Vaucluse Dreamer

It’s quite hard to believe that today is the last day of our ride down through France, to our home in The Luberon. In many ways it feels as if it is months, since we left Devon, yet at the same time, it feels as if we left just a couple of days ago.

I don’t really know where the time, or kilometres have gone, but it has been quite a fantastic couple of weeks that has seen us fill our saddlebags with even more memories, than we thought possible.

This last day saw us leaving Tarascon and starting to make our way back towards home, via our favourite coffee shop in Cavaillon, to pick up 2 kilos of coffee that we had ordered a few days ago. After pedalling the bikes so far, a couple of extra kilos surely wouldn’t make too much of difference for the last 40 kilometres.

We set off from Tarascon, following another back-road route that would take us through little villages, between Saint Rémy de Provence and Avignon. We know that we could have just used the Mediterrannée cycle route, which passes through the area, but we had enjoyed making our own route up as we went along, and just fancied visiting some places that we hadn’t seen before, on our way back through.

I must admit that we have loved finding our own routes, winding our way along quiet roads, and pottering through pretty villages and towns that we would have missed if we’d simply followed a canal, or other marked trail. Today was just the same, and as soon as we left Tarascon, we found ourselves cycling along a peaceful road, through pretty countryside towards Maillane, where we’d decided to stop for breakfast.

As we started to ride, we realised just how wet the fields were, which came as a bit of a surprise. We knew that there had been big storms across the area, whilst we’d been on our way down, but I don’t think either of us appreciated just how wet it had actually been.

Normally in June, the area is starting to look a bit sun-bleached; the grass in the verges is dry and pale, with just the vibrant splashes of lavender and sunflowers adding colour. Today though, everything was green, with verges still filled with colour from the wild flowers and even huge puddles of lying water in the fields. It was as if we were cycling in late winter, or perhaps early Spring, rather than heading full-tilt into summer

Pottering through to Maillane, we felt a lightness in our legs, and if there could have been a spring in our step, you would have seen us bouncing along, like spring lambs. The emotion of the previous day had melted away and we were just happy to be turning the pedals, in an area that we love, on our way home.

We pulled into the village and found a Boulangerie, bought our last pain au chocolat of the trip, and settled down with a coffee at the local café, watching the swifts dart around the church steeple, and listening to chatter about the terrible weather that had hit the area over the last couple of days. It’s hard to believe that we actually managed to miss it,… In fact it made us appreciate how much good weather we had cycled in, over the last two and a half weeks.

Refreshed, we pedalled on, passing through villages and then riding up a gentle climb that took us up to a point where we had beautiful views back to the Alpilles, but also around towards Mont Ventoux and The Luberon too. The sight of these iconic hills made the breath catch in my throat again, and I stifled a sob as I punched the air, elated that we had made it home and yet at the same time, sad that the end of the journey now lay within sight.

We swished down the hill and eventually re-joined the Mediterrannée à Vélo, which has a delightful route, along back lanes into Cavaillon, before taking us on a protected lane, across the motorway and river bridges towards the town.

This was our second stop of the day, and we timed it perfectly for coffee at our favourite coffee shop, in the centre of the town. We had called ahead, earlier in the week to order a couple of kilos of beans, that we could load on the bikes and take home with us.

This is a regular coffee-ride for us, and after our first really good coffee in quite a while, we loaded the beans onto Andy’s bike and set off towards Apt, along the Veloroute du Calavon, which passes the end of our road. We really were on the last leg of the journey now.

As soon as we left Cavaillon, we felt a child-like sense of happiness settle on us, and rode along, as if we didn’t have a care in the world, which to be honest by now really was the case. The sun was warming our backs, the scents were rising from the damp herbs in the verges and the wildflowers were dancing in the breeze, which was now blowing us home.

The sights we know so well came into view, and either Andy or I would shout them out, as soon as we saw them … ‘Robion’, ‘Lavender’ and ‘Gordes’ were all called out, before I did an emergency stop, shouting ‘Mirabelles’, at the sight of a tree at the side of the path, groaning with ripe, plumptious fruit. We stopped for a few minutes munching the sweet golden fruits, enjoying the slight sugar-hit, before carrying on again, towards Coustellet.

After Coustellet, it really felt as if we were zipping along. The cycle path was quiet, and the folded flanks of the Luberon looked beautiful in the late-morning light. There were still patches of vermilion poppies in the fields and the vines were an almost impossibly bright green against the vivid purple of the first lavender flowers.

It’s always a beautiful sight and the lavender season is just starting, but there is something even better about cycling, as you smell the fields a good distance, before you actually see them, and with each scented breath, we relaxed a little more.

We finally stopped at Pont Julien, an incredible Roman bridge that carried traffic until the early 2000’s, where we did our final Daily Update amazed at the amount of water flowing under the bridge, as this riverbed is generally dry, perhaps with a trickle of water and a few pools, rather than this.

Then it was the last few kilometres home, although we did stop for one final Boulangerie lunch, to give us a bit of energy to get up the final hill, back to the house.

When we were looking for a house here, we had one of the ‘must haves’ as ‘must have a relatively flat road back to the house’. Unfortunately we fell in love with this little place, and as such have to climb a really rather unpleasant little ramp back to the hamlet. But after all that distance, there was nothing to be done, other than keep turning the pedals and get back up the hill.

We arrived elated, delighted, proud and just so happy to have completed the ride that has been such a wonderful adventure and a great experience for us both.

We have honestly loved every moment of it, even the days when things weren’t plain-sailing, like when we were being chased by storms, and when we ran out of water, or even when I was so hungry that I could have eaten a mouldy pig (or possibly two) backwards.

Today’s route was an elongated coffee ride and one that finally brought us home, although we did for a few moments consider whether to just keep cycling and go on to Menton, or perhaps into Italy, as a big part of us didn’t want the adventure to end.

The truth is we could have kept riding, we were just enjoying spending time together, riding on the roads that we love, through a country that we adore. But we had to stop somewhere and this was a big first adventure, so now we can start to plan some more.

Time first though now, for a glass of wine and a sit down!

As I mentioned for the last couple of days, at the start of this adventure, I wondered about using the ride to help raise some funds for our local Resto du Coeur, in Apt. The Restos du Coeur are part of a national charity in France, established to support those in most need, in communities across the country, offering everything from food support, to community & cultural integration too. It is an incredible network, that does amazing work and it would be good to use this ride to perhaps support our local one too.

If you have enjoyed following our journey and would like to help support our local Resto du Coeur, then you can Donate here