Cycling Holidays in Provence – Heading South Easier than Ever for School Group Holidays

Zipping off to the southern reaches of France has become easier for school groups since the advent of daily flights from various airports around the UK to the likes of Lyons, Nimes, Nice and Marseilles.

The sunny and chic but one time elite Riviera is no longer just the preserve of the rich and famous.

While some high falutin’ types may bemoan the loss of its exclusivity, most of us celebrate the chance to parade the palm tree promenades of Nice, meander around the side streets of the casino capital Monte Carlo, take an hour or two to go celebrity spotting in Cannes or watch the world pass by in from the quiet of a tree-lined avenue in Aix-en-Provence.

Here, too, is chance to relish the rustic scenes which inspired great artists from Monet and Manet to Picasso and Degas, savour the food and wines which they savoured, take in the rustic scenes which so fired their imaginations, visit the one time ‘Papal kingdom’ of Avignon.

Museums and art galleries offer a glimpse of great artistic and historic works and a walk around in hillside village trails in the Alpes Maritimes and the Var valley provide an insight as to how the Impressionists found the inspiration to produce such masterpieces.

This is now a region where international businessmen, film moguls and stage and screen celebs come to play, or seal deals while enjoying the comfort of the sun on their backs. Gazing at the rows of gleaming luxury yachts moored in Mediterranean marinas is an activity in itself – one which defies ‘credit crunch’ headlines. Swish hotels and high priced restaurants are patronised by a designer suited clientelle. Flashy convertibles turn heads as they get caught up in France’s obligatory town centre traffic jams.

But dinted Renaults and standard model citroens also hold their own in the line. You do not have to ‘come from money’ to enjoy the infinite array of rich vistas here, nor to explore market plazas or village squares, to sit by an ancient sculptured fountain or dip your feet into cool river waters.

This is a holiday spot to be enjoyed by all – a delight for school parties, gap-life travellers, or groups of retirees.

For those whose pockets aren’t too deep, there are mouth-watering menus aplenty, terrace cafes affording ample opportunity to people watch at leisure, while savouring a mid-morning coffee or chilling out with a glass of wine. Accommodation choices range from family and school group camp sites to self-catering apartments, country gites for rent, and friendly family-run hotels.

High temperatures in summer make it a favourite for annual holidays, and budget airline services have now turned the Cote d’Azur, in particular, into a popular destination for weekend breaks.

Cannes, a short hop from Nice airport is centre of the media spotlight every year as it hosts the world’s most famous international film festival. Here you can stroll by the fashion houses and perfumeries of the Promenade La Croisette or catch a glimpse of who’s enjoying nouvelle cuisine at the famous Palme d’Or restaurant, visit venues frequented by George Clooney, Brad Pitt, Nicole Kidman and Catherine Zeta-Jones, pick up film festival memorabilia, take in a movie at a city cinema.

But it is not just Hollywood stars who are attracted to Cannes. Over the years it has been a port of call for artists of all generations – home to Picasso for ten years, a destination favoured by Renoir, Chagall and Matisse. More modern day artists now display their works at the weekly crafts and antiques markets near the town hall a stone’s throw from the old port marina. Tourists can board the quaint ‘little train’ for a city tour, discover hidden away historic churches, elegant boulevards, the Palais des Festivals, Palais Croisette, casino plazas and flower markets.

From the marina visitors can take a 15 minute ferry to two unspoiled islands across Cannes Bay – St Marguerite and St Honorat. With their ancient forts, chapels, Roman relics and museum pieces, they offer a green and secluded rest from the more mainstream tourist trail.

It is easy to get about along the southern coast, on foot, on bicycle, by, bus, coach or train.

Frequent local buses and trains offer the options for one, two or three centre trips, to explore vineyards, enjoy the local culture, take part in hiking or cycling holidays – or simply to discover secluded beach spots along the coast. Summer or winter, there is a rich choice of those.

Heading Towards Matanzas

Enjoying the Sandy cuban beaches of North Havana is a good suggestion for a few days close to the capital city. It should be mentioned that in Tarará you can find the Marina of the same name. Several marinas can be found in some points of the Cuban coast line: Minor repair services, navigation articles as well as lodging and general provisioning articles can be found.

After enjoying a few days in Havana, if you still find the Cuban coast interesting, continue your route passing Guanabo towards the Matanzas Province. The “Via Blanca” highway, with fair driving conditions, runs closer to the shore in this fragment of the route up to just a few meters from the coast line. The Havana – Matanzas heights are also very close to the highway.

