'Wherever the car takes us'

I came home from school last Wednesday to find out that we were going for a long boring drive to "wherever the car takes us" as dad likes to say.  At the beginning of the year we took a two hour drive along the "bord de mer" that my sister and I did not enjoy.  I wasn't really looking forward to taking another drive, and I just wanted to stay home and shop.  

The sun was shining and the sky was blue so we decided to take a beach bag just in case... After about 40 minutes of driving and looking out at the beautiful coast with big red jagged rocks leaning out over the ocean, I had to admit, I was starting to enjoy it; but just a little.  Just past Cannes, we were headed to Frejus/San Raphael.   

We drove by many small beaches that were barely big enough for a few dozen people.  We decided to stop and go down to a beach seeing that we were all hot and that the beach looked so welcoming.  As we made our way over to the stairs heading down to the beach, dad noticed something that gave us all second thoughts about going down there...all the men and women on the beach were nude.

Sadly, my sister and I walked back to the car, being reassured by mom and dad that there would be other beaches we would find. In no time we were all out of the car again, with beach bags in hand making our way down to another small beach hidden behind some big red rocks. Madeleine and I immediately jumped into the water with dad tagging along.

Maddy and dad decided to leave me and mom on the main beach and go behind some rocks to see what they could find...perhaps dinner? Maddy excitedly shouted showing dad and I a little sea snail she had found. In no time the three of us were filling up a bucket with dinner. We found sea snails and other shell fish that were stuck to the rocks, and dad found a strange looking shellfish with black spikes on the outside. 

When we got home Madeleine and I helped dad make spaghetti with shellfish. Although it wasn't as tasty as we had hoped, we had a lot of fun looking for dinner on our 'boring drive'.

Simona

Keep cycling dad!!  The belly's still there

Driving in Provence

The beauty of Gordes

Sun makes all the difference and while we did have some good stretches of clear sky and sun, the kids didn't quite make it into the pool at Le Medievale. Instead of the sun-soaked Provence we had read about and were hoping for, we crisscrossed our way daily, visiting a rain-drenched Provence. If only I had a nickel for every time a local told us 'il ne pleut jamais come ca en Provence'. I now know how the Quarins felt when we told them it never rains like this in Nice when they came to visit back in March. 

Winery in Chateauneuf du Pape

Rain or shine, we set out each morning in a different direction guided mostly by where local markets were being held. The kids would ask 'where are we going today' and I would respond 'who knows, wherever the car decides to take us'. And after 5 days and hundreds of kilometers later we visited much of Provence hitting all of the highlights and then some.

No description needed!!

From Avignon, to Carpentras, Apt and Gordes, Bonnieux to L'Isle-sur-la Sorgues, Roussillon, Fontaine de Vaucluse to Chateauneuf du Pape and countless villages in between we weaved our way through the area stopping in to stroll the streets, visit the markets, sit at cafes and enjoy some wine.  

The brilliance of Roussillon

While each town provided something different (as well as the countless gift shops all offering more or less the same things) the view of Gordes on the road into town along with the brilliant tapestry and range of colours of the rock formations of the ochre mines of Roussillon stood out. We visited Roussillon twice but were unable to take the one hour walk through the 'sentier de ochre' due to thunderstorms and heavy rain each visit. The deep red, golden yellow and burnt orange of the ochre rock formations were fascinating and worth going back for. 

Helping ourselves to
some cherries

For me the highlight of Provence however, was the driving. Each kilometer seemed to bring something new to tantalize the eyes. The vibrant red of plump cherries bursting from trees, the bright green of vineyards all lined up with such precision for as far as the eye can see, the brilliance of the yellow ginestre flower in full bloom and the silvery blue and green olive trees dotting le paysage made the drive enjoyable.

Canopy of the chene

Fields of flowering poppies and rows of early blooming lavender provided perfect opportunities to pull over and snap a few photos. I loved zipping through narrow country roads under a canopy of century old speckled chene trees or between stone fences lining the perimeter of country estates. There was always something just around the bend or in the distance to catch our attention or evoke a comment.


