The incredible, spectacular Canyon du Verdon (Alpes-de-Haute-Provence)
(The attached map outlines our route.)
(Click on the thumbnail pictures to see a larger view)
May 25: After 8 days in Italy we were up and out of the hotel in
Siena by 6:00 AM for a
taxi to the rail station to catch an early train so that we could avoid the rail
strike set to begin at 9:00 AM. Our train was delayed and would arrive too late
for us to make our connection in Empoli so we took another train at .... oh,
never mind! It was complicated. We finally got into Nice around 6:00 PM - 5
trains later! Bikes and stored luggage
were still there. We walked along the beachside promenade after supper. The Nice
waterfront forms a wide arc all the way around to the airport a few km away. The
brightly lit casino and hotels and apartment buildings give a taste of what to
expect all along the Côte d'Azur. It sounds tacky but it's actually quite
beautiful. It would probably be nice to be rich.
May 26: We loaded up the bikes and set out down the busy
rue Jean Médecin to the Mediterranean. There's a designated bike lane on
the wide promenade between the busy road and the beach. The bike lane lasted
almost to the airport and then we hugged the curb lane of a busy 8 lane road
until we finally escaped at Cagnes-sur-Mer. About 2 km outside of
Cagnes we
began the 15 km climb to Châteauneuf, just above Grasse. As is typical on busy
French roads, it was a fairly gentle climb although I did make generous use of
my "granny" gear. We picked up lunch stuff along the way in Roquefort-les-Pins -
the usual: tomatoes, carrots and yogurt - and ate it on a bench a few km up the
hill. We enjoyed a gentle 6 km descent into Grasse where we stopped for a drink.
Carol went off to tour this charming medieval town while I oiled the bike
chains, wrote these notes and tried to figure out a way to secure Carol's
handlebar bag on to the bike because the plastic clasp had snapped off when the
bike fell over while she was taking a photo. (I tried a variety
of bungee cord solutions over the next couple of days before finding a
dependable one.) There was a monument right across the street which
indicated that Napoleon had stopped here at noon on March 2, 1815, after
returning from Elba on his triumphal march to Paris. We were on the
route Napoléon. Carol reported that the cathedral and the hôtel de ville
(town hall),
both dating from the 12th c, were very nice. The cathedral is large with a dark
stone interior and several fine paintings. The WW1 war memorial is quite
beautiful although the 100+ names of young men killed, "Mort pour la France! ",
is depressing! Across the street was the turn toward St. Vallier-de-Thiey. We
were instantly on a steep (10%) 2.5 km climb with several switchbacks before the
pitch lessened a little for the remainder of the 9 km climb to the Col de Pilon,
nearly 800 m above the promenade along the beach at Nice. The climb took 2 hours
in 30°C/86°F sunshine. It's no wonder I lose weight on these trips. We finished our
ride with a fast 3 km descent into St. Vallier. It was a tough first day, 53 km.
We had dinner on the terrasse of the hotel. There was a sign on the wall
beside us: "Ces murs ont abrité Napoléon le 2 mars 1815"
(These walls shaded Napoleon 2 March 1815) Great dessert:
clafoutis de poires avec son coulis de framboise (pear tart
with raspberry sauce)
Bargème (Var) - l'un des plus beaux villages de France
May 27: We had breakfast at a café in
St. Vallier,
sitting on the terrasse beside this sign: "Napoléon s'est assis ici
le 2
mars 1815" (Napoleon sat here 2 March 1815) He must
have been a busy guy that day. It's sort of a French "George Washington slept
here". We mounted up and began the 9 km climb to the Pas de la Faye at 981 m. It
took us 1.5 hours although the pitch was never too steep. There's a great view
of St. Vallier, 260 m below the col. From there we had a fast 2 km
descent, disappointing because it dropped us 120 m which we then had to make up
in the 15 km climb to the Col de Valferrière at 1169 m. After a fast 5 km
descent we stopped to look at the tiny stone 11th c Chappelle de Notre Dame de
Gratemoine in a field beside the highway. We could neither get inside nor see
inside but if the congregation 1000 years ago had exceeded 12 people, some would
have had to stand outside. We stopped to have our lunch at a little crossroads
bar (yogurt, tomato, fruit - healthy stuff. Oh yes, I had a beer and Carol had a
glass of wine, so not 100% healthy.) We left the route Napoléon and headed
for Comps-sur-Artuby. A few km outside of Comps we saw a sign at an intersection
pointing toward Bargème, "l'un des plus beaux villages de France".
