Mont Ventoux, exudes special charm.

Activities:
Cave fans will get their money’s worth in both the Pyrenees and the Cevennes. There is even more action with canyoning (e.g. at www.tendancesdusud.com). Canoeing and rafting are offered there as well as in the Cevennes (www.cevennes.net). If the panorama from the peaks is not enough for you, you can glide into the ultimate perspectives with a paraglider, e.g. B. near the Ventoux near Mevouillon (www.provence-parapente.com).

Maps / literature:
The Michelin 721 “France” map does a good job for this trip (8.99 euros). Only the starting point “Rennes-le-Château” is not noted. It is well signposted from neighboring Couiza. The best information about the region and its exciting history: “Provence in the footsteps of the Templars” by Cornelia Ziegler, Verlag Reise Know-How, 10.50 euros. “Sakrileg” by Dan Brown, Verlag Bastei Lubbe, 9.99 euros. “The Holy Grail and its heirs” by Michael Baigent, Richard Leigh, Henry Lincoln, Verlag Bastei Lubbe, 9.95 euros.

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