Vaison-la-Romaine to Carpentras: too much wind

October 27, 2011

WEATHER: mostly cloudy, some sun and very windy--headwinds and crosswinds

Clouds moved in overnight obscuring the top of Mt. Ventoux in the morning. Our hostess explained that when Mt. Ventoux had a 'chapeau' (hat) it generally meant bad weather was on the way. As we enjoyed another good breakfast, we hoped that today would be an exception to the rule. We were looking forward to today's ride as we would be passing Les Dentelles, a jagged mountain range, and several picturesque villages on the way to Carpentras. Unfortunately the high winds would make it less pleasant than we anticipated.

The pleasant breakfast room at Les Tilleuls d'Elisee.

The first few kilometres along the river were pretty level and sheltered by the hills, but then we turned in a more southerly direction through somewhat rolling farmland that was open to the north, south and west. Depending on our direction, we sometimes had a headwind and sometimes strong, gusty crosswinds. The headwind tired us out, and the crosswinds threatened to push us off our bicycles. We had to concentrate on staying upright, which made it impossible to look around, and we missed stopping in the scenic villages of Seguret and Sablet, since we didn't want to prolong the ride in these conditions. The sun came out just before we stopped for lunch in the wine village of Baumes de Venise.

As we left Vaison-la-Romaine we looked back at the ruined chateau above the medieval village.

It felt really good to get out of the wind inside a modern brasserie with lots of windows. Baumes de Venise was an attractive town at the southern end of Les Dentelles, a jumping off place for hikers, and from the restaurant we could see windblown people with poles coming down from the mountains. We lingered over our menu du jour--ravioli with fresh tomato sauce, followed by pork pieces with mushrooms, and tiramisu for dessert. We were in no hurry to go out into the wind again. Al decided to shorten our planned route by about eight kilometres and ride by more direct, but still minor, roads to Carpentras.

Another ruin in brilliant sunshine above Beaumes-de-Venise greeted us.

South of Beaumes-de-Venise, to the east beyond many kilometers of vineyards, we could just see Mont Ventoux, now from the southwest.

The wind continued as we left Baumes de Venise and clouds again obscured the sun. For the most part this part of the ride was level and much of it was sheltered by trees, so that was a big improvement. The last part of the approach to Carpentras was on busy roads including the ring road around the old city centre with noisy traffic moving very fast--most unpleasant--and we were relieved to find a marked bike lane on the wide sidewalk. Our hotel, the Forum, was down a quiet street just off the ring road, and the friendly receptionist welcomed us and showed us where to park our bikes. She then explained that after tomorrow's market almost everything in Carpentras including shops, museums and most restaurants, would be closed for the Toussaint long weekend, through All Saints Day the following Tuesday. We were a bit nonplussed, since we had planned to stay three nights here. With a population of almost 30.000, it was the largest town in the area and we had thought there would be a lot to see and do.

In the late afternoon we wandered through the old part of town, and in the evening had dinner at a nearby restaurant recommended by the receptionist, L'Univers, before they closed for the weekend. It was a good dinner, with more fresh tomato sauce, this time with eggplant and chèvre, then leg of rabbit with noodles, and a rhubarb and apple clafouti for dessert.

Today's ride: 38 km (24 miles)
Total: 522 km (324 miles)

Rate this entry's writing	Heart	3
Comment on this entry	Comment	0