The Luberon By Bike

Part 2 of my holidays: On Wednesday Daniel arrived in Avignon. Despite my enthusiastic attempts to teach him the bare minimum French he would need to get by: 'je ne parle pas francais' and 'parlez-vous anglais?', I needn't have worried because he managed to make himself perfectly clear by pointing at his chest and saying loudly, 'ENGLISH'. He had to get the train from London to Paris and change from Paris Gare du Nord to Gare du Lyon which is no mean feat, navigating the Paris metro on your own without a word of French. However, he arrived all in one piece. 

Daniel in Provence

On Thursday we had a relaxing day in Apt, the sun was shining and we had several coffees, several pastries, and wandered leisurely through the town. It was Halloween and as we meandered back through the streets, which are very atmospheric, especially now they are strung with millions of Christmas lights (not turned on yet but still beautiful) lots of little ghosts, witches, zombies and devils were running through the streets, going into all the shops where the shopkeepers had sweets and chocolates for them. Friday we went to Avignon, on 'jour de la toussaint' (a public holiday) which was not my brightest idea, as all the shops were closed, but we still wandered round the 'Palais des Papes' and past the 'Pont d'Avignon' and then stopped for ice cream and coffee.

I really wanted to show Daniel more of Provence so on Saturday, after meandering through the market and discovering a lovely coffee shop called Royal Mocka which does amazing flavoured coffees and orange, spice and hazelnut hot chocolate (you can guess what I had), we went along to one of the bike shops in Apt and hired two bikes for the afternoon. It seems like a small thing but even the conversation with the bike man, conducted in French, is a benchmark of how much further my language has come on. Biking is very popular in Provence and you can see why, with stunning countryside and beautiful weather there are few ways better to enjoy it than on a bike. Also, from Apt you can see the summit of the legendary Mont Ventoux, the mountain famed for one of the most grueling climbs in the Tour de France. We found the bike route and set off, through vines, turning reddy gold as Autumn takes hold, fields of lavender, avenues of Plane and Cyprus trees. It was picture perfect. 

We did a 50k cycle followed the trail 'des Ocres' up to the gorgeous hilltop village of Rousillon, much famed for the colours of the rock, and then through the valley and back up to Gordes, another very special provençal village. It was gruelling for two novice cyclers, with steep climbs as both Rousillon and Gordes are perched high on hill tops. In both villages we stopped for ice creams, sandwiches, cold drinks and pastries, before pushing on to finish the journey before the sun started to go down. By the time we had turned for home, both our bottoms were so numb we couldn't sit on the saddle, and were both walking bow legged the next day. We free wheeled down the valleys with Daniel calling behind me the nonsensical bits of French he had picked up 'enchanté', 'jean-claude' and 'je pense' (Pleased to meet you, Jean-Claude, I think). 

look Mum- helmets!

Roussillon

Gordes

We got home, returned the bikes, and then got changed and went out for dinner. Bear in mind, Saturday night at seven we went to what I think is the most popular restaurant in Apt, and it was empty. Gingerly I opened the door and inquired if they were open. 'Bien sûr mademoiselle!'. As we sat and ordered drinks it became clear we had taken the only free table- all the others were booked but for much later. Another thing about France, they eat very late. By the time we left at half nine the restaurant was filling up, and we had devoured two delicious pizzas, chocolate melt-in-the-middle puddings, wine and hot chocolates. 

Sunday was touch and go if we would be able to walk after our intense bike ride, but we powered through and packed a picnic, following the footpath up to Saignon, on another sunny day, and sat on the peak, where the view is spectacular and it really does feel like the edge of the world. It was the same route Becca and I had taken before but it was as wondrous the second time round. We then moseyed around Saignon for the afternoon, climbed up onto the rock which sits at the end of the village and has panoramic views of the Luberon. From there we could see in the very far distance, Rousillon and Gordes, and how far we had been the day before. We sat for a bit and enjoyed the view and then we climbed back down, realising we would have to say goodbye again very soon.