Our friends are convinced that we are mad.To be honest, they have always suspected this and our determination to take three children and a new-born baby to France has done nothing but confirm their worst fears. Even now I can remember the first glimpse we had of the Vaucluse Plateau and Mont Ventoux. With the scent of lavender, thyme, rosemary and pine in our nostrils we drove south through a little pine forest and then the plateau spread out in front of us, dominated by the mountain. There are moments in our lives which, when seen with the benefit of hindsight, prove to have been pivotal and this was one of them, although at the time we were blissfully unaware of it. The spell was almost wrought and we set out on the path from which there would be no deviation.