10. ANTIQUES in ISLE SUR LA SORGUE, AND BIKING BEDOIN

This day started out a lot cloudy and rainy, so we thought we'd be doing chores or trying to figure out French TV … it is awful, BTW. Instead, after a breakfast croissant and some fruit and yogurt, we decided to say to hell with the weather predictions and go on with our day as planned. IT WORKED!

I (John) headed out for a bicycle reconnaisance ride to the town of Bedoin, about 23 miles from here. It is the classic starting point for cyclists riding up Mount Ventoux (do you sense an unhealthy focus on riding up that mountain?), and I wanted to see if the ride over to Bedoin would be too taxing before attacking such an arduous climb up the Ventoux. WHAT A RIDE I had! Beautiful little-known towns, wonderful rolling terrain (except for one punishing ascent, but that’s what I came for), and most of the ride happened with the Ventoux looming ahead of me, getting bigger and bigger as I approached! This was a memorable ride. I passed SO MANY grand mansions and fancy homes; so THIS is where all those movies and references to the beautiful people of Provence refer to. What a day. I took no actual photos, but tried to do an on-bike video which I will edit later and try to post if you are interested. Towns I visited: Saumane-de-Vaucluse, La Roque-sur-Pernes, St. Didier (my favorite…tres magnifique, and TRES cher I bet’cha), Mazan, Crillon-le-Brave, BEDOIN, Mormoiron, Malemort-du-Comtat (it lived up to it’s name…everything looked old and dead!) , Venasque, and Le Beaucet. Great 45 mile loop, with a big bowl of pasta Bologenese thrown in for lunch and a ton of water drunk…this place is arid, you gotta hydrate or die!

Lynn’s turn to describe HER day which was much more interesting:

I decided it was high time that I explored the antique stores of Isle sur la Sorgue….and a couple of art galleries thrown in. I was impressed - not to be confused with I will be finding ways to bring purchases home. I did not buy a single thing in an antique store….maybe the market on Sunday will yield something more affordable. I saw a beautiful service for 16 of Sevres china for only 17,000 Euros LOL and pieces of wood furniture like I see at craft shows in NC for peanuts for a little bit less than the Sevres….who knows?? There was an amazing modern art museum with very interesting things from fishing nets sticking out of bamboo …not so cool….to a tree where you write your wishes for the future and add them to wishes of others….I liked that. One store had swans swimming on the river behind it and a bistro set sitting in the middle of the river running by….the one thing you always need to remember when going into a store of any sort in France, is to greet the proprietor with a Bonjour! ….they are very nice to you regardless of whether you are buying as long as you follow that one elementary rule! I needed to stop on way to our apartment and pick up a few basic items like toilet paper, lunch meat, etc from the Super U….another elementary rule in France is bring your own shopping bag …le sac….its a good thing I had a very large purse or I would have felt strange with toilet paper sticking out of the top!! Tonight we had dinner at a nice seafood restaurant and enjoyed conversation with a couple from the Pays Basque region of France ( near Spain ) they loved John telling them that he gets people to talk to him even if they think he is “an idiot” and it is very nice to have an area where people do talk to you ….you are sitting very close to people along the waterfront so it almost seems odd NOT to talk to them. Great practice and a fun evening!