In May of this year the author set off on a thousand mile cycle trip across France to raise funds for two Ukrainian charities that he supports. This is Part One of his account of the marathon trip. Part Two will cover some of the highlights of the journey – scenery, people and places.
On 10 June 2025 I completed my last day of the cycle ride from the French Mediterranean coast to Dieppe. A total of 20 days, plus two days of rest. I’d covered 1,590 km (982 miles + 18 miles to and from Lewes in Sussex) – a total of 1000 miles. The ascent over the period was 14,276 m, that’s 46,837 ft!
It was a very enjoyable and fascinating trip, but often completely exhausting. I met so many interesting and helpful people along the way and cycled with other cyclists at times – an epic journey in often stunning scenery.
I’m immensely pleased I have completed this cycle ride at the age of 78. It spurs me on to do other long-distance cycle rides!
Where it all began
The idea of a cycling trip from the south of France back to England started with a conversation I had in Grenoble last year with an Australian, Simon Hermes, who had just walked the ‘Route Napoléon’ (325 km – 200 mile) from the Côte d’Azur on the Mediterranean near Cannes to Grenoble. His description of the route, its historical connections, and its dramatic mountain scenery fired my imagination.
This was a route I simply had to cycle!
Simon told me that when Napoléon had chosen to re-enter France in 1815, he decided not to go via large cities such as Marseille, as he was unsure of support for him in these Royalist-dominated places. He decided to take the more difficult route over the mountains, the Alpes-Maritimes in Provence and further on into the Hautes-Alpes to Grenoble.
After our conversation I went immediately to the tourist office in Grenoble and got the brochure! So as early as July 2024 there was a plan to cycle this route. On further thought, I concluded that having got myself all the way down to the south of France by train with my bicycle, why not simply carry on cycling back to England from Grenoble? It would be the longest journey I have ever undertaken on a bicycle.
There had been other long rides in the past but never as long as this one. Also, I had in mind my age. I have this urge to continue challenging myself whilst I have the fitness to do so. It drives me on!
I love visiting new places and seeing amazing scenery whilst understanding their history. This route was perfect for me. I’d cycled through the Pyrenees and the Picos Europa with some steep climbs. I’d also cycled the Camino Frances and the Camino del Norte in Spain, a distance of 600 miles, but this was going to be an altogether different challenge with the highest point on the Route Napoléon 1,248 m (4,094 feet) and the source of the Loire River 1,408 m (4,619 feet).
I was starting off from sea level at the place where Napoleon landed at Golfe-Juan. In fact, the highest ascent in any one day was in the Alpes-Maritimes between Grasse and Castellane -1,371 m (4,498 ft).
The adventure begins!
In May this year I finally set off, after much detailed planning of the route – cycling the short distance from Lewes to Newhaven and boarding the ferry to Dieppe, then train to Paris and onwards to Nice on the train de nuit. I had the company of a friend, Jonathan Gilbert, for this part of the journey and for the first 500 km of the return cycle ride.
Having arrived in Nice we were looking forward to a cycle ride along the Promenade des Anglais in glorious sunshine but sadly the clouds were gathering, and the sea was grey. An unusually heavy storm was about to arrive, but we had no choice but to get on our way.
Before we’d gone very far, we had to take shelter as the rain was torrential. We cowered in a garage forecourt for ages, but the rain didn’t stop. When it eased a little, we continued.
At Antibes we cycled across the isthmus of land and arrived in Golfe-Juan. We were really hungry, but we couldn’t find a restaurant that would let us in with our wet clothes. Finally, in the centre of Golfe-Juan we found a Turkish restaurant that welcomed us.
During lunch I asked the young waiter where the place was where Napoleon landed. He said, if you just go out of the restaurant here and walk 50 m on the promenade behind those bushes there, you will see it! Without him we wouldn’t have found it as there were no signs around.
After lunch we cycled on to Cannes where we had to turn inland. Now the sun had come out thank goodness. We didn’t know, but the Cannes Film Festival was on. It was fascinating to see all the smartly dressed people looking like film stars which they probably were! We looked comically out of place!
We found ourselves in a traffic jam on the Avenue des Anglais surrounded by lots of security men in black suits and security vehicles with darkened windows adding to the slow-moving traffic chaos. We were getting stuck in crowds so found our way out of the heavy traffic up out of Cannes into the Alpes-Maritimes. The challenge had begun!
Vic undertook his trip to raise funds for two charities supporting Ukraine, and you can donate here:
Ukrainian Hearts – based in Lewes in Sussex, raising funds for a children’s hospital in Ukraine. The hospital treats patients with injuries from the bomb shelling as well as providing specialist medical aid which cannot be provided on the front line.
Convoy4Ukraine – a UK charity (reg number: 1211075) supporting the civilian population affected by the invasion. The funds go towards the purchase of ambulances and 4×4 vehicles plus humanitarian aid. The next convoy of vehicles across Europe to Ukraine is in September 2025.
To donate CLICK HERE
https://sussex4ukraine.uk/news
The author’s day-by-day account of the trip can be found on the web:
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