The new heights of Mont Ventoux

"To-day I made the ascent of the highest mountain in this region, which is not improperly called Ventosum. My only motive was the wish to see what so great an elevation had to offer."

Thus Petrarch begins the account of his ascent of Mont Ventoux in April 1336. To believe the story, Petrarch's humanist impulse pushed him to climb a mountain for the sheer…