A Ride to Provence in Late November (18 - 23 November 2014)

After nearly 2 months in and around Ardèche and the neighboring departments, we finally made a move to the south of France; in other words, Provence.  People have been telling us for weeks: head to Provence, even when it's cold there, it's a "warm" cold.  Not like the rest of France.  We had 200 km to do, at least 4 if not 5 days of riding for us in this season of early nightfall.  With the ground wet and night temperatures a bit on the cold side, we decided to avoid camping and so we arranged Warm Showers stays every night of this ride, something we would usually never do (lots of organization; directions and house-finding; hours to arrive and to leave by; etc.).  However, we met some lovely people as we went, who inspired us through travel stories and travel plans, often over home-cooked meals...

 

Leaving Meyras, we chose the Route Panoramique to descend back to the Rhone...

... needless to say, this was a great option!  Tournon spreads out below as we approach.

Our first stop was a brief visit to say goodbye to Eegi and Patrick in Tain.  Jeff with their young son Gabriel.

Eegi and Elsa gettin' silly.

Gabriel and Bo hanging out.

Dusk colors over the Rhone near Bourg-les-Valence.

In Valence we stayed with Charlotte and Olivier, a WS host with two sons.  These guys inspired us with their stories of bike travels and their years living as expats in Mayotte and in New Caledonia. 

Charlotte makes furniture out of cardboard, like this bookshelf above. 

Stopping off at one of our favorite boulangeries in Valence for some croissants d'amande (almond croissants). 



Cormorant on the Rhone.

A good day for flying.

Crossing the Rhone at La Voulte sur Rhone.

Our destination, Loriol-sur-Drome, marked our departure from the ViaRhona.

The Drome River, seen here to the right of Katy, immediately attracted us by its natural attributes.

In Loriol we stayed with Maud and Lionel, who have two twin daughters (5 y.o.), Sofia and Maelle, and a son named Lucas about Bodhi's age. 

Maud and Lionel are kind of our heroes: when their daughters were 21 months old, they embarked on a 6-month cycle trip from the Black Sea to the Atlantic including riding the entire EuroVelo 6.  They showed us picture books of their entire trip, above which is the volume through Romania.

Bathtub fun with the boys, Bo and Lucas.

Bo has a wander about... lavender fields!  A little south of Montelimar, as we navigated low-trafficked country roads through the department of Drome, the climate and the ecosystem changed suddenly: it was warmer, drier and the air smelled different... Mediterranean climate!

Who is this???

Provence is well-known for its hilltop villages, like this one.

Not too far from St. Paul 3 Chateaux, in a village called St. Restitut, we stayed with this young couple, Alex and Jordane, and their daughter, Lily.  These two were very generous with their time and their sharing of local culture: here we tried calissons and morue (salted cod spread) for the first time.  

St. Restitut's hexagonal chapel, in early Gothic style, dates back to the 16th century.

Bo having a look about St. Restitut.

We borrowed Lily's bike for a tour of the backyard.  This is the house that Alex and Jordane have had restored.



Descending from St. Restitut we hit some nice scenery.

Entering Suze-la-Rousse, complete with hilltop chateau.

You know you're in Provence when you cycle past olive orchards on one side...

... and vineyards to the other.

These folks take wine production seriously around here. (near Suze)

A warm enough day to ride on his bikeseat, the first in awhile.  

A gorgeous view towards two of Provence's well-known landmarks: Mt. Ventoux (left, summit clouded over) and the Dentelles de Montmirail (right). 

 

In Sorgues we were invited to stay by yet another WS host with kids: Cyril and Sarah.

 

Jeff bumrushed by boys. 

 

Here we all are.

Leaving Sorgues, while looking for a supermarket, we mistakenly entered Hell (otherwise known as Avignon Nord) a giant endless boxstore nightmare that gave our fascination with France a serious test.  After months of stunning landscapes and architectural beauty and charming villages and towns, this was like turning left into New Jersey or Southern California.  Bored uninspired people with too much money driving around buying ugly useless crap.  We later found out that southern Provence has followed a very American-like development model: it has the greatest percentage of commercial real estate in France.  Repulsive.

Fleeing Sorgues, we had a small picnic.  Pictured here is a sport that we are gradually developing: Nappy Tossing.  Katy is the reigning champion (notorious distinction).  It generally involves a nappy and a wastebin and a variable distance between the two, as well as local twists.  (In this case, Bodhi laying on a bench watching his dirty nappy flying over his head, surely thinking, "my parents are fun and have a sense of humor!")  The winner is whoever lands the nappy in the bin in the least number of shots, clearly. 

Riding through the village of Le Thor.  Heading southeast through the department of Vaucluse.

This is our fifth consecutive day of cycling followed by Warm Showers hosting.  This was a magic moment: Antoine unveiled a soprano AND a baritone ukulele, to which we added our tenor, and suddenly we had a ukulele orchestra. 

Francois, Bo with Lou, and Antoine.  A great WS stay in Cheval Blanc. 

Vineyards at the foot of the Luberon, the striking low-elevation mountain range that dominates this area.

The Durance River is the other natural feature that defines this part of Vaucluse.

The dramatically-situated village of Lauris.

Our next destination: the floodplains of the Durance, perfect for growing vegetables...

 

 

Alas, this would be our last cycling section of 2014: from here, Katy and Bodhi flew back to England for the month of December and shortly thereafter Jeff travelled to the States... with a reunion in Marseilles planned for 11 January, and a forward continuation of our travels.