Vaucluse Dreamer

After all our worries following the stressful start to the trip, with the cancelled train and chaotic, diverted route in the UK, we had been a little bit anxious about the trip we had booked to get us back from Bordeaux to Aix-en-Provence.

But we needn’t have been concerned, as everything went as planned, and taking the bikes on the trains proved to be much easier, with more space allocated for bikes, than we had found before.

We travelled by ‘Intercity’ train between Bordeaux and Marseille, where we had booked our bike spaces in advance. This has to be done, or you will not be able to travel, as they effectively allocate your bike a seat, as well as you, and they seat you close to the bike storage, so it’s easy to keep an eye on them, as you travel.

All we had to do, was sit back and enjoy the trip, which was a trip through towns and cities that we had visited, on our first ‘long ride home’ 2 years ago. As each place slipped past, we sat chatting through the memories, which was really rather lovely.

At Marseille, we changed trains and went onto the local service through to Aix-en-Provence. There is always bike space available on these trains, but you have to check with each region, as sometimes you need to have a coupon to travel with the bike too. This tends to be at the busiest times of year, to ensure there is adequate space, but we didn’t need it for this trip, so wheeled our bikes on, popped them on the hangers and settled back for the short trip to Aix.

It felt strange covering this part of the trip, by train. All the way down, we had experienced the subtle shifts in Regions and Departments we passed through, from architecture and style to food and scents. So it felt very odd to step out directly into Provence, with blue skies and the beautiful honey-stone buildings of the city.

It almost felt as if we had landed in a different country, even though it is home, and we know it so well. But we pedalled the short distance into the centre, to find some lunch.

One thing that we realised, was that we have become a little bit feral on this trip. So, instead of seeking out a nice restaurant for lunch, we did what we like to do best and grabbed a sandwich instead. All the benches in the shade, on the Cours Mirabeau were already taken, so we leaned the bikes against a wall and sat down on the pavement to watch the world pass by, whilst we ate.

Some people looked at us, as if they wanted to toss a coin in our direction, as we must have been quite a sight, with our laden bikes and travelling clothes, but we were happy and it was a rather lovely lunch.

The good news was that we were in plenty of time for the rugby, so after a shower, a change and a nice walk out to the stadium, passing Cezanne’s family home at the Jas de Bouffan, we arrived for the match.

A glorious evening, and it was like the first day of school, catching up with the people we’d been sat next to all last season, before we settled down for the match.

As with last week, it didn’t go as we had hoped and Provence lost, with the last kick of the match. Perhaps, our cycle trip had been a bad omen?

But, we had still had a great evening and it had been worth all the pedalling to get back.

Yesterday, we woke early and ambled into the centre of Aix for breakfast, under the Plane trees, in the heart of the city’s wonderful market. Then we couldn’t delay any longer, it was time for the final ride home.

I had found this the most difficult route to plan, as there are only a couple of routes we can take to cross The Luberon. One passes via Lourmarin, with a long hill up to the Col du Pointu, on the way to Apt, but this is a really busy, winding main road and going up it on heavily laden bikes was out of the question. So we had to go the other route, via Vitrolles-en Luberon and over to Cereste.

This is a much nicer route, much quieter, along a winding narrow road that passes through pretty villages, before crossing the summit at the Col de L’Aire dei Masco, before the long downhill into Cereste. The only drawback is that it is nearly 200m more climbing than the other route, and we also had to find a decent way to get to it.

After quite a while, I found what seemed to be the best route, using backroads to head out of Aix, and then taking a road, marked as having a cycle path running along it, before crossing the Durance at Pertuis and then heading back onto the roads to the Col, that we have pedalled many times before.

I had looked at all the roads on ‘street view’ and it was clear that on the first part of the ride we would have to cycle along the types of roads that we have managed to avoid during the rest of the trip, but to get home in the day, this really was the only option.

So we set off through the narrow back streets of Aix, with me slightly more worried about what was ahead than I normally would be. Firstly, the hill to leave the city!

