If asked to name my favourite holiday destination, France would be pretty high up the list.

Despite being a vegetarian, I always manage to eat amazing food, albeit with a bit of a sneer from French waiting staff.

So going on a cycling in holiday in France with added wine tasting seemed too good to be true, and it nearly was.

I was to follow a Chain Gang Tour'; a company based in Exeter offering guided cycle rides in various regions of France and Italy.

The holidays all have a big emphasis on good food but I was lucky enough to experience one which also offered a chance to try some amazing wine.

This tour was in the Burgundy region, coincidently producers of the world's best white wine (and not too bad at red either).

I took the train from Oxford to our starting point in Montbard, near Dijon, meeting up with my friend Alice at Waterloo - a new convert to long cycle rides, she saw this opportunity to cycle and sample gourmet food irresistible. As we found our seats on the train, we were slightly concerned to see the two men opposite us also with Chain Gang Tours information - they oozed serious cyclist.

You know the type, multi-coloured lycra and terrifying calf muscles. Oh well, too late now - there was always the wine Happily, there was a three-hour wait between trains in Paris so we trotted off for a lovely bistro lunch, meaning to start as we meant to go on.

We got to Montbard without a hitch just in time for dinner. This was when we first met our guide and the rest of the people that we would be spending the next week with.

A mixed bunch by any standards, hailing from all over the globe and bringing with them a huge variation of cycling experience.

The scenery, the wine, the company; there are lots of reasons to recommend this holiday, but the food really blew me away.

As I previously mentioned, I'm vegetarian and this is generally frowned upon in France.

Going with Chain Gang Tours meant that all the places we stayed were quite used to providing for all sorts of faddy diets, so I was in safe gastronomical hands.

Everywhere we went people were passionate about their regional food and wine.

The local specialities include Boeuf Bourguignon, poached eggs in a red wine sauce (nicer than it sounds) and of course a wide range of cheeses.

We ate five-course meals every night, so I needed to get cycling to make sure I didn't turn into a blimp.

We were introduced to our bikes soon after breakfast on the Sunday morning. A cursory glance at it told me that it would do - in fact it was pretty similar to my bike back home (so much easier than bringing my bike with me, however civilised the trains were).

Thirteen of us wobbled off to a rather shaky start just before ten. The first hurdle to get over was cycling on the right - this really did not come naturally and it took me a while to work out how I should be looking over my shoulder.

We all had maps of the route we were taking but at this early stage we pretty much stayed together. That initial ride lasted only 20 minutes - just time enough to cycle to Fontenay Abbey.

This is the oldest Cistercian abbey in the world, and walking around buildings which have been in existence for so long was somewhat humbling.

Half an hour of history later and we were back on our bikes. A quick spin through a few picturesque villages and we met up with another companion for our trip - the Burgundy canal.

Handily, this canal spans the whole region and provides a flat, quiet route, which is perfect for cycling.

The canal became a feature on the majority of days with killer hills either side thrown in for good measure.

Each evening it was a joy to arrive at our hotel with our luggage already there, arranged by the tour company.

We stayed in some quite amazing places too. I had lots of favourites but one of them was Chateauneuf.

This really lives up to its classification as one of France's most beautiful villages.

It's a medieval village perched on the top of a hill (so getting there was another story), but once we were there we didn't want to leave.

The night we spent in Chateauneuf was also one of the best nights foodwise - beautifully presented exquisite meals which were so pretty I photographed them before I ate them!

By Chateauneuf we had done quite a lot of serious cycling. I started off at the front of the pack but soon decided there was more fun to be had at the back - I was on holiday after all.

The cycling wasn't too strenuous but the hills are always tough. There was also a bit of swimming on offer for those with muscles which hadn't quite had enough.

After seeing a bit more of the Burgundy canal and conquering some fabulous climbs, we finally made it to some serious grape growers.

I learned a vast amount about Burgundy wine - which grapes are used, how to taste it, the nomenclature (and all this during first tasting).

There were plenty of vineyards to cycle through and several tastings to do, a lovely way in fact to spend several sunny days in France.

We also got an added treat of a visit to a Cassis factory. Dijon is famous for its cassis production. I am a big fan of cassis but even for me it was a bit of a struggle before midday.

Lunch would often be a picnic - it seemed a shame not to when it was such good weather. We'd descend on a supermarch and pick up a wide range of food, creating a spread fit for a king, possibly accompanied by a cheeky little rose.

Despite our huge variation, our group really gelled. It was a pleasure meeting such lovely people. I made some great friends and laughed a lot.

Alice and I tried to keep everyone going by singing when we had hills to climb.

My friend also came up with the great prank of adding a rock to somebody else's pannier.

We thought he would find it quickly enough but actually he rode with it all day - sorry about that David, no hard feelings?

Indeed, by the end of the week the more juvenile the jokes, the funnier they seemed. I was really lucky to get to Beaune, our final resting place. I'd been laughing so hard that there were tears in my eyes.

The journey home was made all the sweeter by some Burgundy rose and one last French meal with Alice on the Eurostar.

Then back to Oxford to persuade my husband that five-course meals were the new order of the day.