Carol's response to such signs is almost Pavlovian. "Only 2 km off the highway.
Let's go!" 500 m up the road I was gasping and only going 6 km/h. I can walk 6
km/h so I got off and began to walk. Farther along my walking speed had dropped
to 5 km/h, then 4, then 3 as we struggled up the VERY steep switch backs
to the spectacularly situated village above us. The village was pretty - all
stone, twisting cobbled lanes, arched passages, a nice little church in the midst of
renovations - we didn't get inside - and the ruins of a castle with a couple of
towers and crumbling walls. The overall feeling was medieval. Back down the
hill, lots of braking, and then, out of gas, we struggled the last 7 km into
Comps. 
The Grand Hotel Bain, family owned and operated since 1737, was very
nice. We walked around this quiet town. There are a couple of churches high
above the town, one small, the other larger, but after Bargème I wasn't up to
another climb, even afoot. Carol, of course, walked up to see them. She's 62 now
but still seems to have boundless energy. There's a spring-fed fountain in the town which
up until 50 years ago provided the only drinkable water. It's nicely decorated
and it also provides water for the lavoir beside it, the communal laundry
where residents did their washing many years ago. It was a tough 57 km today.
May 28: (I made a serious error this day.
Had I known that Carol's bike, purse and camera were going to be stolen in a few
days I would not have removed the nearly full 256 Mb memory card from the camera
until it was completely filled. But since I did not know, I put a new blank
memory card in the camera because I knew that Carol would be taking more than
the remaining 50 photos on the used card since today we would
cycle along side the Canyon du Verdon, the "Grand Canyon" of Europe.
So I still
have the first set of photos from the trip, up to May 27. After that, we have
nothing except photos that I can scan from postcards that Carol bought.)
It was foggy and 10°C/50°F for the 10 km ride along a ridge high above the mist
filled valley of the Jabron river. At St. Maymes we began a steep twisting 4 km
descent to the Balcons de la Mescla, a belvedere above the steep cliffs
of the Canyon du Verdon, the most spectacular river gorge in France, perhaps in
all of Europe. From there we descended to the impressive Pont de l'Artuby
(bridge) which spans the deep Canyon de l'Artuby near
where that river empties into the Verdon. From the bridge we climbed steeply for
4.5 km to 2 short tunnels, one dark and scary, the other with openings in the
side allowing some light. The view of the Verdon gorge from this summit is
awesome in both directions. We had a fast, short descent from there to stop for lunch. From there we climbed for 10 km on a splendid road, the
Corniche
Sublime, which hugs the south rim of the canyon, offering us periodic
magnificent views of the tall cliffs on the north side and the deep gorge
between.
We crested at 1201 m, 400 m above our lunchtime stop and then had a
steep, twisting 5 km descent to Aiguimes where I filled my empty bottles with
cold spring water from the local fountain, sat in the shade at a café in this
pretty little village and had a cold beer while I wrote these notes. The sun was
finally making some inroads so the 7 km descent from Aiguimes to the shores of
the large aquamarine lake Lac Ste.Croix was warm. We cycled around the end of
the lake where the Verdon river empties and then climbed into Moustiers-Ste.
Marie, yet another of the "plus beaux villages de France", our goal for
the day. Moustiers is indeed beautiful but more to Carol's tastes than mine,
with its shops selling faience (some special sort of
painted china, I'm told) and the usual Provençal products: fabric,
lavender, spices, pottery, etc. There are at least 8 fountains in the village,
at least 3 with attached lavoir, all spewing fresh spring water from the
mountain above. It had been a day of fabulous sights. (Carol had
taken 100 photos, all gone now because of the thief in Aix-en-Provence.)
It was tough cycling - 57 km.
May 29: After Carol had one last scurry around Moustiers we descended out of town, heading west, then up 3 km on 3 switchbacks before entering into rolling farmland, the first crops we had seen since returning to France from Italy. After a short steep climb, we stopped in Puimoissan for a pause café and watched a boules game. Puimoissan is surrounded by fields with long rows of plump green lavender. By August it will all be glorious pale purple. We had a fast, twisting descent on a smooth road to the valley of the river Asse. We followed the south shore on a quiet country lane - just 3 cars in 21 km - before turning north where the river meets the Durance. We had lunch in Oraison and then, tired after our non-stop 35 km from Puimoissan, we took it easy for the last 14 km into Forcalquier, a busy small city with a medieval vielle ville and a popular square, ringed with cafés, facing the large church. 66 easier km today.
