PEACE DE RESISTANCE
Burn off the winter blues with a cycling holiday in rural France run by a Scot with numerous precious contacts to allow her riders to sample the finest food and drink
FANCY an antidote to a long Scottish winter and associated urban stress?
How about riding a bike along the banks of the Dordogne, with a coffee stop or two thrown in, on traffic-free roads?
Extend that to arrive home to an al fresco dinner of wild boar stew, served by an award-winning chef who happens to live next door, punctuated by rattle of horns from rutting stags in the nearby woods.
In terms of rural charm and seclusion, my trip to the tiny hamlet of Bassignac-leHaut in the Correze department of southwestern France meant going the whole hog.
It’s rarely visited by tourists, amplifying the feeling of a proper getaway.
My host was Scot Diane Best, a TV producer who gave up her prestigious job in New York, where she was an avid member of a Manhattan cycle club, to follow her dream.
Diane took a gamble by buying a ramshackle French farmhouse then pondered how she might turn it into a base for the cycle tours that she is now running from the house, Le Bousquet, in the heart of rural France, catering for like-minded souls.
Several years of finding local builders, negotiating contracts and forming alliances with cycling clubs and local businesses have meant Diane is now an honorary Bassignacois among the indigenous population of 200.
And the luxury accommodation she provides is the perfect base for all manner of explorations of the vast surrounding area, from the volcanoes and mountains of the Massif Central in the Auvergne to the river gorges of the Dordogne.
Diane has stuck to her mission of guiding cyclists on the empty roads but the programmes range from very gentle to extreme – with Category 1 riders from local cycle clubs signed up to take clients looking to be tested on the most challenging rides.
Her facilities are tailored for individual travellers and clubs and teams.
My trip involved three days cycling from Le Bousquet, sandwiched between stays in Bordeaux, where the main focus was glugging the high-quality wines the city is world famous for.
Our first day involved a ride to Argentat, 40 miles with 3805ft of climbing on single-track roads along the river gorge, including a rapid descent to the Barrage du Chastang, one of the spectacular dams on the Dordogne river.
Taking in villages like St Privat, we also ventured to the Cafe du Tilleul in Saint-Martin-la-Méanne, where Madame Frédérique Perrin opened up especially for us.
She served coffee and explained
how the cafe is run by a co-op of local people – one of several nearby who are happy to accommodate Diane’s groups by arrangement.
Dinner was the aforementioned boar, caught locally and cooked by Yoshi Grosser – a German chef who opted for Bassignac-le-Haut’s quiet life but who is on standby for action for Diane’s groups.
Yoshi charged us a pittance compared with the restaurants he graced during a stellar career, prior to running a cookery school in Italy in more recent times.
Our stew, served in the rustic garden, came with mushrooms, green beans and chocolate sauce served a on a Correzian galette pancake, made from sarasin flour. Proper fortification for the next day’s exertions.
Heading out to take on the Puy Mary climb, the highest road pass in the Massif Central, is a ride for average to advanced cyclists, with 5396ft of climbing after starting in the picture postcard village of Salers – a famed “Les Plus Beaux Villages de France”.
Taking on the Col de Legal and Col du Bruel along the way makes this loop a rival for the best of Alpine routes.
Calories spent meant a banquet earned and dinner at Les Contes de Bruyeres in nearby Servières-leChâteau was something to behold.
Chef Martina Kömpel worked at Alain Senderens’ three-star Michelin Restaurant, Lucas Carton in Paris, then the Ritz with Michel Roth.
The dinner was duck with a raspberry sauce – a speciality of Correze. Diane has chosen this night as a prize-giving opportunity in the past after a week’s exertions and it’s a nice touch to round things off. For those looking to extend their stay and perhaps kick back with some city pursuits, Bordeaux is a top option, although flights to Toulouse would also work well.
The world’s premier wine city is, naturally, a Mecca for oenophiles and a top attraction is the La Cite du Vin museum near the Garonne.
Other wine attractions include the 22 wine bar tour around the city, offering superior vintages.
A trip to a vineyard in legendary St Emilion would be well worth a bash, as would a stroll around the cobbled streets of the village itself.