Such A Perfect Day

Yesterday was the sort of day that Lou Reed was thinking about when he wrote that song. The sun finally decided to return to Bonnieux so we were up at the crack of dawn and ready to depart on our final cycling trip of the holiday. The air was still fresh as we headed out from the villa so Marion wore a cardigan for the first part of the journey as we headed downhill to Lacoste.

We're quite fit after so much cycling so we even rode some of the way under our own steam with the power switched off. We stopped for a well earned breakfast at a bistro in the tiny hamlet of St Pantaleon. Cycling means that pain au chocolat - the perfect French breakfast -is not off limits.

From St Pantaleon we headed to Gordes. Clinging to the mountainside, Gordes has to be the most spectacular town in Provence and consequently it's spectacularly busy so, apart from the customary photo courtesy of some Chinese tourists, we gave it a miss. 

We did, however, find the near deserted historic village of bories (dry stone dwellings) nearby. This is a fascinating historic site and well worth the 3.5km detour.

From Gordes we took a steep climb towards the famous and spectacular Abbaye de Senanque. Even with electric bikes this was a difficult ascent. Conventional cyclists were barely inching up the road and it was fun to pass these bent double and super fit but struggling athletes sitting upright as if on a trip to the shops and giving them a friendly wave and a few words of explanation in French "Nos velos sont electrique mais nous avons soixante ans".

The ride down from the summit towards the abbey was incredible - even using both brakes we were travelling at dangerous speeds. The abbey has famous lavender fields in front of it but we could see that the lavender wasn't in bloom yet and there were a couple of coaches outside so we gave it a miss and took another steep climb to Murs. By now it was time for lunch but Murs looked pretty deserted and the only restaurant was empty so we decided to journey on and look for somewhere en route.

What a great decision that was as, about fifteen minutes later we saw a sign to Le Mas Des Herbes Blanches together with five stars and a Relais & Chateau sign. Although a little dusty from our cycling we were welcomed into the beautiful restaurant with panoramic views across the Luberon and enjoyed a delicious three course meal with fantastic service. We only paid twenty or thirty euros more than we've been paying for our usual lunches and this was very special - so great value for money.

From the Mas it was time to cycle on to Roussillon, the famous red town. It's another lovely place and, despite the mass of tourists, we made a stop to change the bike batteries in a central cafe and had a look at the amazing views.

It was all downhill from Roussillon as we returned to Bonnieux via the ancient Roman bridge Pont St Julien. We were sad to hand the bikes back to Sun E Bikes - hiring those bikes was the best decision of the week in Bonnieux. We rode over 70 kilometres yesterday but it was easy.

As the sun went down we enjoyed some fruit and a glass of wine on one of the villa's terraces -  a perfect end to a perfect day.

Now It's The Tour De Luberon

I know I shouldn't grumble but it's Sod's Law that we book a cycle tour and ride in temperatures approaching forty centigrade in the shade and then book a luxury villa with swimming pool for the remainder of the holiday and the temperatures drop by twenty degrees. So, with the swimming pool merely something that makes a pretty photo, we were left with the question of what to do here in pretty Bonnieux.

There are no prizes for guessing what we came up with and yesterday we set out on our rented bikes. There's a slight difference this time, Bonnieux is in a very hilly region so we have given ourselves a bit of a break and gone for electric bikes. You can still peddle them (they won't go if you don't) but climbing hills is a breeze and we take great pleasure in flying past real cyclists as they puff and pant their way to the summit.

And they really have been summits. We've climbed until our ears have popped and we've ridden along a ridge that has clear views down to the Mediterranean coast.

We're on our second day of bike hire at the moment as, at 60 Euros a day, seven days would have been an extravagance but it's been well worth it and we've done two rides totaling about 90 km. Today we rode through a forest on a ridge that separated the Luberon from the south. Sadly it was grey and cold but yesterday was mild and sunny and the route that the rental company gave us took us through some fabulous scenery.

The last stop on yesterday's route was Oppede Le Vieux a deserted medieval town high on a hillside. It was a beautiful place and we stopped for lunch in the restaurant.

We has a fabulous lunch in a stunning setting.

The public WC was far from stunning and it amazes me how many of these hole in the

ground loos remain in France - it's the one time that constipation is welcome. We're in the 21st century now!

We saw some absolutely beautiful places including the lovely Menerbes made famous by Peter Mayle. It's certainly a beautiful little town but even today,many years after the book's heyday, it's very busy with visitors. We also rode to Lacoste. Much of this super medieval village including its castle has been bought by Pierre Cardin who has done it up to an amazing standard (nor quite The Mowbrays).It's a magnificently photogenic place but it somehow feels sterile as if Cardin has sucked all the life out of it and left us with a manicured film set. Tomorrow we're off on our final bike ride - at 70 kilometers it should be a fitting last day but two to the end of the holiday. I'll finish today with some of the very pretty places we've cycled to.

Settling Into Bonnieux

                                         
After five days of early mornings it was strange to have a lie in on Saturday at Hotel Particulier in Arles. We were lucky to have a fabulous room for our last night. Tour leader Gary explained that all the hotels have a few superior rooms and he tries to share these evenly throughout the week. 

Marion looked stunning as we headed out to dinner with our fellow cyclists for the last time. We celebrated our last evening with champagne at the hotel before heading to a restaurant in Arles for our last meal together. As always the meal was a fun affair and we will miss the conversation. Food and wine have been major features of the cycling week and I was able to eat like a king without worrying about my weight.

                                               

Sadly I won't be able to eat like this at lunchtime again unless I want to put on a couple of stones.

From Arles we headed to Avignon by taxi to pick up our car from Hotel D'Europe. And from there we drove here to a fabulous villa that we've rented in Bonnieux. The weather has cooled down and we've had a bit of rain but we're set for a relaxing time.

We will miss the characters we met on our cycle. There was the extremely modest  Steve - a very successful businessman with tremendous leadership qualities, his lovely wife Carin a devoted mum and fellow writer, the super fit Tim who, despite being a few years older than me managed to be first man to the top of every hill. Tim is a truly nice guy who recently retired from an executive role in one of the world's biggest chemical corporations. I said he was first man to the summits as his wife Therese, whose rendition of Chantilly Lace was one of the week's highlights, was often there before him - Therese is an amazing athlete and also an artist in glass. Our final couple were Mark , who works with Steve, and his wife Wendy. Mark has a fabulous sense of humour and gave us all plenty of laughs. Wendy works out almost every day and, coped brilliantly with all the climbs. It's hard to believe that the eldest of her three kids has almost completed university.

We hope that social media will allow us to follow their futures and we hope that they enjoy the rest of their holidays and have good return journeys to South Africa and the USA.