The goat cheese of Banon, wrapped in chestnut leaves
May 30: We left
Forcalquier after breakfast and were soon
high above the barrage (dam) on the river Laye.
After a nice 2.5 km descent on a smooth road to the end of the lake we rode
through 20 km of mixed oak forest and farmland - lots of lavender again - before
climbing steeply into Banon for lunch. The cafés were crowded and noisy with
everyone out for Sunday lunch under the ever-present blue Provençal skies.
(I was writing these notes while having une pression - a
draft beer - at one of those noisy cafés. No sooner had I mentioned the blue
skies when the breeze freshened and a layer of hazy clouds blew in to obscure
the sun.) Banon is an attractive large village and is noted for a goat
cheese wrapped in chestnut leaves and tied with some sort of "string" of grass.
We wanted to bring one of these small "hockey pucks" home with us but were told
it wouldn't last unrefrigerated. A nice 5 km descent brought us to more lavender
fields and we cruised along, stopping to take photos of the pretty hilltop town
of Simiane. At the end of an easy 5 km climb we passed from the department
of the Var to the Vaucluse and were suddenly in the wilderness of the Parc
Régional du Lubéron and in a fast twisting descent of the southern edge of the
Plateau de
Vaucluse with splendid views of the Lubéron massif a dozen km across the
valley to the south. After descending for an enjoyable 8.5 km we turned off the
highway and climbed briefly (and steeply!) to the pretty little village of
Rustrel where a Sunday afternoon flower market filled a small square. As we sat
by the square for a drink the sun reappeared in full force. Très jolie!
Rustrel at one time had an economy based in the mining of ochre from the cliffs
of the nearby Colorado de Rustrel. The colourful orange-red deposits are often
visible along this southern face of the plateau. We sped down from Rustrel
toward St. Saturnin-les-Apt and were immediately out of the wilderness and into
farmland, cereal crops at first, then cherry orchards (cherries
visible but not yet red - we're a couple of weeks too early), and finally
vineyards - we're into the Côtes du Lubéron wine region. St. Saturnin is a
lovely village high above the Lubéron plain. On the mountain above the village
are the ruins of an 11th c chateau with a little chapel and a small lake
beside it where a stream has been dammed. In town there's a large church with an
impressive steeple beside the mairie (town hall).
The streets zigzag up the hillside with periodic narrow passages connecting the
above to the below. Our hotel, the St. Hubert, was very nice. A spiral staircase
led us to our room - one of only eight, so book ahead - and we had a great view
of the valley below us. We ended the day with a splendid meal on the terrasse -
the best meal of the trip. A great day of cycling - 62 km.
May 31: It was overcast and foggy when we awakened, an
unusual start to a Provençal day. However, by the time we left St. Saturnin the
fog had dissipated and the sun was penetrating the haze sufficiently to cast
faint shadows. We sped down the mountain for 3 km and then levelled off to a
gentle descent for the remaining 6 km into Apt, passing through cherry orchards
and vineyards all the way. We arrived in the old town centre of Apt to the sound
of --- bagpipes!! There were five bands assembled in the square and a member of
the pipe band "The Claymore Clan", dressed in medieval highland costume, was
tuning up his bagpipe - if you can say that about a bagpipe. (One
Canadian wit has asked: "What's the difference between an onion and a bagpipe?"
Answer: "Nobody cries when you chop up a bagpipe!") One by one the bands
assembled, began to play, and marched off into the vielle ville: a band
with majorettes from the Czech Republic; a drum and trumpet fanfare from the
Drôme-Provençal; a mariachi style band from the Gard; a big marching band from
l'Isle-sur-la-Sorgue; the Scottish pipers. After they had marched away we went
back to get our bikes and we heard another band coming: a Polish band in
medieval costume with a group of majorettes who brandished swords instead of
batons followed by the show-stopper: "De Steltenlopers van Merchtem", a Belgian
group in 14th c costume -- on stilts!! The tallest of these stilts allowed the
walkers to sit on the edge of the roof of a café when they stopped to take a
break. As well as the stilt walkers there were 3 women walking in wooden clogs
but the 3 left foot clogs were attached to a board and the 3 rights attached to
another board so the women had to walk in unison. We found out that there was to
be a parade with all the bands and some floats at 4 PM so we rode the 12 km up
to Bonnieux, checked into our hotel, unloaded the panniers (what
a relief! Carol's knees would not survive riding a loaded bike so all 4 panniers
are on mine.) and, after Carol had a quick look around Bonnieux, we
headed back down to Apt. We had time to tour around a bit. The vielle ville
was not remarkable but there is a fine old church there, dark and quiet, with
some relics dating from the 6th c but most construction took place from the 12th
c to the 17th c. There are 235 names on the WW1 war memorial - a whole
generation of young men slaughtered, and for what? Anyway, the parade was fun.
