July 11-19, Week 1

France 2010

Sunday, July 11
left the Cape around 7:45 AM, hung out at Caffe Paradiso until 11, drove to the bus station in Concord, taking a 1 pm bus to Logan which arrived around 2:30. After checking our bags, and paying $50 extra for our 3rd piece, we went through security and then had a late lunch in the only restaurant/bar, which was packed with World Cup fans. We could get a seat close enough to see the game so I followed the updates on my iPad. Spain finally scored during extra time just before we boarded the plane.

Left Boston on Aerlingus around 6pm, landing in Dublin five hours later after a bumpy flight around 5 AM, Dublin time. The temp was 11C, a pleasant change from the 90+F of Boston.

Monday, July 12
It took about 45 minutes to get through customs. The airport was was surprisingly busy. We found some comfortable chairs near Starbucks, and rested until 7 AM, when we went for a "full Irish breakfast" for 10€ each. After scouting out the airport and finally locating a newspaper we sat for a while in a quieter section of the airport and read about the World Cup final and the TdF in the Irish independent, a tabloid. We then relocated to the comfy chairs near Starbucks and napped until 10 AM, before taking the long walk to our departure gate. Our flight to Nice was late in departing, but we didn't care, we knew we were getting very close to France. We both catnapped during the two hour flight, which touched down around 3:00 PM local time, 6 hours ahead of EST.

After a short wait to get thru customs and an even short wait for our bags we were in a taxi, heading for the Hotel Vendome on Rue Pascarelli. My rusty French worked well enough to help the drive who wasn't familiar with the street, and as we pulled into the driveway of our hotel, there was Anne Toole waiting for us.

We checked in,unloaded our bags and headed out to old Nice for our a quick snack and some sight seeing. Anne wanted us to meet in the lobby by 7 pm, where we would meet up with several others including three other teachers from Massachusetts. We tried to find Theresa's "sopas cart"' but it wasn't where Rick Steves said it was, probably since it was now after 4 pm. So we found a cafe and had wonderful salads, Joni drank a Perrier and I a Pastis. We then browsed the market area, bought a beret for a friend and headed to the beach where I took a quick dip in the Mediterranean, my first swim in those waters since I was 7. The water seemed saltier thanCape Cod, and it was my first time swimming since my knee surgery, so my knees felt vey strange.

We then returned to the hotel via a special route thru old Nice that Joni had selected. Her research paid off as usual as she read many fascinating details about the buildings and streets we passed.

Back in our hotel room by 6 pm, we both showered and were in the lobby by 7. Our dinner party included:

Anne Toole, French teacher at BMS
Annmarie Breakey, English teacher at BHS
Cathy Garry, a former Title 1 teacher from BMS
Madeline, a friend of Cathy who works for the MA DOE
Nancy Lewis, friend of Anne's and former elementary teacher in Barnstable
Rita Jones, a friend of Nancy & Anne's

Our group of 8 walked back to the market area of old Nice, which is transformed into continual dinning spaces in front of every cafe along Cours Salaya. We had a wonderful dinner, most of us choosing seafood and lots of wine. I had probably not talked to Cathy Garry in nearly 20 years, so it was a lot of fun catching up with her. This was her first trip to France, she was visiting her daughter who spent a year in Paris as an au pair, and was now remaining for an other year to take courses at the Sorbonne.

After truly overeating we walked along the Promenade des Anglais before returning to our hotel. Joni and I had truly hit the wall, and sleep came quickly.

Tuesday, July 13
Wake up call at 6:30 was a shock to our systems, but we wanted to get an early start, so we all gathered on the terrace of the Vendome for our first breakfast. Although they had eggs and sausage, I stuck to the croissants and a tartine with butter. Magnifique. We checked out by 8 saying goodbye to Nancy & Rita who were flying home, and headed to Ville Franche sur Mer, where Anne attended "the Instituit"' and where "Dirty Rotten Scoundrels" was filmed. VF is a spectacular town with a harbor filled with yachts of the rich and famous. (Bono, Keith Richard, Bill Gates, etc). Joni again provided many anecdotes about VF, but she was topped by Anne whose three months of residency filled her w ith even more tidbits. Before leaving we stopped at a cafe overlooking the harbor for a cold Perrier and then headed north on our 4 hour trip to Mazan. Around noon we stopped at a rest area on the A7 and had a wonderful lunch, what an improvement over all t he food stops on the US interstates.

