September 5, 2024
Day Six - Orange to Bédoin
Apologies as this the second of the two entries where I'm not writing about this day's cycling not days or weeks later, but months! Happy Christmas. At least I've got about 20-30 lines of notes, hopefully they'll prompt some memories!
I can't remember (off to a good start) how well I slept, but apparently I set off at about 10:30. I knew that I didn't have particularly far to go to get to
Bédoin so a relaxed day of cycling rather than a mammoth distance was appealing. Staying indoors rather than in my tent overnight was definitely a wise decision, the storm that I'd deftly avodied getting soaked by sounded rather...wet. I'm sure my tent cold have survived it but why put up with it? I happened upon the local market in Orange, so took the opportunity to buy an apple and banana. I'm not very good at remembering to eat fruit on these trips, as they're a bit more delicate than the food I usually carry. Given the name of the commune, maybe I should have bought an orange. I just about managed to fumble through buying the fruit. It's much easier not speaking French when it's a supermarket self service machine that you can change the language on!
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I also passed Decathlon and as the campsite I was planning on staying at had an outdoor swimming pool, some swimming shorts were a must. The sandals I'd bought previously weren't very comfortable, so it was time to buy another pair. That makes three pairs of sandals I'd cycled with in one holiday - a new record! Worse things happen at sea I suppose.
Cycling towards Bedoin was hassle free, much to my surprise I ended up on a very pleasant cycle track. Admittedly a bit dull but I think a dull cycle track made for a refreshing change at that point. Pleasingly the cycle track also passed very close to a patisserie, so of course that was where I bought my lunch and dessert. I managed to avoid the peanut coated doughnut thankfully, that would have been a particularly unpleasant meal!
I decided to eat my lunch just to the side of the cycle track. I was away from motor traffic and the cycle track wasn't particularly busy either. The weather was warm and the calm surroundings made for an enjoyable lunch while I read my book. OK, Slaughterhouse 5 isn't a very cheerful read, but we'll gloss over that. Having a fold away chair helped too!
Some more cycling towards Bedoin followed, the gradient eased upwards but I was insistent on it being a relaxed ride, so upwards I plodded. By this point I could see the top of the mountain in the distance, which was pleasing.
I arrived at Bédoin, but got the impression the campsite I aimed for potentially only had a paddling pool rather than an actual swimming pool. Well that wouldn't do, so I rode over to the municipal campsite instead, which did have a proper swimming pool. I was definitely looking forward to my first outdoor swimming pool since...staying in Gordon, Sydney with family friends I think!
Arriving at said campsite it turned out they wouldn't allow me to swim with the swimming shorts I had brought. Not much of an explanation as to why, later I'd been told it was a strange fixation of the French to think that it's more hygenic. I wonder if they had any other activities that were guided by elements with no scientific backing? Ouija boards? Lie detectors? Strange stuff. Fortunately they did have a vending machine selling acceptable swimming shorts and trunks, what a surprise! Nice little racket they have going there!
The campsite itself felt a cycling climb in and of itself, which I had not expected, and my spot was halfway up the hill, which wasn't ideal. On the bright side it was still at the edge of the campsite, along with a gate to get out with. The soil for my tent pegs was rock solid, so back to the tried and true technique of using the shoe to get them in to the ground.
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I got my sleep system set up as quickly as possible, conscious that I wanted to go for a swim. I didn't feel very elegant in the swimming pool at all, I did a mix of breast stroke and back stroke. I tried front crawl a few times but it tends to just feel like to an outside observer it looks like I'm drowning. The lack of swimming goggles didn't help.
After returning to my tent I decided it was time to do a bit more admin to send out some WarmShowers requests to see if I could get some free place to stay once I'd left Bedoin.
Oh look, Bedoin has a well regarded Pizza restaurant! Well I'm afraid I just couldn't help myself. I also decided it was finally time to try my Jack the Rack front rack to see how well it performed as a pizza transporter. I didn't expect much in the way of keeping the meal warm but if it could carry the pizza easily that'd be a win so far as I was concerned. It turned out it did a great job, which I was really pleased with! I was further reminded that Bedoin is really not flat. Before getting the pizza I popped to the supermarket to get some supplies...to my surprise it didn't have anywhere to lock bikes! Bikes, bikes everywhere but nowhere to lock up, seemingly. Bizarre.
By the time I got back to the campsite with my tent it turned out that the pizza was only luke warm, but getting it back in one piece using a road bike was enough to make me rather cheerful. I should have done the same before with the the pizza I had then. I had a pizza with pistachio and some sort of ham-y meat - yes that's a technical term!
I finished the day off by writing the notes for this journal entry. It turns out a pizza box makes quite a good desk to perch on my lap! I think by the next morning some local ants had found the pizza box.
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