I knew we had a steep climb out, following the back road that heads out past Cezanne’s ‘atelier’. I had come in and out of Aix this way once, by car and remember thinking ‘This would be hideous on a bike’ and as we pedalled towards it, those words kept ringing around my head.

It was just as steep as I remember it, but in low gear and with my head down we just ground our way slowly, but surely to the top of what turned out to be the first of many slow climbs.

We then followed the main roads that I had expected, firstly towards Puyricard, before we enjoyed a brief respite on a little side road that gave us a glorious view, across the vineyards to Mont Sainte Victoire, always such a special sight.

Then it was back onto the main road to Le-Puy-Sainte-Reperade, which had a wide lane to the side for cyclists on the uphill, which made it OK. Heading down though, the lane was narrow, the roadside metal safety barriers narrowing it further, with tree-roots distorting the road surface threatening to dislodge me from my bike, whenever we hit them. I have to say it wasn’t fun, but as we neared the bottom, we had a wonderful view across the Durance valley to the Luberon, and just the other side of that was home.

We wound our way across the valley floor to cross The Durance, at Pertuis, where the bridge has a wide, protected cycle lane. Before we headed through the town, which was rather less easy-riding, leading me to have my first slight sense-of-humour failure of the trip.

But, it was short-lived and before long, we were pedalling out of the town, along one of our more beloved backroads, towards La Tour D’Aigues, where we sat below the walls of the the chateau, which was burned down in 1780. Just some of the facade of this beautiful Renaissance Chateau remains, but it is a very lovely place.

After lunch, we pedalled on to Saint-Martin-de-la Brasque, where we finally joined roads that we know well, following the quiet route over The Luberon.

What we hadn’t expected was the heat. All through France, we’ve found perfect cycling temperatures, so it came as a surprise to be pedalling in over 30 degrees again. Generally, it would be normal for us, but after time away from Provence, it came as a bit of a shock and we relished the moments that trees and buildings threw shade across the road.

We stopped at the pretty little cafe, by the fountain in Peypin, where we weren’t the only ones who were thirsty…

But the staff kindly filled our water-bottles and we sat for a while, with a cold drink in the shade of the Plane trees, before heading on again, for the final ride up to the summit.

This is a beautiful ride, even on a hot day, at the end of a 1200km cycle, carrying heavy panniers and camping equipment. It’s a quiet road that snakes its way up the southern flank of The Luberon, passing through vineyards and woodland, with stunning views back, towards Aix.

We pottered up slowly, taking our time to enjoy the ride, stopping in the shade of a tree for a while,  absorbed by the peace, with just the buzzing and chirruping of insects for company, and the sound of the breeze in the tree-tops.

I have mentioned before, how much we have noticed the changes in scent between areas, and as we sat, we were calmed by the heady scent of warm pine, mixed with crushed wild thyme, for the first time on the trip. It smelt of home.

After a little rest, we pedalled the last kilometre to the top of the Luberon, where the Vaucluse borders with the Alpes de Haute Provence, stopping for a few minutes just to enjoy the moment. You can watch a video from the top of The Luberon here

It had been quite a ride, and all we now had to do was to free-wheel down into Cereste, before pedalling back along the Veloroute du Calavon, for the final bit of the journey home.

The last hill up to our house is by far the steepest, and by that point, we were happy to hop off the bikes and push them into the hamlet, and back to the front door.

And that was it done.  You can see the video of the last day’s ride here

We had wanted to do a simple ride home, after a busy summer of events in the UK, and that is what we had done. We’d pedalled 1167km and climbed nearly 9000 vertical metres in the process.

It had been simply joyous, even with the worries about the storms and the changing of routes. It’s only our third long-distance ride together, and I know that it won’t be our last. This is such an incredibly varied country and it is an absolute pleasure to be able to experience it, by bike.

We hope you have enjoyed travelling with us, and we’ll look forward to sharing our next adventures with you too.

The next stop is an actual holiday, spending autumn in Japan, exploring the countryside in a campervan, with lots of cycling and walking involved as well… Different, but fun