Our first first stop Provence was at the grocery store, Intermarche in Pernes. Then we headed for the bike shop but were disappointed to be met with "we have no bike for you here" even though my email from Hubert clearly stated otherwise. We were directed to drive to Luberon Biking's shop in Velleron, which we eventually found after two phone calls, one by the police, and several attempts to ask people on the street where the shop was located. One of the men be asked, mumbled something that we eventually understood as " i can't speak, i just had a root canal."

Turns out Hubert believed I was not arriving until late in the afternoon so he had not delivered the bike to the other shop in Pernes. The Trek Madone I was promised turned out to be too small a frame, so Hubert gave me a carbon fiber LaPierre, French bike that I do like. Hubert shared that he was the coach of the French Olympic mountain bike team, and a guitar player who had a large Marshall amp in his shop.

Despite the 100 F heat that turned parts of the road into sticky tar, I was thrilled to ride the 18 KM to Mazan. I was just excited to be riding in France again.

After the ride I continued to sweat for another hour before taking a shower and going out to dinner at the pizzeria in Mazan. We've eaten at the pizzeria before, and we all enjoyed our meal which lasted the usual 2-3 hours.

Again, sleep came quickly when we returned to the farmhouse. Nick called around 11:45 pm response to an accidental pocket call that I made to him several hours earlier. We only talked for a few minutes; I was worried about how much the call would cost and I was out of it since I was sound asleep when the phone rang.

Wednesday, July 14, Bastille Day
Another early rising, Anne wanted to leave the house by 7 am so we could get a parking place at the market in Sault. We stopped at the boulangerie for croissants and
up the Herald Tribune and L'Equipe, which is France's daily sports paper which has super detailed coverage of the Tour. The Tour was originally created as a publicity stunt to increase circulation of this paper!

Sault is a beautiful town in the lavender belt of Provence. It is probably one of the most photographed spots in France. The ride from Mazan to Sault covers about 40 KM including a long stretch through the switchbacks and hairpins of the Gorges de la Nesque, A small version of the Grand Canyon. The scenery is breathtaking, but equally scary. My sister would never take this route.

Upon arriving in Sault, we found a cafe and had another round of coffee and croissants. Thad were the best croissants I've had in 12 months! We then agreed to split up and pbrowse the market stalls 'till11 am. Joni bought material, lavender, and spoons, I bought a wide brimmed Panama hat for protection from the sun.

We then drive to Simeone la Rotonde, another tiny picturesque village with a great potttery shop. We all bought additional pieces to add to the collection that we started two years ago. We then lunched at La Palette, an outdoor bistrot located in the village's 17th century covered market. The owner, Monsieur Erik Roger, greeted Ann like an old relative and even acknowledged that he remembered Joni and me from previous summers. After lunch we browsed the Tea Room gift shop in Simeone and then headed back to Mazan via a less treacherous route. as we drove through the village of Pernes les Fountaines, we noticed they were having their annual melon festival. So we parked the carl and walked through the festival area, again browsing the many tables of foods and crafts. It was another 95F scorcher, so we had cold drinks at a makeshift cafe. As we sat we were lucky enough to catch the parade, which consisted of approximately 20 older men and women dressed in traditional Provencal clothing. They must have been dying in the heat with the multi-layered outfits.

Returning to the farmhouse at 5 pm we all relaxed before our 8 pm dinner reservation. I watched the end of the Tour on French TV which inspired me to go for a bike ride. The heat inspired me to keep the ride short, about 10 km, and I perspires profusely.

