September 23, 2021
Day 6 - Orange to Avignon
| Heart | 0 | Comment | 0 | Link |
We had a short day today, so we slept in and lingered over breakfast in the hotel. Breakfast was definitely above-average today, with a pronounced German influence. A battery of Mercedes cars with logos from the factory were parked in front of the hotel. Maybe there’s a connection.
Robin noted that Thursday was market day in Orange, so we pushed our checkout time a bit more and went out for some exploring. First stop was the old church in the heart of town. Inside and out, worth a visit.
It was especially affecting to walk into the church when the market was going on just outside. From the noise of commerce to the silence of prayer was beautiful, even for two non-believers.
We walked around the church to try and find a good angle for photographing the 13th century tower.
We wanted some apples for lunch, and we wanted to see what the Orange market had to show for itself. So we headed out to investigate. It was pretty impressive for a town of 20,000 people! Great produce, fish and meat trucks, and lots and lots of clothing. Who buys their clothes at a street market, I wonder?
Back to the hotel, we changed into riding gear and headed out. A few roundabouts and we were alone on the road to Caderousse - a town that is famous evidently for its dike. We took a small detour to see the dike and, yes, it was a dike. I’m not sure why it’s famous but it probably kept the river out of the town for a few centuries. OK, on to other adventures. We’re not keeping up with the Andersons here.
Leaving Caderousse, we hit a section of absolutely beautiful bike path. Newly laid asphalt and nice separation from the road. It went on for quite a while. It looks like they’re trying to create an Orange-to-Châteauneuf-du-Pape bikeway, which seemed like a great idea to us. With tourists on e-bikes, it could be a winner.
| Heart | 1 | Comment | 0 | Link |
Unfortunately the bikeway isn’t complete, and just before a picturesque ruin (below), we were shunted on to some farm roads, followed by the main Nationale into Chateauneuf-du-Pape.
Picking was happening, so we were passed by a tractor or two loaded with grapes. All picking in Chateauneuf-du-Pape is done by hand, so there were groups out in the fields working away in the old-fashioned way. The vines showed it, too. At home in Limoux, all the vines are picked mechanically, so the vines look like clipped hedges. Here the vines looked much more natural, like real plants.
We chugged up the hill into the village of Châteauneuf-du-Pape, hoping for a cafe where we could have a drink. Alas. The only good candidate was closed on Thursdays.
The rest of Châteauneuf-du-Pape looked to us like a high-end tourist trap. It’s adorable, but basically there’s a tasting room every 50 meters. We don’t like wine tasting because we always feel like there’s a subtle expectation that we should buy something. Plus Rich can’t really taste the difference (he’s evidently a neanderthal or a Tough Guy - take your pick). So we skipped all the enticements to enter into wine tasting rooms and had a drink on a park bench while watching the incredible amount of traffic pass by. Not a good look for this small village.
The final straw was when a bunch of noisy Americans showed up at the door of the nearby Michelin-starred restaurant. Why are they so dang loud? We packed up and skipped back to the quiet bliss of the vineyards.
| Heart | 0 | Comment | 0 | Link |
We had a great ride across the fields to Sorge, then a fairly hectic and stressful passage through the town of Sorge. This was followed by a bike path furniture ballet similar to that of our first day. We were able to slalom through some of the obstructions, but mostly it was a case of getting off the bike, getting through the gates, and then remounting. At one point, we were passed by a walker that we had passed 10 minutes earlier. And on top of everything else, the bike path was full of moms walking their kids back to school. The last 5 km seemed endless.
Eventually, though, we came to the walls of Avignon.
We rode into town, narrowly missing flattening a scooter pilot who emerged full-speed around a blind corner. After that we walked. :)
A cute-looking lunch place appeared and we were seduced by the idea of a fish burger and a chicken burger. So we sat down and ordered “Un Fish” and “Un Chicken” and lunch was handled.
A bit more walking and we arrived at our hotel, the Hotel De L’Horloge. Despite an advertised 3:30PM checkin, our room was ready! So we checked in and stowed the bike. We cleaned up and headed out to explore.
| Heart | 2 | Comment | 0 | Link |
We’ve visited the Palace of the Popes before and the rooms are pretty empty, so we decided to head up to the nearby park instead. We spent some time enjoying the panoramas out over the Rhone.
| Heart | 3 | Comment | 0 | Link |
On the way back to the hotel, we stopped off at the church next to the Palace of the Popes.
And then we spent the rest of the afternoon enjoying the beautiful squares and back streets of Avignon.
After returning to the hotel, we went out for dinner. Our first choice creperie was closed, but we rebounded with style and ended up with pasta and wood-fired pizza at Le Verso. Highly recommended.
After dinner, we walked over to Rue Saint-Agricole to Amorino, a gelato store we had passed earlier. Fantastic! We ate our ice cream while sitting on the Place de l’Horloge in the warmth of this fall evening. Life is good!
Today's ride: 41 km (25 miles)
Total: 328 km (204 miles)
| Rate this entry's writing | Heart | 10 |
| Comment on this entry | Comment | 0 |