April 19, 2022
To Vaison-La-Romaine
About last night
I didn’t want anything to distract your attention from the glory of yesterday’s ride, so I saved for this morning the thrilling story of Rachael’s outing to the laundromat yesterday afternoon. We returned from our ride right at four, leaving her plenty of time to fit this in before dinner. She left for the laundromat minutes after we returned to our room, while I offered moral support by heading out to a cafe in front of the cathedral for a beer. It’s called division of labor. Knowing that she loathes the taste of beer, I assumed beer-quaffing duties so she didn’t have to.
A half hour later I received a phone call from her. She’ll be a little late getting back to the room she informs me, because she has only just gotten to the laundromat. In what she claims as her worst laundry experience she can remember, she walked the 100 meters to the laundromat our host directed her to, only to discover that it was not open, is out of business or didn’t actually exist - I’m not clear on just what the situation was. She finally found a second one about a half mile away, but it’s been no fun lugging all of our laundry around getting there.
I feel terrible for her of course, and guilty. By rights I should have shown even more solidarity by having a second beer, but I didn’t even do that. What a crummy partner!
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Today’s ride
Today’s day begins similar to yesterday’s, with a look out our window at the curious mural on the wall across the street. Similar because we awoke to this mural yesterday also, but different because the sky this morning is overcast and threatening. Rains are destined to commence soon so we rush through breakfast and start packing, making it out the door before nine.
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It’s moving day and we’re off to Vaison-La-Romaine, our base for (at least) the next three nights. I had a few different ideas about our route for the day, but under the circumstances it’s definitely wisest to take the shortest, fastest one. We’ve only got a 22 mile ride ahead of us, with limited climbing. Check-in at our room in Vaison isn’t until 4, but we’re leaving now because the rains are due to begin mid-morning. If we’re lucky we’ll make it in dry by about 11 and find some place to hide out until our room is available. In case it helps though, I fire off a message to the B&B asking for an early check-in. We’ll find out when we get there just how lucky we are.
The ride begins seductively fast, with five miles west on the excellent paved bike path to Jonquieres. It’s even slightly downhill and there’s no wind, so these first miles quickly zip by.
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After five miles we turn north and follow a series of quiet farm roads that will take us to Vaison. It’s slightly uphill the whole way, but not so much that it slows us down much. The big concern though is the weather - we’re still riding dry, but the clouds to the south are dark and coming our way. It’s a race. We want to stay ahead of the ran, so there’s no time for photos; but when does that ever completely stop me, Rachael would like to know?
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We’re halfway to Vaison when we feel the first light sprinkles and we’re only six miles from our destination when the mist amplifies to showers as we bike through Sablet just as we’re passing a covered bus stop. It’s only another six miles, but we do the sensible thing by taking shelter when we see it and stopping to watch for developments.
As we sit there the showers turn to light rain, then back off again. We check the weather, see that it’s only expected to get worse, and decide we may as well just reesume biking. In the back of both of our minds is the possibility that we’ll arrive before 11, the checkout time at our new lodging. If we get there while someone is still around we can play on their sympathies and hope they’ll at least let us stash our bikes for the day.
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We’re in luck in multiple ways. The rain backs off as we bike the last miles to town, and has practically ceased by the time we arrive. And, best of all, our host is in and appears to have been watching for us. She and her husband just returned from a walk and are wet themselves, so we’re fortunate to have found them in. We’re shown to the garage with our bikes, and then to our room which is ready for us. No sitting around shivering in a cafe all afternoon! Ten minutes after arrival Rachael’s in the shower warming up.
Vaison is an exceptional place, and so is the house we’re staying in - a beautiful old place that feels like it must be many centuries old, in the old, medieval half of the city that Vaison is famous for. We’ll be here for three nights and may not get much if any biking in because of the weather, so we’ll look around the town later. In the meantime here are photos from the window of our room to give you the sense of our neighborhood.
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Ride stats today: 22 miles, 1,100’; for the tour: 947 miles, 45,700’
Today's ride: 22 miles (35 km)
Total: 947 miles (1,524 km)
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| Comment on this entry | Comment | 2 |
We again love your photos and excellent commentary on this tour! You've rarely mentioned doing laundry (until today) but we've wondered whether you always use laundromats, or try to choose lodging with an available washing machine and dryer. Or, do you often hand wash in the sink or tub, and hope the clothes dry overnight? We've done mostly the latter, but that takes time, plus the roll-up-in-towels-and-stomp method of drying uses up the towels in the room pretty quickly. Whatever you are doing, it seems very efficient, given the time you also put into journaling, as well as the time spent finding restaurants and eating out.
2 years ago
2 years ago