Jen bagged this cracking pic of Mika in full flow - click to enlarge
The Evasion Travel team plus friends had booked tickets in the winter to see a fantastic line up of Newton Faulkner, (a big ginger dreadlocked dude who happens to be incredible with a guitar), Florence and the Machine (a very eccentric lady who floats around the stage with a fantastic voice) and the hyper-energetic falsetto wonder, Mika (popular in Britain but utterly idolised in France).
Click to enlarge
Evasion Travel works with local companies to allow guest to enjoy the best of the Ardèche, and one of the most exciting ways to do this is to go ‘canyoning’ with our local partners at Face Sud in Vallon Pont d’Arc.
Canyoning is basically sliding, abseiling, jumping and swimming down a stream or river in a canyon. If it sounds a bit bonkers that’s because it is.
Evasion Travel’s Jen and Em were very lucky this week to join their clients on the trip. A drive up the mountains to around 1100 meters above sea level took the group to the stunning Chassezac Gorge, high above the Ardèche plain and near to some ancient, isolated medieval villages. Click here to read more »
Due to a cancellation, one of our lovely gites in St Andre de Roquepertuis is now available for rent from the 31st of July with a whopping 25% off!
‘Chateauneuf’ is a one bedroom gite with a twin/double bed and a double sofa-bed. It is ideal for couples, friends travelling together or young families.
The gites are right where the action-packed Ardèche meets the rolling hills of Provence – a perfect summer playground. Click here to read more »
Not just for boys... the 21 bends
As part of our Tour de France week, we’ve been following the race and taking part in some of the tour classics that are not included in this year’s official itinerary. Having spent Tuesday in Chambery watching the tour set off on another gruelling Alpine day, we decided to use Wednesday to take on the famous ’21 bends’ at Alpe d’Huez.
In our diminutive peleton were Ken, Mike and Ryan, three Americans with an infectious passion for three things, cycling, cycling (again) and beer. The boys are in France to combine celebrating Ken’s 40th birthday with some classic rides and they don’t get any better than this one.
The 21 bends, as the name suggests, are 21 hairpins that work their way from the valley town of Bourg d’Oisans to the ski resort of Alpe d’Huez. In the Tour de France, the competitors cycle over 150km through the alps to begin the ascent but with the ever-present threat of a heart attack on the cards, we opted to start from Bourg.
The ascent takes riders up 1150m over 14 brutal kilometres to the summit at 1850m. Tactics varied considerably among the group. Ryan opted for a minute’s break at each bend while speedster Mike chipped off big chunks and broke them up with long breaks. Ultimately though, it was Ken’s consistent approach that got him over the line first although victory was graciously handed to Mike for the shortest actual riding time.
Team USA are the first to have taken part in this new cycling trip at Evasion Travel which we hope to reproduce during next year’s Tour de France. In our next post we’ll be taking about watching the tour and cycling in the Ardèche where the boys will be spending three days seeing the best of the department’s roads.
Mike, Ken and Ryan on the podium
See all of the details of our cycling trips and much more at http://evasiontravel.co.uk/ardeche/ardeche-holidays/road-cycling.
Evasion Travel
This week has seen us in the French Alps following the Tour de France and having a go at some of the mountain passes ourselves.
The trip started on Monday when the first of our guests from the USA pulled into Lyon train station. Ken, trip organiser and cycling nut didn’t let on before the trip that this was all about his 40th birthday and a dream of seeing the tour and getting some cycling done in France. Click here to read more »
It can’t be all work work work so last Tuesday night the Evasion Travel team jumped into one of our minibuses and went to see pint-sized rock chick ‘Pink’ in concert.
The gig took place on a balmy summer evening and in the incredible setting of the Roman amphitheatre at Nimes. Originally built to support the Roman ‘bread and circuses’ policy (keep the masses well fed and well entertained and they won’t revolt), we don’t think that the original designers ever imagined that one day a tattooed American in a diamond studded leotard might be crowd surfing inside a giant inflatable ball but hey – we weren’t exactly expecting that either. Click here to read more »
This week, Adam and Jennie went back to Courchevel le Praz in order to take some pictures and some trademark wobbly videos of our new chalet, La Duy, and apartment, Grande Cerf. We also took the chance to take a stroll around some areas that we usually slide over on our skis and snowboard. The picture shown below is of a golfer teeing off under the Verdons bubble lift at 2000m altitude on what in winter is a favourite ski run of ours!!
Finally, Adam and Annabel have bought their house and with it, a new gite for Evasion Travel. The house is in Vallon Pont d’Arc, near to the Ardèche gorges and our hotel.
We have a huge amount of work to do to get the place ship shape but we’re very confident that we’ll end up with a nice pad to live in and a gorgeous self catered gite upstairs for our visitors. Sometimes though, a new creation starts with a little demolition – see the pic of Annabel dispatching the old kitchen wall to create an open kitchen/dining area for the gite. Click here to read more »
Emma and Jen had their first really busy week of the season last week and there were lots of guest saying for short stays to test their skills on the 2 day river decent of the Ardèche gorge, and more guests checking out lots of different activities and the area on a week stay.
We had the delight of entertaining some guests who are returning to us for the fourth time and are now great friends. Emma and Jen worked together to make sure that their stay was fun packed and full of activity. Emma accompanied
two groups down the mini decent and joined them on a Via Ferrata, which is a course that is created on rock faces with iron ladders, zip wires and much more!
Jen has been taking guests to the amazing ‘Pont du Gard’ site and the beautiful city of Avignon, where you can explore the ‘Palais du Pape’. Both the Pont du Gard and Avignon are on the other side of our gites meaning a bit of a drive but the scenery is fantastic as we pass through the southern Ardèche, over the Ceze River and through the vineyards of the Rhone Valley. The weather has been really good (and very hot) and is predicted to get even better!
The girls have been enjoying their week are are craving more exploring and fun. The Evasion Team (except Janine as she is answering your enquiries and making sure that your holiday will be perfect) are off to experience the two day river decent so that we can get to grips with that sure and will be let you know how the trip goes. We’re also hoping to do some cycling and climbing this week so watch your favourite blog for all the updates!!
Until next time,
Emma and Jen – Evasion Travel Ltd.
