May 18, 2023
Apt to Manosque
We have been lucky so far in our camping cycle tours: a month in France in the fall of 2021 and these last three weeks with no significant rain. But it caught up with us this morning. Often we have headed for a hotel when the weather's bad for a day or two but with the unprecedented rain in southern France we figured it was time to test our meddle. In the end it was a perfect rainy day, if that is possible, not too cold, there was never a deluge and the rainclouds enhanced the mountain views.
We packed up the tent in the rain and put on all our rain gear. We have dragged the stuff around in the bottom of the bags for four trips so we were actually kinda excited to be finally hauling it out. We even purchased booties for this trip but we were thinking more for Norway and not southern France! I don't know if it is a Wearyism or Chouinard from Patagonia who said; "There's no such thing as bad weather for an outdoor adventure only inappropriate equipment." Well I felt more equipped than ever in my cycle touring career as we headed off in the spitting rain.
The first ten km were on the last of the slowly climbing Cavallon rail trail and we zoomed along. So far so good. Then came the real challenge of getting up and over the Luberon mountains. The rain slowed to a drizzle as we started to climb, it was quiet and the mountains were appearing and disappearing behind the low lying clouds. Looking at the maps it can be difficult to determine which is a largish village, possibly with a grocery store and a restaurant, and which is a smaller hamlet with no services. We had been through a few hamlets and were getting worried about crossing the pass with no food, but then we rolled into Cereste, cold and starving. It was Ascension Day, a major holiday, so most everything was closed, but this was a big village and eventually we found a restaurant with bicycles already parked under the patio awning. It was cozy, warm and just starting to fill up as we arrived. There were other cycle touring couples that arrived, a German couple and a French couple from Toulouse. There is an instant camaraderie knowing we've all been battling the elements; are hungry, wet and very happy to find a restaurant open, let alone a terrific one at that. Ann ordered the cèpes au gratin that came in a deep dish emanating heat from the oven. Half way through eating she could finally hold it in her hands to warm up. Steve had the burger des montagnes; a hamburger in a small restaurant in France is a completely different thing from any hamburger in North America.
After lunch we were satiated and super happy to see that it had stopped raining! For the next hour and a half we were treated to the silver lining of the earlier rain; gorgeous, rolling farms, forests and vineyards all looking lush and green. Coming into Reillanne it was so steep we had to push our bikes the final 20m to the flat town square. Just about then it started to rain again and we still had five more km of steep road to the pass over the Luberons. On loaded bikes it wasn't easy but finally we saw the sign for the col, snapped a photo and then pushed off for a 10km glorious decent to Manosque. By the time we pulled into town, there was no question, we were finding a hotel for the night. We stood on the sidewalk and booked a room 500m away, and one more climb. A long, hot shower and crawling under the covers never felt so good.
Rested, we set out to find a light supper after our decadent lunch. We lucked in and snagged a spot at a homey pizzeria packed with locals all hanging around the bar and filling the tables. The pizza oven was off to one side of the dining room giving off lovely heat and adding to the ambiance. We ate well and then slept well.
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Today's ride: 50 km (31 miles)
Total: 1,049 km (651 miles)
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