Sal

Looking down upon the
Abbey of  Senanque in Gordes

Elegance of the Abbey courtyard

Market Day

One of the things I enjoy most about living here is the wide  selection of open air markets. The South  of France with it's abundant sunshine and warm weather provides all the elements  needed to grow great fruit and vegetables. It has  been a real luxury to be able to casually stroll through the many markets we have visited, not only to buy produce, but also to enjoy the great ambience. It certainly beats shopping at any  supermarket back home and I will really miss it.

Just having spent 5 days in the Provence countryside, we had an opportunity to visit some great markets.  Each town in the area has it's market day, which is a real event  and they are all different. The markets we visited in the towns of Apt and Carpentras seemed to take over the entire centre of the town on market day.

On Saturday morning, market day in Apt, the town is bustling so much so that we have no choice but to park about 2km from the centre and walk to the market.  Many locals are heading to the market with straw baskets in hand.  I can't help but stop at the linen stands.  I love the bright provencale blue and yellow tablecloths and the wide selection of bedspreads. I buy a few things but wish I could take a lot more home with me. We stop at a stand to sample some lavender honey and in Provence all things lavender abound. As we take our time browsing, we pass a square with lively street entertainers singing and dancing in the morning sunshine.

There is no shortage of snacks for the hungry shopper, the pizza, oriental food and rotisserie chicken trucks make an appearance. Several cheese producers offer a variety of cheeses and we can’t help but stop to sample and buy a few different types of chevre. We stop at stand selling local salami, sausages and ham and each get a small panino eating as we continue along.  I pass a stand with fresh Italian pasta and notice a group of American women amazed by the selection, but also sense their confusion. I help explain to them what the different types are and they are very grateful and happy as they purchase some for their evening dinner.

Simona and Madeleine like to wander through the racks of clothing, but aren't convinced enough to buy anything.  We stroll through the produce stands, but decide to hold off on buying any until we get to the farmer's market in the town of Valleron, a 5 min drive from where we are staying.  We stop for coffee at Cafe Louvre in the square overlooking the market stands, when we decide we've had enough.  What a great way to spend a Saturday morning. 

The daily farmers market in Valleron seems to be the most authentic country farmer's market we have seen. Each day between 6 -7:30 pm, local farmers sell their days' harvest. We stock up on cherries, plump strawberries and sweet smelling peaches, apricots and cantaloupes.  We are happy to be able to eat such fresh fruit in early June and quickly become loaded down.  We make several trips to the car before we are finally done. We pick up a large bunch of white asparagus, apparently the only type grown in this area, wonderful looking aubergines, green beans and zucchini complete with their flowers. It may be a challenge to take all this produce back to Nice, but it all looks so tempting, we can't resist.

Although I love wandering through the Cours Salaya market in Nice, it is touristy, especially at this time of the year, expensive and doesn't have the same great selection.  I would gladly trade in my supermarket back home however, to be able to shop in Cours Salaya especially in our cold winter months.
Nancy

Provence

Holy mistral!!  Photo shoot in
front of the Pont d'Avignon

We came in search of the fragrance and colour of lavender fields and were greeted by nasty, hurricane-like winds of the mistral. We read about the strong winds of the mistral in these parts when researching where to live but never imagined they'd be so strong. By end of day Wednesday the mistral gave way to a blanket of cloud and rain. 

Time out

Ascension Day (June 2nd) is a national holiday in France and schools were also closed on the friday so naturally we pulled the kids out of school Tuesday packed up the Clio and were off for 5 sun-filled days in Provence, or so we thought. At least the websites and brochures that we read all described Provence as being 'sun-soaked' and there has been very little rain in all of France over the past month.

Palais des Papes

Nancy spent countless hours on the net (I'm convinced she loves it) researching where to visit and where to stay and decided upon Le Medievale, a beautiful bed and breakfast just outside the village of Velleron, in the Luberon National Park. It is ideally located for easy day trips to all the small towns and villages in the area but most importantly (for the girls at least) it had a pool and beautiful gardens. 

Yes!  I love it Nancy

We turned the three and half hour trip from Nice into a six hour trip by stopping in for visits in both St Remy de Provence and Les Beaux which were described as 'must sees'. We weren't overly impressed with St Remy. Did we miss something? Not sure what all the hype is about. As for Les Beaux, it is a beautiful village embedded into the side of rocks which seems as though it is suspended from the sky. There is nothing not to like about Les Beaux but after all the perched villages we've visited I was ready to jump over the edge. I'm convinced that nobody lives in these perched villages and every morning some official opens the village to let the merchants help the tourists empty their pockets. I know I'm being cynical but how many shops could we enter selling the identical chinese-made, provencal-themed bed spreads, table cloths, dish towels, runners, lavender soaps and on and on.

