Jan 9, 2013 - The Last Day in France

On our last day in France we motored around to several little villages. They were each different but all old and great places to take pictures. We ended up in a village and decided to have lunch had a ham and cheese omelet with salad it was the best meal huge portion. We were going through the mountains on hairpin turns and came upon a bicycle accident the bike must have gotten away from him going downhill fast. We stayed in a great bed and breakfast and they gave us ideas about what to see which is how we came upon the church in the...

Jan 8, 2013 - Made it to our Bed and Breakfast in France

We arrived in the town of our bed and breakfast at about 8 at night. I had read it was better to park down by the first fountain and walk up. We did that lugging our suitcases you can see it is a very old place with cobblestone streets going up and up. I was looking for the defibrilator when we got to the place we are staying. I have been up and down that hill many times since and am still not finding it any easier. The place we are staying is wonderful I will send some inside pictures tomorrow. The streets have a different view every turn...

Sep 27, 2012 - Day of choices - over the mountain or around it!

According to the Tour Itinerary -- Day 5 Riding towards Ventoux Today can be an easy day, or a mighty tough one! We are based in Vaison, so no packing up in the morning. The easier option is a loop ride out to Nyons in the heart of lavender country. On the way we will stop for a tasting in the newly classified Vinsobres region. Previously a "Village Côtes du Rhone, in 2006 it was elevated to its own Premier Cru ranking because of the exceptional quality of its wine. Nyons itself, with its Roman bridge and medieval fortifications is an...

Sep 17, 2011 - The Day from Hill(s)

Pretty ominous sounding name, huh? I came up with that while climbing one of many hills today in the heat! The myth that this might be a relatively flat ride got shot to bits today. They mean it when they say the 'hills' of Provence! Ok, I'll stop whining now. I know, look where we are. Riding bikes in France through fields of grapes and ancient towns. It was a very nice day for riding in spite of the heat. We rode on some 'wee' roads, as they are called in Ireland - those little roads with barely enough room for cars to pass, no...

Sep 16, 2011 - The Start of the Bike Trip

Today was another travel day, so to speak.  We needed to be in Vaison la Romaine today to start our bike tour.  Actually that meant being at our hotel by 5:30 to meet Isabel, our local tour manager.  But having had a few hiccups in our train and bus travel, we figured we'd better get on the road at a reasonable hour.  So this morning we visited the train station to find out how to get to Orange in time to catch the 1:15 bus from Orange to Vaison la Romaine.  A train was leaving at 12:16, so we had about two hours to explore Avignon.  We did...

Jul 20, 2011 - Cotes du Rhone

Road trip number 2! Destination: Cotes du Rhone, specifically the Southern Rhone Valley. We had an early start this morning and headed west to visit the wine country in Provence. Our itinerary was inspired by Rick Steve’s Cote du Rhone Wine Road Driving Tour, but our is definitely the much abbreviated version. This is an open-ended road trip as we did not know if we were going to stay the night in the area or if we would come home tonight… not quite my style as I am too much of a planner, but I just had to let it go… It took us just shy of...

Jun 30, 2009 - Dernière journée à Vaison-La-Romaine! sniff

Lundi le 29 8h00 Ahhh, après une bonne cyclo, on se permet de se lever plus tard le lendemain. Nous allons chercher des croissants et une baguette à la réception du camping, puis nous commençons notre journée par le rituel : déjeuner, vaisselle, lavage pour étendre au soleil… Aujourd’hui, nous allons visiter la ville, et acheter des petits souvenirs. 10h40 Départ pour Vaison-la-Romaine, pour cette fois-ci une visite. Les sites archéologiques sont payants, alors nous optons pour monter la côte rocheuse où est nichée la vieille ville de...

Jun 28, 2009 - La Vauclusienne: Le Ventoux

Compte-rendu de Benoit Dimanche le 28 – La Vauclusienne 6h30 levée plus tôt ce matin afin de digérer avant l’épreuve. Déjeuner copieux, avec céréales, banane, pain doré…le but : glucides avant l’épreuve, pas de gras, donc pas de chocolat! Ça va bien ce matin, après une bonne nuit, et la route est bonne sous les roues…on se prépare en montant un peu la route vers le camping, question de dérouiller le cœur et les jambes 9h00 Le départ est donné : il y a environ cinq cents personnes : le peloton est en marche sans trop de problème : il faut...

Jun 27, 2009 - Avant le grand jour...mise en jambes!

7h30 Dring, un nouveau jour se lève, aujourd’hui jour avant la cyclo : le mot d’ordre est le repos. N’empêche, j’insiste pour aller faire le tour des dentelles de Montmirail, un massif rocheux près d’ici. Le trajet proposé est de 65 km, pas de quoi fouetter un chat, n’empêche, nous découvrirons 650 m de dénivelé. C’est peu cependant devant les 3500 m et les 126 km qui nous attendent dans la cyclo…Je me demande encore à quelle heure je vais arriver, sachant que le Mont Ventoux et ses 1500 m sont dans les 50 premiers km! Aujourd’hui, le vent...

Jun 26, 2009 - Dans la région du Ventoux...

Vendredi 26 et samedi 27 La beauté du monde se révèle au cycliste! 9h30 Après un bon petit déjeuner, composé, selon la journée, de céréales granola, pain avec Nutella ou pâte de noisette, jus, et quelque fois, croissants, nous sommes roulant euh, non prêt à rouler. Aujourd’hui, difficile de partir pour moi, la tête et les jambes lourdes (ça doit être le vin de noix d’hier). 11h00 Au fil des km, on se réveille, puis, la route aidant, on monte dans des petits cols qui nous révèlent la beauté de la région : champs de vignes, d’oliviers,...