Known locally as 'Bald Mountain', Mont Ventoux's name hints at its stormy relationship with the Mistral, which has caused dangerous wind speeds of almost two hundred miles an hour to be recorded there, though the original designation is likely to have come from the ancient Gallic for 'snow top'. Its bare, pale limestone peak contrasts with the forested slopes and does indeed appear to be covered with snow all year from a distance. Although it is technically part of the Luberon Mountains of the Alps, it in fact stands some distance from them and commands a view of the Rhone Valley that is hard to match. It is also famous for providing one of the most challenging stretches of the Tour de France, upon which British cyclist Tom Simpson died in 1967. There is a memorial to him near the summit.

Written by  larapiegeler.

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