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Drome-Provencal Continues

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Page 4

Day 8 - Last Day -- Murs to Isle sur la Sorgue

We awoke this last day of our cycling to the howling of the mistral, the legendary winds of the south of France. Unlucky us, we almost escaped them. As all cyclists know, the only difference between the wind and a hill is that the hill ends. Oh well.
Gordes
Gordes
The Views (from and of)


Gordes
Gordes
It was to be a roller coaster day -- lots of ups and downs to the hill villages of the Luberon region of Provence. Our first stop was Gordes, one of the more famous, and very beautiful hill villages. The place was teeming with tourists, all trying not to get blown away by the winds which were particularly fierce at the top of the hill. Signs and barricades were blowing around the main square. We took a look around, including a good gape at the views, and then went on our way. There was a marvelous view of all of Gordes from the road on the other side of the valley as we left going west.

Menerbes
Menerbes

Next stop was Menerbes, another climb to the top of a hill. This is the village made famous by Peter Mayle's books ("A Year in Provence," etc.) and was also teeming with tourists. We had our picnic lunch in a park here at the top of the village. Those hills make you hungry!

Oppede
Oppede-le-Vieux


After Menerbes, we followed a bike path for a while through tiny back roads, to the next stop which was the remarkable village of Oppède-le-Vieux. The beauty of this 12th century village shone through even though it was somewhat of a shambles.
Oppede Oppede
Oppede-le-Vieux
It had been completely deserted in 1910 and falling to ruin, but during WWII a group of artists settled in the ruins, and the village and is still in the process of being renovated and re-inhabited. It was a delight of narrow winding streets and charming stone buildings.

The last 25 kilometers of our day from Oppède-le-Vieux to our destination of Isle-sur-la-Sorgue was a pretty wicked ride -- although it was completely flat, we were heading directly into the mistral, and we struggled the whole way into the wind with dirt and all sorts of objects flying at us. We were quite happy to finally reach our destination that day, but sad to be ending the wonderful trip.

Isle-s-l-Sorgue Isle-s-l-Sorgue
Isle-sur-la-Sorgue
Isle-s-l-Sorgue
Isle-sur-la-Sorgue Sunday Market
Our last stop, Isle-sur-la-Sorgue, turned out to be a beautiful town, criss-crossed with canals and waterwheels, and known as the Venice of the Comtat. Well, not quite, but the canals made a nice feature. It is most famous for its weekly Sunday antiques market for which shoppers and antiques dealers come from far and wide. The town also has a regular market on Sundays as well. And we were lucky enough to be there for Sunday morning to experience the mesmerizing amount of fantastic merchandise available.

Total very windy kilometers for the day: 45

And for the whole trip: 470
Avignon
Pont d'Avignon

Avignon

Our last stop in France on this trip was a few hours in Avignon, where we saw the Pont d'Avignon, but did not go out onto it as the French charge you 40 francs to do so. Cheek. Then it was the train back to Geneva, and back to NY the next day via a day in the UK.



If you would like more information about this trip or other self-guided biking or walking trips, visit the Randonnée web site at www.randonneetours.com.


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