Cycling Through Provence

By Dave Meisner

Nineteen people with Sanctuary Ski Club spent seven days touring Provence by bicycle, a great way to see this part of Southern France.

After arriving in Paris, we got in some afternoon sightseeing before catching the TGV high-speed train (very slick!) the next morning to Avignon, where our bike tour started. We took in all the sites time allowed and will cherish the memories.

Everyone got up to Les Baux, an impressive hilltop fortress dating to medieval ages and, as advised, the four-mile incline was not that bad. A few folks walked a bit near the summit. That day was a favorite – we also did the St. Remy market, saw the Roman Barbegal aqueduct and mill site, stopped at a winery on the way into Pont du Crau and took in Arles at the end. Sisters Natalie and Valerie interrupted their grape crushing to serve us samples of their wine at Mas Baracan, and we obliged by stocking up. The 2,000-year-old Pont du Gard aqueduct near Remoullins is a true wonder and so is the Roman arena in Arles, which is still in use.

Few of us of ever saw flamingos in the wild before riding through the Camargue and Rhone River delta region. At the hotel courtyard in St. Gilles (more of a working-class town but the small museum just up a narrow alley from a famous Romanesque church was a real sleeper) we sat under a small palm with a lime tree behind, drinking our wine and asking ourselves, “How great is this?!” Much of this countryside, village and city scenery was the subject of Van Gogh paintings.

When we arrived back at our starting city, Avignon, many took in the palace of the French popes. Everyone enjoyed our two-night stay in Saintes Maries on the Mediterranean, too. After dark, bats were flying all over the place and there were lights in the sky─ET was rumored to be there. On our off day in Saintes Maries we had another market day; some went to the beach, some went on a jeep tour of the area and some biked around. Many of us also spent time at the hotel patio and pool kicking back and drinking more wine.

There were absolutely no complaints from folks about the hotels─most were rated just 2 stars rated, but they were all nice and so French! The hotels had no elevators, so we lugged our bags up the stairs. This was not a problem since, after all, we are sporting people! Everyone enjoyed La Ferme near Avignon and Mas de Salicorne at Saintes Maries. All our included dinners were all simply excellent, so riding 25 to 30 miles a day helped reduce our weight gain. French cooking’s reputation is well deserved. “Love handles” are now known as “baguettes”.

The weather? Perfect! We encountered no rain during our ride, and it was warm and sunny but not hot. Getting started in mornings was an adventure sometimes. Oddly, it wasn’t unusual to lose a few riders in the first two kilometers. Merci to Linda L. for riding “sweep” at the rear. I managed to navigate from the cue sheets fairly well without making any unrecoverable errors, but I was really glad I studied the route using Google and Yahoo maps before we left home.

We rode lightly traveled country roads, and the only complaints were about the roughness of the unpaved paths in a few places. Dave W. had a couple broken spokes on the tow path out of St. Gilles and limped some to Remoullins, but France Bike brought out a fresh bike the next morning. The only minor injury was when Dave D. got a road scrape on his knee when we got a bit congested rounding a turn.

Merci beaucoup to Jackie Q., whose command of the French language was greatly appreciated, especially when it came to ordering dinners. When we got back Paris a bunch of us enjoyed an evening “Fat Tire Bike Tour” of the city that Georgia L. arranged (http://www.fattirebiketoursparis.com). Our four-hour guided tour from near the Eiffel Tower included the Latin Quarter, Louvre area and a boat ride on the Seine, with wine of course. What a great finale that was.

Maureen K. chronicled the trip in a diary, and we are looking forward to getting her account of our tour. Thanks, Maureen. Just don’t ask her about how French ATMs work.