August 24, 2019
Saint Maximin la - ste- Baume
A short day, a long hill and a wedding
We find it hard to leave late as we have got into such a rhythm but we needed to today as the ride was so short. After St Maximin there really was no suitable stopping place till Aix and we thought that that was a bit far. We got up a bit later, we dawdling over breakfast and managed to put off leaving till almost 9.00 am
We were on a busy road for a short time but soon turned onto the quite D38. This was to take us up, up, up a climb of about 10km. We had looked at the motorway from the valley bottom and thought ‘Surely we wont go that high’ but we were to go much higher. At first there were well kept vineyards and the route was labelled for cars ‘The route du vins’ after the motorway crossing these faded out and we were riding in forest composed largely of rather stunted looking oaks (the sort I think grow truffles on their roots). Looking down into the valley it was hard to believe we had climbed so high. A few training cyclists came past and commiserated with us about our load. Ken was particularly pleased when we reached the summit and I had used a fair chunk of electricity. Now it was down, down to the only village of the day Bras. It’s blue shutters came into sight, there was a very old man sitting on a step watching the world go by and most importantly a cafe by the Real Estate Agent. No we are not going to buy a house in Bras even though I looks as if it would be good to live there.
After Bras it was easy -largely downhill and not far at all. Again we were riding through vineyards. To our eyes it looks strange to see almost ripe grapes hanging there with out a bird in sight. If we hadn’t netted our vines and used other forms of bird control we wouldn’t have got a single berry. There just don’t seem to be as many birds around - also the new plantings didn’t have sleeves around them so presumably none of those destructive pesky rabbits.
St-Maximin is dominated by the huge basilique built in the 13th century to the glory of Mary Magdeliene. The central square is lovely, there was a market going on so we tarried - our check in wasn’t until 3pm. Ken went over to the Hotel de France, the receptionist said bring all your stuff then go and have lunch -your room will be ready when you return. So we sat in the square had a slow lunch as we people watched. ken was particularly intrigued by the waiter who was very skinny and like a snake glided between the tables
All our luggage was in our room on our return so we just showered and off to see the Basilica. We found ourselves in the back row of a wedding. The priest seemed to have a lot to say but they eventually got to the critical bits and every now and then the organ at the rear piped up. The organist was fantastic as is the organ. First built in the 1770s and no doubt refurbished a lot since During the signing he played the Bach-Gounod Ave Maria and at the end blasted us with the Mendelssohn Wedding March. The abbey on the inside is very impressive with high white columns in the gothic style - there is no stained glass so a lot of light. It is the pride of the Var region. What I liked so much about the wedding is as they were in Provence when the bridal pair came out of church they didn’t throw confetti or rice they threw lavender. It smelt delicious.
Today's ride: 24 km (15 miles)
Total: 1,376 km (854 miles)
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