The man who biked 870 miles just to get a croissant

On June 28, Albert Van Limbergen embarked on a cycling journey from his home near Liège, Belgium, with a singular goal in mind: to find the perfect croissant.

Instead of opting for a nearby bakery, he set his sights on a distant destination in southern France. After two weeks, on July 12, he finally arrived at Boulangerie Roy Le Capitole in Nice, a modest bakery run by artisan baker Frédéric Roy, located just a short distance from the Mediterranean Sea.

Albert was greeted by a small crowd, including Frédéric and his wife Katia, as he arrived in the afternoon. Dressed in his cycling attire – a red hat, yellow polo shirt, and black shorts in the colors of the Belgian flag – he wasted no time in savoring the croissant that had driven him to cycle over 1,400 kilometers (870 miles) across two countries: one of Frédéric’s signature croissants, made with lavender from the high limestone plateaus of the Côte d'Azur.

With admiration for the croissant's soft violet tint, a remnant of the lavender-infused water used in the dough, Albert took a bite through its flaky outer layer to reveal the delicate, buttery layers inside, commenting on the subtle yet distinct lavender flavor that resulted from the infusion.

Frédéric claims that his bakery is the only one he knows offering this unique flavored viennoiserie, the French term for sweet pastries like croissants, pains au chocolat, and pains aux raisins.

One day, as Albert was flipping through TV channels at home, he stumbled upon a news segment featuring a baker from Nice and his lavender croissants. That’s when the idea for his cycling adventure was sparked.

Albert, who has a deep love for everything lavender – from its fragrance to its flavor and the sight of the blue, green, and violet fields – felt an immediate sense of excitement and determination.

“While watching the segment, I realized I had found my reason to visit France,” Albert shared with Dinogo Travel over the phone. “If I don’t have a purpose for traveling, I don’t know how to go.”

This wasn’t the first time the retired transport professional had centered his travels around his beloved lavender plant.

“Whenever I had a few days off, I’d drive to the Ardèche in France just to enjoy lavender ice cream in Vallon-Pont-d’Arc,” he recalls.

This wasn’t Albert’s first long-distance cycling adventure for fun. He had previously biked all the way to Perpignan, near the Spanish border on France’s western Mediterranean coast.

However, this was his first time embarking on a cycling journey specifically to explore new lavender flavor experiences.

False starts, and finally, the journey begins

In early 2021, on the Côte d'Azur, Frédéric first learned about Albert when one of Albert’s friends, partly in jest, sent a handwritten letter to the baker.

The letter read, “If you see Albert arrive on his bike by the end of June, it will mean he has achieved the goal of his journey.”

Soon after, another pair of Belgian friends, vacationing in the seaside town, visited the bakery and shared Albert’s contact details. The two men connected shortly afterward and began planning for June that year.

“There were a few hurdles,” Albert recalls, citing pandemic-related travel restrictions. “But it only made me more determined to hit the road as soon as possible in 2022.”

At last, after a year of preparation, he was ready to set off.

Three of his friends had kindly agreed to care for his cherished rescue animals – a mix of horses, cats, dogs, and fish – while he was away. With just a sleeping bag, a tent, spare clothes, bike repair tools, and 7 liters of drink, all packed alongside his flip-flops, his chosen footwear, he began his journey.

His planned route took him through the Belgian towns of Ciney and Dinant, crossing into France near Charleville-Mézières. From there, he ventured south, passing the vineyards of Burgundy, through Lyon, and alongside the Rhône River to Valence, where he braced himself for the challenging 1,180-meter (about 3,870 feet) climb of the Col de Cabre mountain pass.

Once he crossed into the lavender-scented landscapes of northern Provence, his efforts were rewarded. Closer to Nice, he faced the red-ochre gorges of the Mercantour National Park before finally reaching the Promenade des Anglais, where the view of the city's iconic Baie des Anges greeted him as he neared the last few kilometers.

“I planned my route carefully, sticking to smaller rural roads to avoid highways, crowded regional roads, and traffic as much as possible,” Albert explains. His daily average was 12 hours of cycling, including breaks, and about 100 kilometers (62 miles).

“For lunch, I’d enjoy a plat du jour, and by night, I’d set up camp at a campsite,” he says. The entire two-week journey was mostly smooth, with only a few hours of bad weather to contend with.

Throughout the journey, he stayed in constant contact with Frédéric, sending photos and sharing his GPS location.

“Frédéric kept track of my movements,” Albert says. “He knew when I stopped for a meal, a beer, at a campsite, or even by the side of the road. He just couldn’t see me.”

Frédéric kept his nearly 10,000 Twitter followers in the loop, regularly sharing Albert's photos and often posting a map showing his route for the day.

On the day Albert finally arrived, Frédéric was ready to celebrate with local beer, balloons in red, yellow, and black, and of course, a plate of freshly baked lavender croissants.

“We spent hours talking about lavender, nature, and life in general,” Frédéric recalls, speaking to Dinogo Travel over the phone. “He came back the next day, and we talked for a few more hours.”

The Croissant Crusader

Frédéric began crafting lavender croissants two and a half years ago, adding them to a unique selection that includes flavors like raspberry, pistachio, choco-banana, and hazelnut, all sold alongside the more traditional viennoiseries.

He’s been passionate about baking since his early teens when he started as an apprentice, despite the early 4:30 a.m. mornings and six-day work weeks.

Amid claims that up to 80% of croissants sold in France today are mass-produced, frozen versions, Frédéric is emerging as the nation's croissant crusader, standing up for the homemade, traditional croissant that forms such an important part of France's culinary identity. It’s a role fitting for someone whose last name, ‘Roy,’ is a homophone for 'roi,' meaning king in French.

For the past five years, he’s dedicated much of his time to lobbying politicians for a ‘croissant de tradition française’ label, a designation similar to the one already applied to baguettes.

“Some bakers have never even made a croissant themselves,” he says. “I just want people to truly understand what they’re buying.”

At Boulangerie Roy Le Capitole, a croissant takes three days to prepare – the optimal time to achieve the perfect texture and a subtly nutty flavor, according to Frédéric – crafted with only the highest quality ingredients, including 100% pure French unsalted butter.

He can bake up to 1,200 pur beurre (100% butter) croissants daily, depending on the season. In addition to delivering fresh croissants every morning to the renowned Hotel Negresco – the five-star beachfront hotel that hosts politicians, royalty, and celebrities – he is typically sold out by midday.

On weekends, it’s not uncommon for the line outside his bakery to stretch around the block.

Room for improvement

Albert spent two days exploring Nice before beginning his return journey to Belgium. This time, however, he only had to ride about 70 kilometers (43 miles) from Nice to the quaint village of Puget-Théniers, where a friend drove to pick him up along with his bike.

So, what did Albert think of Frédéric’s lavender croissants? Were they truly worth the two-week trek?

“They were tasty, but I think they could be made even better,” he says. “In Belgium, we often add pastry cream to croissants. Lavender and pastry cream together? That would be a true masterpiece.”