May 20, 2023
Cucuron to Pernes les Fontaines
It was damp but not actually raining as we packed up the tent. We headed back to our covered table to make coffee and have granola to get us going for the day. With two more days of rain in the forecast, we changed plans from taking the long way around through Cavaillon and possibly Saint Rémy, to cutting up and over the Luberon, then down to Carpentras. This would also have us in a good position to consider the Mt Ventoux ride when the weather improves next week. The roads were still quiet on a Saturday morning as we cycled, first uphill to earn a blissful six km coast into Lourmarin. It is not one of the typical hill-top perched villages but a lovely valley bottom village and yet another one of The Most Beautiful Villages in France. We had not planned this stop and so had no expectations as we wandered through pushing our bicycles marvelling at the cute cafes and restaurants spilling out onto cobbled streets.
Lourmarin, as well as being the last home of Albert Camus, has been an important place on the Marseille to Apt route since the 11th century as it is situated right at the split in the Luberon mountain range, separating the Grand Luberon from the Petit Luberon, and where the Aiguebrun River flows through. There is a good size chateau known as the Villa Médicis de Provence to add to the village's charm. We found a park bench to admire the scene, watch the numerous Saturday visitors and have a second breakfast to fortify us for the climb between the Grand and the Petit.
What a gorgeous ride. Coming the opposite way, down from Bonnieux, would be thrilling but this time we were slowly climbing the ten km. The silver lining in the ascent is that we could take in the splendour as we inched upwards admiring the cliffs, hairpin bends and to our left the Petit Luberon Plateau, with its unique cedar forest; it was planted in 1861 from seeds from the Algerian Atlas Mountains. The peace was shattered when we started with a Saturday outing of 1960's Mustangs roaring past on the way up. (Earlier and on flatter terrain, the vintage Vespa scooter club outing had put-putted by; not as noisy but just as smelly). Near the top we waved at the 30 or more members of a cycle tour group coming down off the ridge, most were smiling ear to ear but we surmised the stragglers at the end were concerned about the traffic and the steep decent. Thankfully it was soon lunchtime and we turned onto a smaller, quieter road where it was peaceful and cool for the final climb.
And then it was our turn to coast as we rolled 3km down and into yet another pretty village, Bonnieux. We had intended to visit it on our pannier-free villages tour three days ago but threatening rain scuttled our plans as Bonnieux had been the last stop of the day. Ahh, the unexpected pleasure to find ourselves here now as we thought that we'd missed our opportunity this trip. We took pictures of the countryside over the roofs of the village and worked our way down through the upper, winding alleys coming out at Place Carnot where we attempted to capture the picturesque views of the lower part of the village, the church and Lacoste and Menerbes on the distant hills. By then I was in need of a bathroom and was hoping to see the WC signs in the square as they often are. No luck, Steve suggested I look on Google maps and it showed one very close by. I was trying to figure out if I should go left or right and could not make any sense from the map. Totally frustrated, I handed my phone to Steve. He took a few paces away to look around and started to laugh: from that vantage point he could see I was standing on the roof of the washrooms. You can see I still haven't quite mastered all the navigating but I am getting better.
Relieved, we headed off downhill. We are now taking turns leading with GPS and it was my day. There were no other miscues as we continued down the hillside and onto the fantastic Cavaillon rail train, our third time on it. As the weather has been unpredictable and continuing to threaten rain, thoughts of a leisurely lunch were cast aside in favour of staying dry. So lunch today ended up being heated quiches standing in front of a boulangerie in Coustellet.
We were returning to Pernes-les-Fontaines, not to the campground but to a B&B with a kitchen and washing machine and where we could take a rainy day off to plan our circumnavigation and ascent of Mount Ventoux. The weather is looking promising for an exciting week ahead.
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Today's ride: 78 km (48 miles)
Total: 1,169 km (726 miles)
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