The riverboat has 9 double rooms, just enough for the 9 couples who were on the tour. Joel and Sally from the U.S. organized this vacation tour for Sally's 70th birthday, and invited friends to join along. Of the 18 onboard 11 cycled with me every day -- anywhere from 30 to 50km --returning to the boat every evening for a gastronomic dinner.
Monday:
Walk Inn, the company I work for, provided the wonderful new hybrid bikes, and myself as the guide for the duration of the trip.
A look at the dinner table, which I had the privilege to join in the evenings...
Relaxing on the boat
An homage to my cousin David, who takes brilliant photos playing with reflections...
Speaking of brilliance, below is Thierry, the onboard chef, who alone prepared breakfast, lunch, and dinner for all of us. I've never eaten so well in the 5 years I've guided, whether the duck breast with cherry reduction for dinner, or the pasta salad with asparagus for picnic lunch. Thierry was nice enough to share some cooking tips with me for my future groups.
Monday: A short ride was planned for today's first bike ride: only 15km. We stretched the ride twice as long, going to visit the beaches east of Aigues Mortes on the Mediterranean Sea. In the photo below, Dave contemplates our lunch spot on the beach.
On the way back to the boat, a photo of the ramparts surrounding the town of Aigues Mortes.
Tuesday:
Leaving the sleepy village of Gallician, only 20km of riding was planned for the day. Seeing that the group was fit and enthusiastic about cycling, I decided to extend the riding to Arles, more than doubling the route. We began on former towing tracks alongside the canal, used as far back as 800 years ago by teams of horses who towed boats upstream.
Chris is a master napper -- avec or sans helmet -- and after lunch he demonstrated his prowess:
The Roman city of Arles, and its imposing coliseum, built in 100 A.D.
A view of the centre of Arles through one of the Coliseum's many arches:
A street in the centre of Arles:
Wednesday:
The goal is a loop to the perched village of Les Baux de Provence, hovering 200m above the plains. In the photo below we passed the ruins of a Roman aqueduct, and stopped to admire the structure and the surrounding countryside.
Having reached Les Baux, I took David -- the most experienced cyclist of the group -- on a little excursion to the upper ridges of the Alpilles Mountains, on a forestry track above the village. I struggled to follow him up the mountain. As the rest of the group remained sheltered in the village, the rains hit us hard, and the views of the surrounding mountain ranges were obscured. Once at the very top, in the photo below, we contemplated the view of the perched village, sans candy shops and tourist stores...
Before returning to the village, David and I stopped at the former limestone quarry, today used as a wine cellar.
Sitting in the warm comforts of a village café in Les Baux, run by the same family for 400 years, we waited out the storm.
Back on our bikes, we freewheeled back down the hill, and returned to the Arles in the bright sunshine.
Thursday:
Slight glitch: torrential rains pushed the current to levels exceeding the boat's ability to navigate upstream.: we were "stuck" in Arles another day, which meant some improvising to find an alternative cycling route. With a slight Mistral wind against us, we cycled north, on seldom-used roads, towards the town of Tarascon.
Before reaching town we found a quaint towing track alongside a canal, lined by centuries-old plane trees.
One of our magnificent lunches, held at the end of the canal. I've never had better picnic lunches in the 5 years I've been guiding...
Chris, after enjoying his lunch, taking one of his daily power-snoozes...
While preparing to leave our picnic spot, a flock of 600 sheep exited the same canal, and we watched in wonder...
What was less wonderous however, near the end of the cycling day, was the torrential downpour that hit us by surprise. Provence is known for its intense sun but also for its flash spring and autumn rains. Jim got a flat tire as we pedaled towards town, and so we switched bikes for the last 5km, into the pounding rain, made complete with close lightning strikes. Mostly everyone in the group found the storm amusing, and I did my best to conceal my fright and wear a smile.
We found refuge in the sleepy village of Vallabrègues, with hot chocolates in the neighbourhood bar...
And whoever said France wasn't the ultimate cycling kingdom should contemplate the following two streetlights:
Friday:
a 30km ride up the Rhône, and to the renowned winemaking village of Chateauneuf du Pape. Within the first few kilometers, Dave took a spill, and I didn't quite manage to snap the picture while he was still on the ground. Total count: 10 falls for the group over the week (some of which were spectacular but without any consequence), and 2 flat tires.
We rode by this magnificent field of poppies, which were in bloom just about everywhere along the sides of the road. We all got in and took group pictures in the field...
And we reached the famed vines of Chateauneuf du Pape, their gnarled branches stretching upwards from the rocky soil, and overlooked by the ruins of the castle, sitting atop the village. The Avignon Popes had the castle built, and were the first to plant vines here over 700 years ago.
The fountain in the main square of Chateauneuf du Pape, adorned with our bicycles. Every year in August, during the village's medieval wine festival, this fountain is hooked up to vats of Chateauneuf du Pape wine...
Back on the boat, having completed 5 marvelous cycling days in Provence, we navigated back downstream and to the town of Avignon. I said my goodbyes to the group after the ride, and they stayed onboard for their last dinner and night...
Here we all are, cyclists and non-cyclists -- all 19 of us -- atop of the Roman Colliseum in Arles:
