A man who rode a bicycle 870 miles

(CNN) — Albert van Limburgen On June 28, he set off on a bicycle outside his home in Liège, Belgium.

But instead of going to a local corner shop, he was going to the South of France. Two weeks later, on July 12, he arrived at his destination: Boulangerie Roy Le Capitole, the artisan baker Frédéric Roy on a street back from the Mediterranean to Nice.

Albert received a standing ovation from a small crowd that afternoon, including Frederic and his wife Katya. He was still wearing the cycling gear he wore for the last leg of the ride: a red helmet, yellow polo shirt and black cycling shorts, the colors of the Belgian flag. And it’s not too late to taste what he’s cycled more than 1,400 kilometers (870 miles) across two countries: one of Frédéric’s signature croissants, using lavender grown on the vast limestone cliffs high up in the Côte d’Azur hinterland.

Admiring the faint violet color (bright food coloring once left in the oven as it cooked), Albert nibbled through the cracked crust and into the feathery layers of buttery pastry, revealing a subtle but distinct herb. Flavor — The effect of lavender water fermented in the dough mixture before baking.

Frédéric says the bakery is the only one he knows of to sell such a flavored viennoiserie, the French term for a group of sweet baked pastries like croissants, pains or chocolate.

And when Albert was flicking through the TV channels at home one day and stumbled upon a news segment about a Nice baker and lavender croissant, the seed of his two-wheeled adventure was sown.

For someone who admits to loving everything about lavender, “from the smell to the taste and the fields of blue, green and violet,” Albert found himself a Galvanian.

The trip was not the first time the retired transporter had made the trip around his favorite plant.

“If I had a few days off from work, I would sometimes go to Ardeche, France, to eat lavender ice cream in Vallon-Pont-d’Arc,” he said.

Nor was it the first time he had gone to great lengths for pleasure. It previously reached Perpignan on the western Mediterranean coast of France, bordering Spain.

But it was the first time he set out to find new lavender flavor experiences by bike.

The lavender fields along the route provided a taste preview that inspired Albert van Limburgen to cycle to the south of France.

Albert VanLimbergen

It starts with a lie and finally rises

On the Côte d’Azur, Friedrich first heard of Albert in In early 2021, one of Albert’s friends shot a half-joking, handwritten letter to Boulanger.

“If you see that Albert arrives on the bike at the end of June, that will be the goal, the goal of the trip (successful),” the author wrote.

Soon after, another Belgian friend on vacation at a seaside resort visited the bakery and passed on Albert’s phone number. The couple soon spoke for the first time, and in June of the same year, a plan was drawn up.

“There were a few things that got in the way,” Albert explains — namely the pandemic-driven travel restrictions. But it all served as motivation to get on the road as soon as possible in 2022.

Finally, a year later, he was ready to go.

In his absence, three of his friends volunteered to take care of his beloved farm animals, horses, cats, dogs, and fish. More than just a sleeping bag, tent, change of clothes, bike repair kit and 7 liters of water — plus sports flip-flops, choice of footwear — pedals.

His planned itinerary took him across France to France near Charleville-Méziers, passing the Belgian cities of Cine and Dinant. Passing through the vineyards of southern Burgundy, he heads to Lyon, then follows the Rhône River to Valence to tackle the summit of the 1,180 m (about 3,870 ft) Col de Cabre mountain pass.

Frederic Roy and Albert van Limburgen met at Roy’s boulangerie in Nice, France.

Frederick Roy

After crossing, the lavender landscapes of northern Provence were the prize. Closer to Nice, there were the red-ocher cliffs of Mercantour National Park to accompany the last few kilometers before finally entering the Promenade des Anglais and the city’s famous Baie des Anges view.

“I carefully planned a route along small country roads to avoid freeways, busy state roads and cars as much as possible,” says Albert. It takes an average of 12 hours a day (including stops) and is 100 kilometers (62 miles) away.

“I stop for the plat du jour (daily special) for lunch and at night, I camp out,” he says. There were only a few hours of bad weather to deal with in the two weeks.

He kept in touch with Frederic every day, sending photos and sharing his geoposing position.

“Frederick, follow me,” says Albert. “He knew when I stopped at a restaurant, for a beer, at a campsite, on the side of the road. He just couldn’t see me.”

Frederick kept his nearly 10,000 Twitter followers updated on Albert’s progress, posting photos and often a map of the day’s route.

When Albert arrives in the late afternoon, Frederic is ready to celebrate with local beer and red, yellow and black balloons — and of course, a plate of fresh lavender croissants.

“We talked for a few hours about lavender, nature and life in general,” Frederick told CNN Travel by phone. “He came back the next day, and we talked for a few more hours.”

The water mixed with lavender is mixed into the dough. The food coloring that gives them this bright color is usually baked in the oven.

Frederick Roy

Crescent Crusader

Frédéric first started making lavender croissants two-and-a-half years ago, adding raspberry, pistachio, choco-banana and hazelnut flavored croissants to the unusual range, which are sold alongside the well-known viennoiserie collection.

Even though he starts at 4:30 a.m. six days a week, he’s been busy with his craft since he started as an apprentice baker in his teens.

In France, where 80% of croissants sold across the country are now ready-made croissants, Frédéric has emerged as the country’s croissant crucible, to challenge the traditional, home-made croissant. Cooking is very important with heritage. The French word for king is very appropriate for someone with the homonymous name of “roi”.

For the past five years, most of the country’s politicians have decided to petition for a croissant de traditional française (traditional French croissant) label similar to that of the baguette.

“Some bakers have never made a croissant in their life,” he says. I just want people to know what they are buying.

At Boulangerie Roy Le Capitole, that’s a three-day-old croissant — the sweet spot for a perfect consistency and a slightly nutty flavor, says Frédéric — using only the best quality ingredients, including 100% pure French unsalted butter. .

Depending on the time of year, he can bake up to 1,200 per beurre (100% butter) croissants per day. For Nice, the famous Hotel Negresco – a five-star hotel in front of the beach, in addition to the hot boxes from the oven, is sold every morning for breakfast, usually for lunch.

On weekends, it’s not unusual for the queue outside the bakery to wrap around street corners.

Room for improvement

As for Albert, he had a two-day visit in Nice before embarking on the long journey to Belgium. This time, however, he had to cycle approximately 70 kilometers (43 miles) from Nice to the small village of Puget-Tennier.

And what did Frederick think of lavender croissants? Was it worth the two week trip?

“They were good, but I think they could be better,” he says. “In Belgium we often put whipped cream in croissants. Lavender and pastry cream. Now that would be great.”

Chrissy McClatchy is a Nice-based travel writer and guidebook author whose stories from the Côte d’Azur and beyond have appeared in BBC Travel, Condé Nast Travel, Lonely Planet and more.