In its trajectory sandy beaches are not present. Instead, you find detached coral reef shores hardly battered by the waves. A walk by these reefs is an exciting experience with the presence of the waves. There is no vegetation by the sea, while on the other side, next to the heights, you find the presence of agave and ploughed land cultivations. At the beginning, the heights appear between the coast line and the highway but smoothly the highway runs away and then crosses them distancing itself from the coastline where a terrace system emerges separating the runway from the shore.

In the path, small rivers are crossed like the Jaruco, Santa Cruz, Jibacoa, Puerto Escondido and Bacunayagua rivers. In the first three small populated communities are seen. In Santa Cruz, the biggest Rum factory in Latin America is located, The Havana Club Factory, one of the favorites not only by many Cubans but by many around the world.

In this section of the littoral, two camping bases can be found: Los Cocos and El Abra. Los Cocos is just by the beach of Jibacoa, an excellent and cozy site surrounded by small beaches and limestone hills of extraordinary green. El Abra is located next to the mouth of the Jibacoa River and the gorge originated by the river finding its way through the elevations to the sea.

Further down the road the elevations increase in height and the rivers cut the elevations through gorges to reach the sea. Perhaps the most notable is the one found passing the small bridge over the River Bacunayagua, an interesting engineering work. Just by this bridge, there is a modest place where you can have some refreshment and observe the great profundity of the river’s bed and, to the north, the further away coast line. From this viewpoint, the Yumurí River Valley can also be observed, one of the nicest in Cuba; not to be confused with another river in the province Guantanamo which carries the same name.

For those in quest for some adventure, just a few meters away from this viewpoint, there is a narrow trail located to the left of the highway when going east towards Matanzas. This trail descends from the Via Blanca to the very river bed, by the elevated arcs that sustain the bridge from both sides at some 400 m of altitude from the observer’s point of view. The descend is not very dangerous but not to be careless and takes approximately 1 hour to get to the river bed since the trails must be descended slowly. The view of the bridge from the river up is spectacular.

As the trip east towards Matanzas continues, the road slowly runs to the right which indicates the proximity of the Matanzas Bay. The road approaches the coast and crosses some of the terraces, including the Seboruco terrace, already very close to the City. Some trails are found to the left and cross the coastal xeromorph bushes (these are small plants of hard leaves occasionally with spines and presence of cactus) that grow between the road and the sea. At this stage of the course, it is not difficult to examine the mentioned and interesting terrace system of marine origin, the one that in a step-like form leads to the high coast. It is worth admiring and therefore recommended to take some of the mentioned trails that lead to the sea to see the wonderful costal formations, with some presence of Iguanas. Respect the access forbidden areas though!

On the opposite side is the beautiful Valley of Yumurí through which runs the river of the same name. Further away the gorge of the river that leads to the Matanzas bay can be seen. The city is seen far away by the surrounding elevations.

Further down, the road smoothly descends towards the City of Matanzas, also called the “City of Bridges”. Just before getting there, the road passes the sulfur plant next to the city. The Via Blanca borders the Bay since the city is built just behind it. This bay, is different from any other in Cuba because it does not have a “bag” shape (that is of narrow mouth and wide interior development) but instead, it is wide in its entrance and narrows towards the mouth of the rivers Yumurí and San Juan which both cross the city. All of the occidental side of the Bay is bordered by the Via Blanca highway.

Once you reach the city, you cross the Yumurí River using the bridge La Concordia, of colonial style. The bridge leads to the center of the city where the firefighter’s station and the beautiful Sauto Theatre, an arquitectonic Cuban jewel, are located. After this the bridge over the San Juan River is crossed and you reach downtown.

Historically, Matanzas had three districts or neighborhoods, Matanzas, Pueblo Nuevo and Versalles. Currently, others rise next to these. It is possible to stay at the city using its Hotels to buy time to visit its places of interest.

Firstly you could visit the Bellamar Caves, opened to the public in 1862. These are practically at the cities’ perimeter and in very good health. They are a system of discretely illuminated galleries where specialize guides explain the origin and evolution of the cave. It is fairly easy to get to the caves from any point in the City, even by foot. During the visit the interesting story of the cave’s discovery is told.

Matanzas, the capital of the province of this same name, is a city where you can make a short stay and visit several places of interest as well as witness its intense cultural life. It is practically the periphery of Varadero Beach and in the available tours there are scarce detailed tours of the city. In our next article, we will suggest places to see in this city.