Well, we rode the rivers of Provence today. Too bad they were in the gutters. It was wet. It started out as an overcast day, and the first time there were a few sprinkles we were afraid we might melt so we stopped in Vacquevras for cafe au lait. I choose the cafe and made a tactical error. It looked a lovely spot but we were at an intersection which led to many vineyards and the number of noisy tractors and trucks that ground their gears past us made conversation next to impossible, but we had some good laughs. The tractors were packing critical cargo so we were very understanding. You will be enjoying the harvest in the coming years.
We went to Gigondas, a gorgeous hillside town and enjoyed the contemporary public art and antiquities as well as the wine. Timing is everything, and the Cave we were hoping to visit closed at noon. We arrived at two minutes to twelve. Fortunately other wineries were open and I am enjoying a glass of Gigondas wine as I write this. Keith manfully carried it in his pannier the rest of the day. At this point it was overcast, but not raining...Ken noted a big, black cloud behind us. It was looming. Cue the theme music from Jaws.
By the time we got to Vaison la Romaine it was pouring. We were trying to find a restaurant and ducked under a pizza place canopy to reconnoiter. It was raining so hard and we were so wet we decided to have pizza in veiux Vaison. I walked in and thought perfect! The view was amazing, the proprietor wasn't overly alarmed by our appearance and the food was dreamy. The waiter jumped on our wine order right away because we NEEDED wine! He understood perfectly. It was a great meal.
Once we embraced the reality that there was only one way back to Caromb we forced ourselves to leave the warm, dry restaurant and get on the ponies. It was one wet ride. We didn't really stop on the way back other than to briefly huddle under a bus shelter. I was sure Ken, (aka Bradley Wiggins) was taking us up Mt. Ventoux as we went up, and up, and up. Then we topped out and it was a quick downhill ride the rest of the way. Yahoo! Now that we are back at the villa, there are wet clothes everywhere and fortunately we are not planning to cycle tomorrow as my bike shoes are saturated.
We have a wonderful Chien of the Day, but his picture is on Keith's phone and his email is being uncooperative, so we will add it as soon as we get his email working again.
The eggs we had for breakfast from the chickens on the property. They don't come any fresher.
This gives you some idea of the weather. We ducked into this bus shelter for a moments relief and then went for it. We didn't stop again until the villa was in sight.
