and cherrys. and rain... after our summer in Croatia (maybe we were just lucky with the weather), we are well and truly back to spring weather. unpredictable. brilliant sunshine one moment, rain the next. The day we did the grand canyon it was cold enough to harden the caramel in my snickers-imitation chocolate bar (ok, so we were up in some alps) and then the sun came out after 3pm, and it was still hot at 8pm...
The problem with travel guides is they manage to make every suggestion sound unmissable. Lonely planet's description of a 35km detour through a gorge sounded wonderful "spectacular, deep gorge". so we did it. and it just didn't compare to the previous two gorges we have done recently... still a nice ride and lovely villages (Lourmarin and Vaugine) at other end though...
We stayed that night at Fontaine de Vaucluse (famous for a large spring). It threatened to rain all day and finally did just before we got there.
Vaugine's point of difference is it's moss fountain
On Sunday we cycled a short distance to Murs. Minutes before we left Byrdie put the map on my bike, as if I would navigate. She lead the way and stopped at a few intersections to consult her book... The rain set in pretty much straight away. We stopped at one of France's most beautiful villages (we've seen quite a few of these, actually officially signposted as), Gordes and sheltered in a phone booth and made a few calls.
The rain cleared that evening so we did a (11km each way) side trip to Roussilon famous for it's distinctive coloured ochre earth and matching buildings. Unfortunately the ochre trail, the main point of interest, was closed...
We woke the next morning with a large puddle of water encroaching our tent... we sheltered next to the toilets (again) for breakfast and when it cleared set off...
we did 70km to Sault, through Gorges de la Nesque (and it actually was spectacular). Byrdie was Miss Energizer Bunny. Her and her legs seemed to not realise it was uphill (and had been continuously for the previous 20km), as she effortlessly cruised ahead, one hand on handlebars the other taking videos. me struggling to keep up. funny how at first she was so concerned about memory space on camera, now does video after video...
Sault is the highest entry village to the famous Mt Ventoux (has been part of Tour De France). We plan to go over it. with fully loaded bikes. depending on the weather...
Soon after arriving in Sault we met a bunch of kiwi blokes (man, does the accent sound rough!), on a serious cycle tour (full support crew, fancy gear). They'd just come over Mt Ventoux and had done 1200km in the previous 7 days. talk about testosterone overload.
Byrdie said last time she cycled over Mt Ventoux, she let the food run right down to reduce weight on the bike. so by the time they got down the other side, they were starving and the bakery closed minutes before (Richard was not impressed). Let's not make the same mistake she decided... we should get over Mt Ventoux before the bakery closes.
The weather forecast was terrible for today, so we are having a day off. and there is FREE internet at a Ministry of something office place. AND we went out to a RESTAURANT for lunch. would you believe. had one set menu and one main to share. The set menu had a choice of cow or bull for the main dishes. grrrr MEAT
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