France Trip Day Four: Provence

[BumbleBeeDave]

After riding Alpe d' Huez it was time to leave the Alps and head over to Provence ,specifically a small town called Barroux near Mont Ventoux. We would be doing a general vineyard ride (i.e., FLAT, thank God!) and then tackling MV the next day by way of Bedoin, the town at the base of the famous route used in the Tour, Dauphine, etc.

The Alps weather once again provided some spectacular clouds and colors as we left and headed down toward the flatlands.

We passed many fields of the famous sunflowers and they all seemed to be in bloom. But if you can believe it, this is the closest I got to them. We never ONCE actually rode by a field of the things.

Also, the French seem to have this strange habit of saving their old airplanes and sticking them on poles by the roadside. Used Magister or Mirage anyone?

[BumbleBeeDave]

. . . got our rooms assigned, and got our bearings, we prepared to go out on our ride. That meant some careful looking at maps. That's because unlike the Alps, where there are limited roads to get lost on, here in Provence there are many, MANY roads to get lost on, and that was the last thing I wanted to do.

But I did get time to find some actual lavender, handily planted in a bit put by the hotel, and also get a pic of this lovingly maintained Citroen 2CV down the street from the hotel.

So we were off . . .and the countryside was just as pretty as you might imagine. Bright sunshine, large fields of grapes, well kept houses and farms--and Mont Ventoux and it's familiar TV tower towering over it all.

We went through several villages, including this one where this gate was historic for some reason that Dan told us about but that I can't for the life of me remember.

[BumbleBeeDave]

. . . I ended up off the back to get pics and lost the group, but then found Ali who had noticed I was gone and come back. So for a while I had the French countryside and villages all to myself with a pretty girl who's a stronger rider than me.

But then we did catch up with the group (dammit!) and we cruised into Bedoin, where at the regroup Dan said "Hey, that bar has a TV. Let's watch the end of the Tour stage!"

[BumbleBeeDave]

. . . ordered beers, and relaxed for an hour or so.

It was F****ng wonderful! I sat there thinking to myself here I am, in France, sitting in a French bar with the locals, drinking French beer, and watching the Tour de France on French TV--in French!

It just doesn't get any better than this--THIS is what I paid my money for! :D

[BumbleBeeDave]

. . . all good things come to an end, and finally the stage was over and we resumed our ride, passing many houses with colorful shutters and stopping for another history lesson at this beautiful--and huge--local church.

Dan showed us the door that is a historical landmark. In 1906 the French national assembly cancelled the official relationship between the church and the state and began an inventory of church property. Here' some more historic stuff about it:

http://www.concordatwatch.eu/showkb.php?org_id=867&kb_header_id=849&kb_id=5291

So the government sent out inspectors to inventory church property, and the townspeople of Bedoin barricaded the village. The army was called in, but when they got to the church the priest refused to give them the keys. So the soldiers hacked the lock out of the door--and the door with hole in it is still there. Dan knew all sortsof local historical stuff like this and it really added to the trip. Another reason I'd go with Trek Travel again in a heartbeat. Great guides!

So we cruised out of town, past many scenic houses with brightly painted shutters as the afternoon sun got lower. Once we got back to the hotel it was time for an ice cold Kroenenbourg. Aaaaah!

[BumbleBeeDave]

. . . we had a wonderful dinner with evening light pouring through the windows and curtains and making the table look like some expensively staged photo shoot out of a culinary magazine. Except there were no lights and no artifice. It was all real and wonderful. We lingered in the dining room until almost 10pm, when it finally did get dark and the glow on the Provence horizon faded.

Then it was time for a good night's sleep because tomorrow is . . . Mont Ventoux.

[FlashUNC]

So I take it you would recommend Trek Travel?

Their Classics trip is tempting...

[1happygirl]

We've all been waiting all summer for you to post from the trip. Beautiful photos as usual with great writing.

Appreciate your sacrifice to hang back and take photos with a hot chick:rolleyes:

Seriously appreciate the photos and writing in case I never make it, living' though yr writin' and photos

[alancw3]

great photos and commentary! thanks for sharing you lucky guy.

[BumbleBeeDave]

So I take it you would recommend Trek Travel?

Their Classics trip is tempting...

. . . without reservation. The trip went great and the guides were friendly, knowledgeable, and made sure we all had a great time.

BBD

[djg]

Killer Bee

Thanks for all these pics -- way cool, and remind me what I already knew all too well: I need to get back there for a proper bike trip.

We took the kids to France for the first time this summer -- a week in Paris and a week in Provence. First time in Europe for the kids (first time back to France in a long while for me and the wife, although we'd both been there during school and several times or so after) and not a cycling trip, alas (although it's not that sad a story). We had the same darn lilac deux chevaux parked in front of our stone mas in Provence (a couple of miles from St. Remy de Provence).

My cycling excursions were two. We were traveling south from Paris on July 14. I got up early, hopped the TGV to Avignon way in advance of the family, grabbed the rental and drove to Uzès, got lucky finding parking, and saw my first ever, live and in-person, TdF stage. Went back to Avignon to meet the family and proceed to our rental farmhouse. The magical thing about the TdF is that you can be late picking up your family in a foreign country and your wife won't give you a hard time about it. 4 or 5 days later I was given a few hours for a spin on a rental bike. I did the climb up to les Baux -- a ridge of about 1000 vertical feet, so vastly shorter than the Ventoux, but it looks cool, and it felt like a good stiff climb after 12 days off the bike.

No complaints about my own trip, which I helped plan myself, but yours looks great.

[Fiertetimestwo]

Great stuff Dave.

A few weeks ago we took my son out to a new restaurant (in Adelaide South Australia) to celebrate his fourteenth birthday - nice meal, but the highlight was a bottle of wine from the Cotes du Ventoux, a St Jean du Barroux, from Barroux.

(I should point out that the wine was consumed by my partner and me, not by my son!)

It has a lovely freehand squiggle on the label representing the Dentelles du Montmarail and Mont Ventoux.

Did you have nice wine when you there? If not, why not?

[Fixed]

Amazing photos and trip I am going read and reread it today thank you for sharing Dave
Cheers :)

[rustychisel]

Great stuff Dave.

Many of us have similar memories and experiences, and observations. On the point of aircraft and other 'monuments', one of the things I found interesting is that you can be very close to an air force base, for example, and have no idea it is there. Except, perhaps, when you see a Mirage on a pole. Seen the Concord at CDG Paris? It really is amazingly small?

Anyway, the French have the territory etc to 'hide' things away, and they do. You can pass within 2 miles of a nuclear power station and not have a clue it's there, tucked away in a fold of the landscape, and they tend not to draw attention to things in the same way as the US where, for example, you usually know you're in a military town.

My partner and I had dinner one evening in Castelnaudrary, a lovely town in the Aude, and it seemed remarkable that nearly every young man was taut, trim and an absolute bagful of muscle. Then I realised that the Foreign Legion's main training base is just a mile or two out of town and nearly all the recruits come into centreville to socialise. Wearing tight T-shirts, but casuals, not uniform. Pretty sure they don't have a big crime problem in Castelnaudary.

Anyway, it's good to hear you had a great time.

[19wisconsin64]

Dave, thanks for sharing these great pictures and giving us the details! Hopefully, someday soon, I'll be making a trip like yours.