We started off quite a bit earlier than we sometimes get going – just before 9:00 am. It was Rosanna’s first trip on her rented Bianchi. The gear changing using the brake levers has been a bit of a learning curve for her. We rode across the fields to Entrechaux and then took the nice back road to Vaison by way of St. Marcellin so Rosanna could see it. We rode towards Seguret on the south road, then headed north and went to Villedieu by a very nice and not too hilly route. After a short period of refreshment in the town square, and an on-the-fly bike adjustment, Rosanna headed back to our terrace.
Glenn and Peter and I proceeded on to Buisson, Visan and Valreas. The latter two are in a weird little section of the Vaucluse department that sits smack dab in the middle of the Drome department. I meant to look up in a guidebook when I got back why this is so, but I forgot. Perhaps that information will be forthcoming at a later point. We lunched in Valreas, next to a table with three of the most well-behaved children I have ever seen at a restaurant. The littlest one was a girl of about 2, who very neatly managed to eat almost all of an enormous bowl of pasta without getting any on herself. She was very focused on the whole activity, until she had had enough and then she was quite focused on getting her big brother to walk her over to the fountain in the town square so she could splash around.
It was a very hot day, and we had ridden 60km to get to lunch, and I for one was not entirely sure precisely where we were or how many km we would have to ride to get home. I guessed 40, which turned out to be more or less accurate. In any event, the heat and the distance influenced our lunch choices. I had a tartine with ham, mozzarella, a tomato sauce and a fried egg on top, with a substantial side salad. Peter had a salade campagnarde, which involved chevre croutes on top of ham and greens. Glenn had a salad with grilled chicken on top. There is no photo of mine because a barely-fried egg makes Glenn queasy. But it was delicious.
On my way home I took a little detour and discovered another small hamlet of the Beaumont du Ventoux commune – La Tuilerie. I think Kate (and maybe Guy) might know it from running in the area last year. Once home, I managed to get to the point in my book where Edith (Pussy) Jones has married Teddy Wharton, but then a popular uprising in favour of decamping to the WiFi café prevented me from seeing her through her depression, his madness, her affair, and their divorce.
I have one significant think to report from yesterday – in the afternoon our Glenn rode up Mt. Ventoux. I had promised him a bottle of champagne if he did it in 1h30 or less. It took him 1h33, and he did it from the Malaucene (rather than the Bedoin) side, so he is still drinking rose from a box. Still, it is quite an accomplishment, and we celebrated with eggplant parmigiana and a blackberry galette. Here is the returned hero in his stretching attire (with his special little red massager).
Felicitations Glenn! That is quite an accomplisment indeed. Champagne would have been nice, but that box-o-rose is nothing to sneer at. Plus it is so much more thirst quenching after such exertion. I love the look of the terrace - I can certainly see myself getting quite comfortable there.....
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