We enjoyed sitting at "our" table for breakfast, and sizing up which other clients were at "their" tables and who was new. And we enjoyed making our way across town, with some knowledge of where we were going, while checking out which bakers had decided to open up today and which not.
Our usual approach to touring is to take on the challenge of going from A to distant B, with creative tension coming from "will we make it?". But it sure is great to have your own breakfast table, by staying put for more than a day!
I even had a crack at finding something attractive to photograph in Cavaillon. Here is what I got, from a main square:
The Luberon is a mountain massif that would be about 240 km to go around. It is comprised of at least two sections, the "Petit" and the taller "Grand". You can see on the map below that we have been noodling out from Cavaillon in the extreme west, and visiting villages to the north of the mountains. But today it was time to dip into the southern loop, heading n the direction of Mallemort, which can be seen on the map below.
We marvelled at the nearby Luberon, and wondered if our route would remain fairly level, or instead rolic over the toes of the mountain. (It stayed quite level).
As we passed by the mountain, for a bit the surroundings reminded me of the Canadian Rockies. The illusion was rapidly cancelled, though, as we ran beside some olive orchards. This was followed by some patches of cactus. Yup, we were still in Southern France!
The illusion returned for a bit with the appearance of the Rockies-like Alpilles, off to the south.
Here are the Alpilles again. But you can also see in the photo below a coule of other things. Dodie is riding a shoulder that is not at all bad, much like a Canadian highway. But there are also some cars in the picture, making things not very restful. Another thing is that the ride is passing an apple orchard, where picking is underway. Yes, they are Pink Ladies.
The watercourse is similar to what we saw in the Camargue, for rice. You can stop the main channel and open the side, to put water on a specific orchard. No doubt there are all kinds of licenses involved in sharing out the water that comes along here.
Other forms of agriculture we to be seen along here as well. These greenhouses were filled with lettuce, for example. It looked great, and geometric too.
Yesterday we thought about running all the way to Marseille, but the city is unknown territory for us, and the distance would in any event be tiring. So we settled on Salon. I rather liked Salon as soon as we reached the outskirts. First a lady with a Baksfiet electric cargo bike pulled up alongside, asked some UQs, and checked that we were OK. Then I noticed one, then two bakeries - a good sign. We pulled in to one. Shortly a man appeared in a minivan, and explained that the store beside was his. However he was going to Canada soon to work, to Quebec of course. Salon just gave the impression of being friendly and enterprising.
We reached Salon very much earlier than we had figured, and the reception lady was not in our hotel. We called her, and arranged to get in in half an hour - two and a half hours before the official opening time. The bikes went in to a garage and to a locked compartment inside that. The lady left me with the garage door control and the compartment key. It's great when they trust you like that.
We were able to ditch our stuff in the room and head out for a look at the town. Nostradamus lived and died here, so he has a prominent place in store names, and also in having his house and his tomb here. Fountains are also big here, so we saw a few, and there is a Chateau on the hill at the centre of town, now serving as a French military museum. These things would form some of the main points in a tourist brochure, but what we mainly noticed was that this is a Provencal town somewhat like Saint Remy. That is, the buildings are attractive, almost all with shutters, and the shops are one step up in quality, often offering quality local products. There we also an unusual number of "glaciers" - ice cream shops - though most we closed. One we did try was very high quality. I got marrons, and Dodie salted caramel!
This "mossy fountain" is famous, for its mossiness, I guess. It is from the second half of the eighteenth century. Fountains are important in dry and hot Provence. There are several in central Salon.
Inside the Bourg Neuf tower was a niche that contained a much venerated Black Virgin. "Black Madonnas come in different forms, and the speculations behind the reason for the dark hue of each individual icon or statue vary greatly and are not without controversy. Though some Madonnas were originally black or brown when they were made, others have simply turned darker due to factors like aging or candle smoke. Jungian scholar Ean Begg has conducted a study into the potential pagan origins of the cult of the black Madonna and child. Another speculated cause for the dark-skinned depiction is due to pre-Christian deities being re-envisioned as the Madonna and child. "
Among the high quality shops in town are chocolate shops. This is a little unusual, since chocolate has not seemed like a big thing here (vs nugat and candied fruit and callissons) since Valence, and Val Rhona chocolate city. Sure enough, the first one we popped in to specialized in Val Rhona. But then again they had some products that we had not seen even at Chocolate City. Next shop was something of a chain - Gregg du Bruge - but it looked darn good as well.
Here is one more fountain, from 1854, replacing one from 1760. It represents the engineer who designed the irrigation system for many of the towns in this area. His name was Adam Crapponne, a name that still applies to his canal. Crappone lived from 1526-76.
Overall, then, we thought Salon to be a beautiful and active place. We are glad we dragged our feet a bit and that this allowed us to see the place. Tomorrow we will approach Marseille, with some trepidation. An old lady on the street in front of our hotel (drat, she was probably younger than us!) asked us some UQs, and then warned about Marseille. How could a place have such a persistent and bad reputation? Ok, we'll go find out!
Today's ride: 42 km (26 miles) Total: 3,368 km (2,092 miles)
