France - High on Return

France, October 28 - November 9:

Heading south from the French Alps at Briancon, the highest town in Europe (1321 m)

The valley views south of Tallard

Medieval town of Sisteron at a narrowing of the valley walls

Cold ride in the rain entering Provence, just south of Forcolquier

Roussillon, Provence - famous for the local ochre coloured soils

Provence colours

Gordes - lost in the mist

View from Gordes - another cycling destination in the clouds!

Pont du Gard near Avignon with friends and gracious hosts Gaston and Martine

Heading to Arles from Avignon - awesome riding!

Up to Beax-en-Provence

The Mediterrean at the Camargue wetlands

No trail...

Yes a trail - you win some, you lose some!

Sete, France

Canal du Midi with plane trees lining the banks

Great train from Agde to Carcasonne

Castle in Carcassonne

Ride south from Carcasonne to farm in the mid-Pyrenees - one of our best rides of the voyage!

We had the ride of our lives. In 4 days we biked from the Haut Alpes around Briancon down to Avignon in Provence. When we arrived in Briancon, the French trains were all on strike. Like many other industries in the country, they were protesting the raising of the retirement age from 60 to 62. The weather was brilliant and warm, unusually so for this time of year.

Again, the scenery and weather beckoned us on to our bikes and we headed down through the alps to Mont Dauphin. The ride was spectacular with new snow-capped mountain views around each bend -- and it was mostly downhill! Had the road been quieter with less trucks, it would have been even better, but the paved shoulder was in good condition and gave us ample space to ride comfortably with the traffic. We found a welcoming, warm hotel (we knew the warmth would fade quickly at dusk) with a restaurant in Mount Dauphin, at the foot of the medieval promontory town that was catching the late afternoon sun.

From Mont Dauphin, where we noticed frost on the cars in the morning, we headed further south and west, with stunning landscapes fueling our riding, past the sinuous Lake Serre-Poncon, down to the town of Tallard. Here we hunted a long time for accommodation, finally finding a little hotel along the outskirts of town by the highway. Our lucky weather streak continued until the next afternoon when a misty rain started off and on. In the meantime, the mountains softened to hills and the valley broadened. The riding was glorious as we followed a quiet road down the valley all day, with vistas across to hill towns and ridges. We passed hundreds and hundreds of apple trees and lots of other fruit trees, too, and a busy roadside market. Around noon, we came upon the stunning village of Sisteron perched precariously on a ridge over a river, with rock walls pinching in from both sides. We wandered narrow lanes, caught the market for lunch, and were proud to see 2010 Tour de France banners hung in town (although I think they were heading up the vallcy, not down like us)! Near the end of the day, as it started to rain in earnest, we found a room at a deer farm near the town of Forcalquier (farms commonly have a few hotel-type rooms in France, which is one way to help diversify and enhane their incomes) . We welcomed the dinner served at their restaurant, having riden 90 km that day, one of our longer rides.

Facing a weather forecast of solid rain, wind and a high of 14, we decided to make a quick 45 km dash along gorgeous, quiet roads to the town of Apt, where we knew there was at least one hotel we could stay in. The scenery was great, the descents welcome, but the rain did not let up all day. It poured, then poured some more. Arriving in Apt, we were quite cold and thoroughly soaked, one of the few times in our entire trip. We found exactly what we needed, a sweet, warm hotel that even had a bath. We spent the afternoon warming up and drying out. The town was lovely, but with the weather, we only made a quick nip out for dinner with a borrowed umbrella.

On November 1, we arrived in Cheval Blanc, near Avignon, to stay for a few days with another cycling couple we had met twice in Normandy in June. The ride to Cheval Blanc was terrific. We travelled along more scenic, quiet roads via the attractive towns of Roussillon, Gordes and Menerbes. In the Roussillon area, the soil is light yellow blending to bright red and orange, and ochre mining was a big part of the economy before fossil fuels replaced them in the rubber manufacturing process. The cliffs and town bricks and artwork all reflected these colours. The views of classic Provencal fields of lavender and grapes were delightful on our climb up to the perched hilltop town of Gordes, although the fog obscured the vistas from the top. Stonework without mortar, found in fences, field huts and houses, is a specialty here. A quick climb up to Menerbes and through a string of towns leading around the prominent Little Luberon ridge took us on to Cheval Blanc.

Our friends, Martine and Gaston, made us feel welcome in their lovely, historic home that is attached to the original mill in the area. They took us to some of the local sites, including Fontaine-de-Vaucluse where a river gushes out of a hill and its deeper source remains a mystery. We also explored historic Avignon and then the Pont du Gard, a high three-tiered ancient Roman aqueduct over the Gard River. It was great to hang our hat in one place for a few days and our French improved each day we were there. Both Martine and Gaston tell a lot of stories and have a lot to share, so we had to work hard to keep up in French!

With great cycling tips in hand, we bid adieu to Gaston and Martine and headed for Arles, famous for its great Roman amphitheatre and theatre. The first 15 km of the ride was a little busy, but after that, we hit some gorgeous quiet roads, once again revelling in sunshine and beautiful scenery. We wound our way through the pine-covered angular white Alpilles hills, so called because they are like a miniature version of the Alps. We saw many cyclists on this warm fall day but, not surprisingly, we seemed to lose most of them when we headed up the steep hill to Beaux, a medieval town with splendid views all the way to the Mediterranean Sea. We saw more evidence of ancient Roman aqueducts as we continued on to Arles. Once in town, the roads seemed to be a bit of a tangled mess and we ended up in an entourage of fellow tourists searching for the youth hostel, which we eventually found.

From Arles, the cycling became quite flat, which we hadn't experienced in some time! We headed to the Mediterranean at Stes-Marie de la Mer, on the edge of the great Camargue wetlands at the mouth of the Rhone River. At a local museum, we learned much about the production of rice and wine here, and the culture around specialized horses used to round up cattle. Nearby, there is a large bird sanctuary with flamingos (we saw 500+ up close), black ibis, black stork, coot, purple gallinule, egrets, and recuperating birds including several owls. We camped for the first time in a while and had a little party with a few other long-term travellers around a barbecue. We were still the only tent campers though... we are defininely pushing the season!

Indeed, on our next night at Le Grand Travers, we had to sneak into an RV-only park and camp somewhat surepticiously, packing up early and heading off along the windy coast to Agde and the start of the Canal du Midi. On the way, we passed through the town of Sete where Ian and and his high school friend Tim had travelled some 30 years ago. With memories of Ian and Tim struggling with their tent due to the strong gusts off the sea, we pedalled along the coast into the merciless wind. Again, we are reminded that flat riding is not always easy riding. We got a "blast" watching windsurfers and kite boarders screaming along the surface of the protected waters just east of Sete. With a change in the weather on the horizon again, we biked along the Canal du Midi trail (which varied considerably in its surface for the first 10 km, and sometimes extended through salt ponds with more flamingos) to Beziers. The rain is cold in November and we needed to move along to start our WWOOFing farm adventure, so we hopped the train and soon arrived in Carcassone. We still got soaked in the pouring rain just getting to the hostel, but it was a shortish ride, so we soon thawed and dried out.

We toured the old part of Carcasonne with its massive walls, towers and medieval streets in the morning and then had a fabulous ride south through the vineyards to the town of Limoux. Our farm family, Andy and Jessie Darlingon, picked us up there and we made the trek to their organic farm in the foothills of the Pyrenees.