Place de l'Horloge Avignon

We arrived at Le Medievale and were warmly greeted by Rebecca and Jean Claude the proprietors. Our apartment was perfect and, rain or shine, we should be in for a memorable 5 days in Provence. 
Sal

Not another water colour dad!!

Hmmm more table cloths

GIRO'ing - Colle delle Finestre

Cristian and Emanuele view from
their kitchen balcony

Its friday, just past 7pm and James Blunt is blaring "it's 72 degrees, zero chance of rain" as I turn off the coastal highway and head north to Torino. I'm headed to Bussoleno a small village of about 6000 inhabitants just west of Torino at the foot of the French-Italian Alps. Skiing in Briancon/Montgenevre back in February the girls and I met Cristian Miolo who lives with his wife Stefania and son Emanuele in Bussoleno and over an après ski beer he invited me to be their guest during the famous Colle delle Finestre stage of the Giro d'Italia. Its the second last leg and with 242 km likely the most grueling of this year's Giro stage before Sunday's final stage through Milan.  Unfortunately we will be gone before the Tour de France rolls through France so I decide to jump at the chance and take advantage of Cristian's generous invite. 

Tomorrow morning I will set out before noon joining thousands of other riders climb to the top of Colle delle Finestre which peaks at 2176 meters and wait for Alberto Contador and gang who should make it to the top between 4 and 5 pm.

Halfway there

From the town of Susa located in the Susa Valley, it's a 19km winding climb, with an average gradient of 9.1% and the last 8km the road is not asphalted. Barring anything unforseen, Contador is assured to win the Giro this year and after his selfless gesture in allowing former teammate Paolo Trialongo of Team Astana win today's stage he is a deserving champion. 

Made it

I thank my generous hosts and set out around 11:45am hoping to reach the top around 2:30ish. The sky is a deep, clear blue and the snow capped mountains beckon. It's a flat 8km from Bussoleno to the foot of the mountain and already streams of cyclists are making the pilgrimage. There are flags hanging everywhere from storefront windows and houses and there is a definite buzz in the air.

I immediately meet up with Tonino and Saverino 70 and 68, respectively, who left Torino (56km from the base of the mountain!!) this morning and having made it to the top in previous years this time they will sit at the bottom of the mountain to watch the racers come through.   

Crowds lining the route right at the top

A third of the way up the mountain I am struck not necessarily by the number of people which I fully expected but by the number of children many which can't be more than 10-11 that were pedaling their way higher and higher with friends and family. As well, the number of people just walking up the mountain aided by poles or sticks was very cool. 

The crowds thicken as I continue my ascent and about 300-400 meters from the summit the narrow hairpin road becomes lined with a wall of people and bikes as fans stake their positions. About 200 meters from the top I can hear loud cheers and roars coming from the crowds cheering on cyclists. I keep my head down and my legs in motion and soon I am energized by the crowd which cheers me and other cyclists along the last 40 or 50 meters across the top. 

Enjoying lunch and the view

The sun is warm, music is blaring and there is a sea of bikes and people everywhere. I treat myself to a cold beer take out a prosciutto panino from my knapsack and for 15-20 minutes I take it all in enjoying the moment. Like all great sporting or cultural events it's hard not to get caught up in the spectacle. 

My one and only pic of Contador...
and its blury....  :( 

Whether you are a fan or not is besides the point - its always fun to participate in such an event first hand.  After some obligatory photos I make my way down a 150 meters or so where the crowds are thinner, find a spot to enjoy the sun and the view and wait out the hour or so until the racers make their way through.  I savour another panino and the glass of wine Cristian insisted I take to the top to celebrate.

My view of the road below

Here comes the peleton

As I sit here I can't help but wonder if after the racers pass through I will have enough time to make it down the mountain catch a flight from Torino to London, make my way over to Wembley to buy a ticket and watch the Champions League final between Barcelona and Man United?  What a way to cap off the day - one can always dream! 


Sal

Who is this shirtless moron??

Tribute to Danilo Di Luca runner-up in 1988