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Day two on the bikes dawned with bright sun, birds happily singing and a sumptuous breakfast in the dining area looking out on the patio we sat on last night. This morning’s ride is 17 miles (1000 ft elevation) with a stop at an old Ocher mine which is prevalent in the area. We could only see from the parking lot, but the large gaping holes in the massive cliffs gave a hint of the miles of paths and chambers in the large bluff.
We continued past beautiful poppy fields which brightened up the surrounding vineyards, and loved smelling the jasmine, roses and other flowers along the way. I was with Ken, who decided not to zoom ahead and at one point I took a wrong turn (not following my Whahoo gps) and ended up in front of a beautiful winery, Chateau Marie. At that point the Whahoo was yelling at us (flashing red and beeping) to let us know we were off track, and right at that point Vidal showed up in the van to tell us to go back and take the next right. We did and ended up at a beautiful little village where we quickly threw
back an espresso (the others had been there already) and got back on the bikes.
From there we had some nice uphills and of course downhills before winding our way to our lunch stop…Chateau Marie which we had passed when taking the wrong turn! Everyone unloaded from their bikes and were welcomed inside the nice and cool tasting room. I haven’t said much about the weather, but it has been sunny and quite warm (mid-80’s) which is quite a contrast to Ireland (mid-60’s) especially when pedaling up some of Provence’s steep hills.
We took a quick tour of the winery and then enjoyed another Backroads picnic overlooking the beautiful grounds, along with the wine (of course!). We chose a variety to ship back to Ireland, which will be a nice remembrance. The afternoon ride was approx. 21 miles, with a good portion on a wonderful bike path that wound its way through the vineyards and fruit trees. At one point we stopped to cross a bridge, Pont Julian that was from the Roman times and part of a road that connected Italy with France.
We pedaled the rest of the way on true backroads, some quite bumpy
into our truly spectacular hotel for two nights, La Coquillade (
https://coquillade.fr/en/). If you scroll through the pictures our room is the only one on the home page, and it had its own garden courtyard, tinkling fountain, a bedroom, living room and large bathroom with a great shower. Ken was in love and wanted to move in. I was curious as to how much it was for a night and found that the next night it was $1670, yes that was for one night. The other days ranged from $900 to $1500 and it is now officially the most expensive hotel room we have ever stayed in.
We had time to hit the pool and relax with a glass of the local rose produced at the vineyards next to the hotel. Dinner was on the beautiful patio, overlooking the vineyards, with again local ingredients and were rewarded with a spectacular sunset!
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