September 2, 1997
To Salon-en-Provence
This was a very pretty day, and much better than we expected after we woke up this morning to light rain. It ceased over breakfast, and even though the skies threatened all day, it never really affected us.
The countryside through here is very lovely. We have arrived early enough in the fall so that there is still a lot of color in the fields - the sunflowers are still turning and many flowers are still in bloom. The valley we followed is rimmed by rocky ridges on both the north and south. We found very quiet, peaceful roads for nearly the whole day.
We broke the day's ride at Aix, a lovely, lively city with streets lined with colonnades of plane trees - which is characteristic of much of the countryside around here as well. We were surprised to encounter the same American bikers from yesterday passing through town. Later, we passed a rather lengthy conversation with a somewhat disturbing French cyclist who displayed a somewhat suspiciously detailed knowledge f bikes, their vaue, and locks and how to thwart them.
After about a 10km unplanned detour through two small but confusing communities, we arrived in Salon-de-Provence. We had a lovely stay here - Salon is a much prettier community than Ste Maximin. We stayed in a delightful hotel in a room opening onto a pretty interior courtyard - very private and attractive. The hotel also featured a very friendly, ill-behaved poodle that the owner was quite unable to keep off of us.
Today's ride: 53 miles (85 km)
Total: 93 miles (150 km)
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