To Manosque

May 13, 2022

Today we are leaving Michelle our wonderful host of Les Magnolias in Montbrun les Bains to begin our ride to Toulon on the Mediterranean. We are less than 200 kms to the north and are planning to take three days riding to arrive there.

While in Montbrun we did not have an opportunity to visit the castle. the upper reaches of the village or the thermal springs. So we certainly missed some of the key areas and will need to return to get a fuller understanding of the village.

After picking up some lunch stuff on our way out of town, we retraced the 5 km ride up the hill to the village of Aurel and turned left up a steep ramp on the edge of town. When we reached the top of the hill we were on a large plateau that borders on the Luberon.

Michelle owns three apartments well up the hill in Montbrun les Bains. She loves her flowers and is a very friendly host. As she is fully bilingual, we enjoyed conversations on a wide range of topics, everything from the history of Montbrun to world politics and free speech. Good fun.

Way off in the distance now you can clearly see the limestone outcrop of the Mount Ventoux.

Up on the plateau looking toward Ventoux.

Coffee in Revest-du-Bion. Pat and the cat.

The coffee stop today was in the village of Revest-du-Bion, approximately 20 kms into the ride. At the 30 km mark we reached the edge of the plateau and began a major downhill run as we rolled toward the the town of Banon. It was a very fast ride dropping 300 metres over 9 kms on a smooth tarmac surface. Never enough downhills!

In the town of Banon, the street side cafes were full with the lunch time crowd. We wondered where all these people came from and noticed that the car traffic began to increase as we carried on toward the eastern flank of Massif du Luberon. We suspected that visitors from the surrounding areas stop in to see the town.

After a couple of quick climbs we were on top of the lower end of the Luberon range and enjoyed another very fast downhill into the one of the larger centers, the town of Manosque.

Some interesting rocks that looked like they may have been a quarry for large blocks from years past.

Very unusual rock outcropping. This is way in the distance and I have yet to determine its name or if it is significant. I thought it would make a great climbing wall.

Arriving in Manosque we made our way to the old centre. The road leading to it was very steep, busy with traffic and had no dedicated bike space. Not a great finish. Our hotel was located in a large square that at some point had been transformed into a parking lot. This would not do for an afternoon beer so we headed down a street to another small square that was perfect; full of bars, restaurants and people.

Checking into our hotel we were provided with a room on the fourth floor Four flights of stairs and our legs let us know that we had had a full day of cycling! We returned to the old part of Manosque and found it to have a very nice compact center core. The evening was warm, so dinner was outside at a good Italian restaurant which was a great way to end our day.

Église Notre Dame de Romigier is a main square in Manosque.The front entry looks relatively small as it is flanked by store fronts on each side.

Inside, the church is actually quite large and well preserved.

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Today's ride: 68 km (42 miles)
Total: 667 km (414 miles)

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ann and steve maher-wearyHello Fenwicks and Mathers,
Reading your blog we see that we will all be in Majorca around the same time this May. We thought it could be fun to get together and share some Cycle Blaze stories. We have booked into a resort in Alcudia from May 23-30. We are also thinking we might arrive on May 19 and stay some time around Palma and maybe somewhere in the northern mountains before heading over to Alcudia.
Do you see any dates that might fit with your Majorca schedule?
If so please get in touch with us soon. Annmaher1@yahoo.com
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2 years ago