To Pernes-les-Fontaines

October 6, 2024

We were really fortunate with yesterday’s weather, getting excellent conditions for the climb up to Lacoste and such great visibility. Really, we’ve been enjoying generally fine conditions ever since coming to the south. Today’s not like that though, and it’s not a day we’ve been looking forward to because rain is in the forecast for pretty much all of it. There’s been the usual wailing and gnashing of teeth about this, and speculation about whether we wouldn’t be happier just to spend another day up here in Ménerbes waiting for the sun to return.

It’s not raining yet when we look out the window this morning though something wicked looks like it’s coming this way.

We’ve gotten so spoiled. Where did the blue sky go? We got the blues cuz we don’t got the blues.

Scoping out the situation and discussing alternatives at least gives us a way to pass the time until we can go downstairs for breakfast at 8:30. This is especially hard for Rachael who thrives on caffeine first thing in the morning and there’s not even a hot water pot in the room. She carried one of those heating coils for emergencies like this earlier in the tour but it crapped out somewhere in England so she’s stuck now with the only available option: instant coffee and powdered milk in hot water from the tap. Yum!

The forecast though at least looks more hopeful than it did last night. It looks now like the rain should pass on by two or three, which would leave us time for the short, largely downhill and flat ride to tonight’s stay at Pernes-les-Fontaines. We decide on the plan of having lunch here and then making a dash for it as soon as the hoped for break comes, and while Rachael scopes out lunch possibilities I tweak the route I have mapped out to squeeze another two miles out of it and give us the zippiest course possible.

Breakfast doesn’t look too promising at first as we look at our table spread with a few basics plus a bowl of purple grapes. Madam is attending this morning and takes our coffee order and returns a few minutes later with those big, round bottomed mugs that I’ve always associated with Provence ever since wrapping my shaking hands around one on a cold autumn day on our first pass through 30 years ago.

Oh, and it’s way better than instant + powdered milk + tap water. Rachael tells me that I can have the rest of hers after she has a few sips, but in fact her mug’s been drained by the time I remind her of this.

And then Madam comes back to ask if either of us would like a glass of OJ. One hand goes up and then she leaves again. When she returns she suggests that we might like a bit of ham, and/or some of the local goat cheese. Yes to both.

So this is starting to feel like a real breakfast, not one of the skimpy ones we imagined at first. But wait, there’s more; because when the meat and cheese get presented she suggests that an omelette might go well with it; and when this big beautiful omelette built for two lands on the table she suggests we might also enjoy the croissants she picked up from the bakery across the street this AM. So yes, we end up being very bullish about La Maison Joly.

After breakfast I tell our host (Selena? I can almost get her name back but I’m not sure.) of our plan to have lunch and then bike downhill after the rains hopefully stop, and then ask if it would be possible to leave our bikes in the cave while we have lunch, thinking of them getting soaked sitting outside somewhere. And of course that would be fine too. And then Selena takes her own huge steaming cup of coffee and goes out to sit on the wall outside, telling us she’ll be outside if we need anything.

She’s still out there an hour later, and it’s still not raining. It’s their post, it’s her shift. Yesterday afternoon the man of the house was perched there for an hour or two.

An hour later we’re sitting around our room waiting for the lunch hour to roll around when Rachael checks the weather forecast again. There’s been a change, an important one. It’s still not raining, and now it’s not supposed to arrive until around one; and after that the rest of the day looks wet.

Our window is now. Ten minutes later we’re hurriedly loading our bikes outside in the lane in front of the B&B with Serena watching on, now on her second mug of coffee. And then we start coasting down the hill, and we don’t tarry. We stop once to take off our coats because it’s surprisingly pleasant on a warm day with a modest tailwind but other than that we just bike a fast, easy 18 miles, and arrive dry.

Sound track: Take Five, by Dave Brubeck

In our rush we didn’t research places to eat when we arrived, so as soon as we’re in the center of the village we pull out the phones and look for nearby restaurants and are surprised to be reminded that our hotel is also a restaurant, and they have their sign out. Perfect.

It’s one now and they’re only open for lunch for another half hour but there’s no problem seating us. It’s a nice place, we enjoy our meal, and we hang out at the table until they’re ready to shutter the dining hall at three. In the meantime I’ve gone up to the hotel reception desk and talked us into an earlier check-in than the advertised four PM. Our room is ready so we carry up our bags and settle in to our home for the next four nights, elated to be inside and dry.

The rains never do arrive. Later in the afternoon I take the camera for a walk through our corner of town, thinking I need to get a start on seeking out some of the forty fountains Pernes is known and named for. I easily find some fountains, and more besides. Pernes-les-Fontaines, another of those places we’ve biked past twice with barely a look inside, is a charming place. With hiking and riding options aplenty, it looks like another very promising base for a longer stay. Good choice, Team Anderson!

Standing in the square we see from our room, looking back at our hotel. Our window is on the second floor, just to the right of the plane tree.

And here’s the look in the other direction. A former church, now a community center.

Here’s a fountain now, the Fontaine Saint Augustin, right around the corner from our hotel. This is going to be easy - there are allegedly 40 of them in the village.

Facing the square in front of the church/community center is the old elementary school. Above it is the town’s clock tower, though you can’t see the clock from this angle.

Two. This one’s the Fountaine des Penitents Noirs.

Another tower, the Tour Ferrande. It’s not like the fountains though, and there are only a couple of them.

I think she’s walking back from the cultural center, where it looked like something was taking place this Sunday afternoon. Preservation of the traditional costumes is another thing Pernes is known for.

The 12th century Ferrande tower again. In front of it is the Fontaine du Souchet.

The Fontaine du Souchet again (souchet translates as stump). The fountain is also known as the Fontaine du Gigot.

The streets of the village are lined with yellow suns, presumably marking the tourist route.

Still following the tourist trail. Note the back cat chasing a rat above the artisan shop on the right. This is a theme here, and many of the artisan shops have the same sign above them.

La Fontaine l’Hopital, with the spire of the community center church behind.

Another documentation failure. I didn’t find the name of this chapel opposite the Villeneuve Gate. The sign on it’s no help. It just records the fact that General Charles de Gaulle stopped by for a visit in 1963.

The Fontaine La Villeneuve. That makes six, a respectable start. I think the figure on the right looks like the spitting image of Bert Lahr as the Cowardly Lion in the Wizard of Oz.

Port Villeneuve. Pernes is also a city of gates and there are a few more of those to ferret out, but this is enough for today. Might as well save something for a rainy day.

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Today's ride: 18 miles (29 km)
Total: 4,013 miles (6,458 km)

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Bob KoreisWhat a cool place for a stop. I love the windy streets. Can you get up to the top of the gate towers?
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2 months ago

Scott AndersonTo Bob KoreisIt really is pretty great. It was a last minute decision to stay here four days, but we’re really pleased with it. But no, it doesn’t look like the gates have walkways.
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2 months ago

Bob KoreisCafe au lait bowls, wonderful for warming your hands and good for dipping croissants and other pastries.
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2 months ago

Kelly IniguezThis looks like an interesting place, and it could be right on our route. Southern France is interesting!
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2 months ago

Scott AndersonTo Kelly IniguezIt really is. It’s the kind of town I like best, really. Small enough that it’s easy to orient yourself, easy to get in and out of, not a huge tourism hotspot but still plenty interesting. Southern France is full of places like this.
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2 months ago