Dinner was outdoors in St. Didier, a small village only 6km to the east. Although we had eaten there before, there were new owners, and very new waiters who were very friendly but still mastering their obviously new profession. The food was good but the timing of courses was way off, and Joni's main dish never arrived. Still, we had fun...we're on vacation in France!

Thursday, June 15
Out of bed at 6:30 and on my bike by 7:00, I rode to Crillon le Brave, Bedoin, and back. A wonderful ride, it was only 70F, mostly smooth pavement, little traffic, and plenty of vineyards, olive trees, and farms. Le Mont Ventoux was visible throughout the ride. Saw. Lots of fellow cyclists...clearly a great area for rides.

Returned to the farmhouse for breakfast, coffee, croissants, tartine, and apricot juice. Time to relax and read the paper. This is why we came, life IS good!

We took to the car by 10:30, driving through several of the small villages around Crillon, St. Pierre de Vassols, Modene, & Caromb. All very picturesque. In Crillon we stopped at the only cafe in the village for Perrier, coffee, and postcards. Everything was very nice and very expensive. Rooms at the hotel start at 366€ per night.

We then drove back through Mazan to Isle Sur la Sorgue for lunch and a crafts market. We dined at the Cafe Bellevue, which was right along the canal and had a delicious meal, although way too big compared to my typical fruit salad. After Lunch the ladies went shopping and I searched out an ATM and another ice cream to escape the heat. It was 39 C, way to hot to really do anything. We stopped by the wine Co-Op in Mazan and purchased a few items before returning to the farmhouse at 5 pm.

I watched the end of the 11th stage of the Tour on TV, Mark Cavendish sprinted to his 3rd victory, and the ladies napped.

For dinner we had wine,cheese, fruit, and chocolate at the farmhouse, and for dessert we went to the home of Slyvie & Michel, friends that Anne has made in Mazan. They also invited another local couple, Jean-Luc & Anne Marie. JL is a winemaker in Mazan. We had a fascinating evening exchanging perceptions about each other's culture.

Friday, July 16


Up at 5:30 and on my bike by 5:50. Rode for 50 minutes, watching the sunrise over Le Mont Ventoux.

By 7:15 we were on our way to Avignon. Breakfast at Lou Mistrau wheee we were seated by 8:15. After brief shopping, I picked up a book on sports cars, I found a cafe with WiFi and where I watched a continual parade of tourists and theater promoters who perform mini scenes from the 400+ shows that are in Avignon for their month long festival. Many of the performers remind me of the Cirque de Soliel in terms of their costumes and creativity.

At noon we met at Simple Simon's tearoom, where we had our best meal to date. After lunch we visited a museum that displayed the only Van Gogh in Provence, and saw some Picasso's, Degas', and a Siscely too.

The temp had risen to a sweltering 40C, that's over 100F!!!!

We picked up our car from Avis, a black (great color for a desert climate) Citroen Picasso, and followed Anne and Annemarie back toward Mazan. However, we took a side trip to Venasque, a very small and picturesque hill top village that included a 13th century church, a few shops, a cafe, and a hotel. An amazing place, could definitely spend a few days there...and it's very close to Mazan.

Returned to the farmhouse by 6 pm, dinner was cheese, fruit, nuts, chocolate, wine & conversation. Had a great evening.

Saturday, June 17
On my bike by 6:55 am, rode to Bedoin via Mormoiron, 10.8 km. The route between Mormoiron and Bedoin was on last year's Tour so there were some faintly painted riders' names still visible on the pavement including a Texas flag. This route winds through vineyards and along the base of Mont Ventoux. Along the way I stopped to take a few pix and then in Bedoin I bought L'Equipe and had a cafe au lait & a croissant before reversing my route back to the farmhouse. On this ride I hit a max speed of 53.4 km/hr, my fastest of the four days. I really like the carbon fiber frame, you could really feel the difference when accelerating.

