In Pernes: the Beaumes-de-Venise loop

October 8, 2024

As expected, it rained hard during the night and into the morning. I slept much better knowing that our bikes were in a dry place, where I expected they would stay for the entire day. To our surprise though conditions look more promising when we wake up, with it now looking like rains should cease by midday. It looks like we’re going to get a bonus outing on a day where we’d been assuming we would just hide out in our room all day. While we wait for breakfast we sketch out routes for ourselves, fairly easy ones that will fit the time we hope will be available.

Yesterday we showed up for breakfast at 7:58 and found the breakfast room still dark and locked. It felt like we were rushing our host, so today I talked Rachael into waiting until 8:02 so we wouldn’t seem rude or pushy. It was a mistake though, because at 8:01 we heard our neighbor’s door open. They beat us, were first served, and it took several minutes while we sat there waiting for our number to come up. Very annoying, and a mistake we won’t make again.

Our plan for the day is to have lunch while the rains abate and then go out again later in the afternoon. Our restaurant is a six minute walk away so we keep an eye on the weather hoping it will dry out enough so we don’t get soaked walking down there, and we’re in luck. By the time noon comes it’s only lightly misting, and we’re the first customers of the day when we step in the door.

Great timing. It was still raining quite hard just a half hour earlier.

Lunch is at l’Estanquet de Font. Estanquet is an Occitan word (the historical language of southern France and Catalonia, still in use here many signs and town names here are bilingual), meaning cafe. Maybe it’s because we’re in an area where Occitan is still a living language that we’re unable to request bread with our lunch because the server can’t understand what I’m saying. Rachael finally spells it out and translates it on the phone for her, and she laughs. Oh, pain, she says, sounding much like what I thought I was just saying.

Whatever. The meal is excellent, the best we’ll be served here.

Estanquet is an Occitan word (the historical language of southern France and Catalonia, still in use here many signs and town names here are bilingual), meaning cafe.

She’s got the fish, I’ve got the pork. Especially good is the little dish of carrots and sweet turnips.

Back at the room, we wait until about three by which time conditions have improved considerately. Were off for our bonus outings, the ones we hadn’t anticipated.

Rachael takes a simple, very pleasant out and back along the river, which I’m surprised to see is the Nesque, the river that carved the magnificent gorge about twenty miles to the north. It’s a peaceful, relaxed walk - reflections on the water, some ducks, but muddy in spots.

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I’ve sketched out a more or less oval-shaped loop to the north, checking out a few villages and turning back when I reach the base of the Dentilles. Nothing too ambitious or aggressive. I’m just hoping to see a few interesting sights and maybe get a closer look at Ventoux. I’m not disappointed.

The ride starts with a swing through the nearby village of Monteux, which has a few sights worth noticing but isn’t one of the finer discoveries of our stay here.

From Monteux I ride the quiet roads more or less straight north to the hillside village of Beaumes-de-Venise, my primary destination for the ride and one I picked based on time and distance as much as anything. Until the end when I start running into foothills it’s easy riding through flattish agricultural land.

Early on I get this interesting sight of Ventoux. Fifteen minutes earlier those clouds on the right covered half of the mountain.

I get a good look at the Dentilles. With more time and younger legs I could skirt them to the left and come to Vaison-la-Romaine in another fifteen miles.

When I approach Aurignan I change my route on the fly, lured by the church in the village and the thought that I might come to a clearing with a good view of the mountain. I get my wish, but my diversion adds a couple of miles to what I’d planned and lands me on some rough road I hadn’t anticipated.

Another look at Ventoux, from about twenty minutes later. Totally clear now. In the foreground is the church at Aurignan.

An unexpected rough patch. For about a half mile I kept waiting for the puddle wide enough to turn me back, but it never came.

Another shot of Ventoux, from another interesting angle. And the clouds are coming back again. Its so changeable!

As soon as I come to the foothills and turn east toward Beaumes-de-Venise I stumble across the one real surprise of the day: Notre-Dame d’Autune chapel, a feature I hadn’t noticed on the map. It’s an attractive structure, with a tall bell tower that looks Italian.

Ruins of an associated structure of some sort.

On the way to Beaumes-de-Venise I look up and see another ruin crowning the ridge.

By the time I finally make it to Beaumes-de-Venise it’s nearing 5:30. The village definitely looks interesting but it’s getting late in the day and shadows are growing long so I take a few shots and then head for home. I’ve still got twelve miles to go, but I make good time - especially on the last seven or eight which are on a smooth new bike path, an extension of the one we biked into Pernes on when we arrived. I’ve cut it just a bit too close again though, getting in right at seven after the street lights are on.

Dropping through Aubignan, the village with the church in front of Ventoux I took a shot of earlier.

And speaking of Ventoux, it’s totally checked out for the night. Amazing.

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Today's ride: 26 miles (42 km)
Total: 4,063 miles (6,539 km)

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