CHEESE, FRESH AIR & DISNEYLAND

E-bikes can open up a world of opportunities, like sourcing artisan edibles from the farm that time forgot, then taking the fun ride home

- Keiran Page

The secret to eating well in the South of France is the ingredients. It’s an idea that infuses everything in life for us. Get the ingredients right and you can keep things simple, but there’s nowhere to hide if they’re not. In northern Europe, cooking tends to involve complex processes and a long time boiling, roasting and stewing; culinary magic adds and intensifies the flavours. Here on the shores of the Mediterranean, 300 days of sunshine a year mean you need little more than tomatoes, oil, basil, salt and pepper to eat well. Which is great, until you decide that what you really need is some good cheese...

For most of the year it’s too hot for cattle near the coast – the sun burns the grass away from the rocks, so even if they could stand the heat, there’s nothing for them to eat. As the year arcs towards its midsummer highs, if you want the good stuff you need to follow the cattle and climb into the high mountains. With bigger batteries for e-bikes coming onto the market, the cheese run no longer has me jumping in the car. In fact, plan it just right, and I hoped to get some respite from the oppressive summer heat, find the best cheese in the region and take in an iconic local descent: Disneyland (and you don’t need to worry about crowds to experience this Disneyland). All on a single battery.

First, the bad news: the climbing starts on the road. In the sweltering lower valley it’s a brutal slog, and the tarmac reflects the sun into my eyes.