Sorry I've been out of touch... It's hard work being a cyclist! But seriously, we usually get in with just enough time to shower before having an amazing feast of a dinner, followed by drinks and/or walking around town and/or a crazy game of Uno. With all of that, I usually don't get to my room (and to bed) until after midnight. Then we get up around 9 or so to get breakfast and start all over again! So, like I said, being a cyclist is hard work.
Anyways, today we cycled into Aix-en-Provence, which is the final destination of the Provence portion of my cycling trip. Since I pretty much didn't update during most of the trip, I'll now give you a summary. I think when I left off (in terms of text) was the day before our trip through Les Apilles. So I'll start there:
I climbed the mini Alps, you guys! I was pretty nervous about the day because it had been rather hyped up. The hills were hard but I think we paced ourselves well. Some highlights include : Les Baux, an old fort on top of a mountain; a coffee at a lovely cafe by a fountain; and fresh apricot juice at a local organic vineyard. Overall, I think the trip was 63k. That night, we ended up in Cavaillon (known for their melons) where we stayed two nights.
The next day we rode around a bit in the morning through beautiful countryside to a touristy town along a river to see the Vaucluse Fountain. We also stopped at a local fruit stand along the side of the road (pictured) and bought a bunch of cherries. Like a lot of cherries. As the day went on people were pushing cherries like no other.
After the short ride, we were supposed to take a train to Avignon. The train was down so somehow we ended up on a bus. To Aix-en-Provence. Which is in the other direction. Luckily we noticed fairly early-on and the bus driver was kind enough to drop us off and the next train station. This would have been great except that the station had been closed for five years and we had no idea where we were (Provence? Maybe?). We found a cafe and an unhelpful tourist office where we got directions back to Cavaillon and started the ride back. This ride was kinda long, was on a busy road, and had a head wind. Sweet! At one point, we were cycling across a bridge on the sidewalk as winds were gusting at us. Scary! Luckily we survived :) Overall, I think we went about 50k. That night we had couscous for dinner in Cavaillon. Yum!
I think Wednesday was my favorite day of cycling. We went through the Luberon, which is where Peter Mayle lives/writes. We went from hillside town to hillside town (Oppède-le-Vieux, Ménerbes, Lacoste, and Bonnieux), stopping in each one for a picnic lunch, a café, and icecream. Overall, it was super hilly but the views of the Luberon valley below us were spectacular! The distance was about 40k. For the next two nights, we stayed at a country inn that was nestled in a gorge. The setting was amazing though the climb out the next day was a daunting task.
I like to think of Thursday as my "hardcore day." I went on a ride with Lyn (guide) and Darwin (father of father and son team) through the Luberon (I think). Basically, we climbed a bunch of mountains (or maybe hills... And I guess it was really just 3 major climbs). It was also about 90 degrees outside. I'm not even sure how far we went... But I think it was far :) Even though it was hard, I kind of liked/loved the sense of accomplishment at the end. Hmmm what else? Darwin was wearing socks with sperm on them (apparently they're called "survival of the fittest") and my life was saved by two melons bought and consumed at a roadside stand just before starting a huge climb.
Also something amazing happened to John (son of the father and son team) while we were out. He had decided to stay at the inn and hike around instead of going for a ride. While he was walking through the woods, he disrupted a nest of insects (he claims they are bees but were probably just flies or something) and they chased him for a while. Isn't the just hilarious? I mean, who knew that kind of stuff actually happened?!
Our final day of cycling brought us through the market at Loumarin into Aix. The market was pretty bustling and had everything from produce to arts and crafts to clothes. Aix-en-Provence is actually kind of big and a cute university town. At night, we wandered around trying to act like college kids. We ended up at this club called Scat and it was pretty cool! The whole place was underground and had different caves with different music. Well they mostly had a bar cave, a dance party cave, and a rock music cave with a french band playing covers of songs like "Sweet Home Alabama." Somehow the french accent doesn't quite cut it :) Overall, it was a good ending to the first half of my trip.
Now I'm on the train to Italy (we're actually about to stop in Nice) for the next portion. I'll try to keep you all more updated as I go along.
Sent from my Verizon Wireless BlackBerry
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