Joni, Annmarie, and left the farmhouse to Anne, and headed for a tour of the smaller villages of wine country. We returned my bike to Hubert at Lubreron Biking in Velleron, and then drove thru Mazan & Bedoin, taking a mountain route with a lot of hairpins to Malaucene. We stopped in Suzette for lunch at an outdoor cafe with a beautiful view of the Dentelles, a small range that reminded us of the Tetons. From there we drove through the villages of ______, before stopping in Gigondas, a village that produces 63 different variations of their local wine which is considered by some to be better than Chagteau Neuf du Pape. We tried only 4 varieties, before selecting one of which we purchased two bottles @16€ each. You would probably pay 2 or 3 times as much in the US.

From there we went to the Writers Festival in Sablat. Wouldn't you know, all the books were in French, so we didn't buy any. We drove through another mountaintop village, Segueret, took some pix, and drove thru Vaison le Romaine before stopping for ice cream near Le Crestet.

Returned to Mazan via Malaucene, where we stopped in a great bike shop, and then took the flatter route thru Caromb, skipping Bedoin and Mormoiron.

Dinner on Saturday was at the Chateau du Sade (as in the Marquis de Sade, the father of sadism). Our meals were elegant with lots of extra to ouches...we dropped a bundle.

Sunday, July 18

Every ten years or so Mazan celebrates "Lou Carri", a day long festival commemorating an 18th century revolt of peasants against the lords of Mazan. "Lou Carri" means "the cart" in the Provencal language which is different from rgular French. Apparently carts were a part of the revolt, so the cart has become the symbol of the event.

The festival begins with a long parade involving over 100 horses and 300 people wearing costumes. Other than a 20-30 lords and their familly members everyone else was dressed as a peasant from the era. They were probably dying from the heat, it was another 90 F scorcher despite the strong Mistal winds.

After the parade we walked thru a crafts market. Of course the ladies bought s few item, I resisted. We then walked to the farmhouse and had lunch. Joni and I drove to Bedoin, Malaucene, did some shopping, and then up to Notre Dame de Gerroux to check out an old hexagonal church. We then drove back go the farmhouse, taking a mountainous route that kept Joni screeching,

For dinner we went to the pizzeria in Mazan and were joined by the former owner, Olivier, and his wife, daugter, mother, and Bernhard, Olivier's bestow friend from college, who is a chemical engineering researcher at the university of Nantes. We all had a wonderful evening of conversation, which ended with us watching the folk dancing in the streets in the center of town. The whole town had to there, and Olivier's 6 year old daughter, Charlotte, especially loved dancing with her friends.

Monday, June 19

After 6 wonderful days in Mazan we said au revoir to Anne and Annmarie and got a 7:15. Start on our 500 km drive to the Pyrenees. Despite getting lost on the way to the highway and probably driving 30-40 minute in the wrong direction, we arrive around 1:15 pm in the village of Mauleon-Barouse which at the beginning of the climb up to Port. de Bales. This is the last climb of this stage and it has the hardest possible rating. We had to walk about 2 miles to get to a good vantage point, where we arrived about 2 hours before the riders actually arrived. We set up our spot, displayed our American flags and collected a lot of souvenirs from the Caravan. We especially appeeciated the food since we ha not eaten lunch...not that missing s mesl would hurt either of us after all the fabulous meals we've eaten. The wait went quickly, our flags always cause fellow Americans to say hello and we definitely felt there were many more than the other years. Despite his mediocre performance, Lance was still the most meant rider among the spectators, and all the comments were positive.

The lead group consisted of about ten riders and the peloton was another five or six minutes behind them. My picture taking caused me to not notice who was in the lead group, so when the peloton passed I paid less attention to my camera and more on the riders. I noticed Andy Schleck, Alberto Contador, and Levi Leipheimer. Joni saw Lance, and I also noticed a lot of Radio Shack riders too. There were several smsller groups and individuals behind the peloton,and within 16 minutes all the riders we past us and alal the spectators started heading back to their cars.

The traffic away from the race wasn't as bad as other stages that we've seen and we her checking into the Hotel d'Angleterre in Arreau in an hour.