We climbed back to Bonnieux. Our hotel room had a little terrasse and we
had a panoramic view of the Lubéron valley. We could see Roussillon and
St. Saturnin across the valley with the giant Mont Ventoux looming behind in the
distant haze and just 5 km to the west we could see the ruins of the chateau of
the infamous Marquis de Sade above the little village of Lacoste. Bonnieux
itself is a quiet village, built up the face of the Lubéron massif, with
2 nice churches, one at the bottom, one at the top. It was an easy 47 km day.
We're winding down.
June 1: Although our hotel was in the haute ville,
we had to climb another km out of Bonnieux before we reached the col. We
descended, a fast, twisting, scary 5 km at first, down the eastern slope of the Combe de Lourmarin. (A combe is a valley closed on 3
sides, like a box canyon.) The descent levelled somewhat and we coasted
another 5 km into Lourmarin, yet another of those "plus beaux villages".
We had breakfast there and wandered the narrow cobbled lanes. All of these
identified "beaux" villages are characteristically clean with buildings
in good repair, lots of flowers and lots of cute little shops selling wicker or
dried flowers or ceramics or "produits typiques de la région", etc. You
get the picture. Carol loves them. We climbed out of Lourmarin after a 1.5 hour
stay (too short or too long, depending on your point of view)
and then descended smoothly through the dreary little town of Cadenet and then
across the Durance river. We climbed immediately to a pretty small lake where a
stream had been dammed (for electric power?) and then
climbed gently for 5 km toward Rognes. Along the way I had 2 close encounters of
the reptile kind. First I came upon a large bright green lizard, 20 cm of body
and perhaps 25 cm of tail and as thick as my big toe. (That would
be 8 inches of body and 10 inches of tail for you Yanks. The toe is the same
size in
both systems.) He scurried back into the roadside brush upon my approach.
Then a couple of hundred metres farther on I encountered a big light bronze
snake on the roadside - a metre (a little over a yard)
long and as thick as my other big toe. We startled each other. I veered
left onto the road; he uncoiled and slithered off into the grass. We had lunch
in Rognes, a nice little hilltop village. We had 2 ridges yet to cross so we
climbed gently for another 5 km to the crest of the first, the Chaîne de Trévaresse,
descended quickly for 3 km and then climbed again to the second, the Chaîne
d'Eyguilles, which crested in the village of Eyguilles. We went into the village
in search of ice cream and bought Magnums (too-large chocolate
coated ice cream on a stick. I always feel bloated after having one and swear
I'll never have another but on a hot sunny afternoon after climbing for a while
- I forget). We
climbed back up to the crest and turned toward Aix-en-Provence, our favorite
French city. (Of course, this was before Carol's bike was stolen
by some bottom-feeding Aix resident!) It was downhill all the way into
Aix. It was a nice 55 km day of cycling and a great place to finish but our last
day on the bike is always a little sad.
June 2: We stayed in Aix until mid-afternoon. We were in
no hurry to get to the airport because there's nothing to do there and we were
just staying there overnight before catching our morning flight to London. We
did a little shopping: 4 bottles of cassis (a liqueur made
from black currants. Our favorite apéritif is kir, made with one part
cassis and 4 parts white wine.) and a few
gifts for people at home. Then we picked up our loaded bikes at our hotel, headed
out of town toward Marseille-Provence airport 35 km away, got the flat tire just
outside of town,
fixed it, had Carol's bike stolen while we reinstalled the wheel, called the
police, etc., etc.
All in all, (discounting the theft and mad scramble at the end) I'd say we tried to do too much on this trip. We were on 22 different trains and 8 different buses. It became a bit of an endurance test. However, I did enjoy the experience at the gîte. l'Isle-sur-la-Sorgue is ideally situated for many different and interesting cycling day trips, we had a lot of fun as a group in the afternoons and evenings, the gîte was excellent and it was relatively inexpensive because we cooked "at home". And, as always, the best part was the 9 days of cycling in the mountains at the end. But Italy .........?