Day 15, July 26

Sadly our last full day in France; but how can one be sad after such an incredible trip?

We decided to spend today in Grenoble; we've done a lot of in the past three days, and seen unbelievably beautiful mountain scenery.  We didn't think we needed more of either, so it was an easy decision to spend a more relaxing day exploring the city of Grenoble.

Grenoble is a large city, surrounded on all sides by the Alps.  It hosted the 1968 Winter Olympics.  (remember Peggy Fleming and Jean Claude Killy).  It has a population over 150,000 and if you include the outskirts, there are more than 600,000 residents.

We slept 'til 8, which was the latest since we arrived in France, spent some time packing our bags for tomorrow's flight home, and then headed for a cafe for coffee & croissants in the old part of Grenoble.  

Sundays are very quiet in French cities and it was very enjoyable to walk around, going from place to place, (square to square as they say in Boston), in search of an ideal cafe which we found in Place Notre Dame.  We had two cafe au laits each, several croissants, read the papers and watched the comings and goings in this beautiful place that surrounded of Des Trois Orders.  

Grenoble is really a beautiful city, great architecture that includes many, many shades of color on their buildings.

After our leisurely breakfast we went to the Grenoble museum, which is only second to the Louvre in size in all of France.  They had wonderful collection including some Monets, Renoirs, a Picasso, and many others.  

Our feet allowed us about two hours there before demanding we relax at the museum's terrace cafe/restaurant.  Un Oringina et un Perrier s'il vous plait.

From the museum we walked back to the Place Grenette and had an couple of boules of ice cream at Amorino's before heading back to our hotel.

In order to get to our restaurant tonight we will take a gondola up the mountain to Chez le Per Gras.  The restaurant is located near the Bastille, an ancient fortification on one of the mountains that overlooks the city.  Should be some great photo-ops up there.

Great views there were...

And a fabulous dinner too...

foie gras,

pidgeon,

au gratin potatoes,

roast veal.

crepe suzettes.

macaron framboise...can't wait to see how much weight we've gained.  The diet starts on Tuesday!

Bonsoir et aurevoir!

Day 14, July 25

Saturday was the really the climax of this year's Tour in terms of who will win the yellow jersey and there isn't a more dramatic finish than the 23 hairpin turns up the Alpe d'Huez.  Aftter 19 stages, this year's race was really down to just two riders,  Chris Froome and Nairo Quintana.   This was the only place to be if you like professional cycling!

So we were up at 4 AM and on the road in less than 30 minutes,   We followed the identical route as yesterday and in fact we only had to travel 62 km to get to our viewing spot.  Our early rising paid off, the roads were not yet closed so we were able to drive to our viewing spot, only 4 km from the finish of the race, on Turrn 4.  (The 23 turns on Alpe d'Huez are numbered, and each name after a rider.)  We were in place by 6 AM...the riders weren't due until 4:30 PM...10 hours to go!

The 10 hours went by quickly, from our spot, the mountain scenery was spectacular and the people watching just as much.  

We had also arranged to meet Matt and Emily Ryan, a couple from Australia, that we have become friends with after meeting them several years in a row at Le Mas Perreal in Provence.  It was great to see them; we've been emailing each other for months about this reunion.

The anticipation of the riders grew and grew as did the crowd, and as you can see by my pix, there was barely enough room for the cyclists to pass.  I'm sure they hate how the crowds just surround them.

Quitana was the second rider to appear, and if he were to have any chance of overtaking Chris Froome, he had to beat him by 2:38.  So it was expected that Quintana would be ahead and the big question was, "by how much?"  The anticipation was incredible as everyone waited to see Froome, who passed us about one minute later.  Froome's overall lead appeared to be safe, but with 4 km to go you never know.  One of the RV's parked behind us had a TV on, so many crowded around it, and the results became known...Froome prevailed.

Chris Froome is in the very center of this pictue with the sun reflecting off his yellow helmet.

In watching the Tour for 8 years this was the first time we saw any bad feelings toward any rider.  Many in the crowd clearly didn't like Froome, and they expressed it win signs like "Armstrong + Froome=EPO" (a reference to one of Lance's drugs).  There were many  boo's as Froome passed by...and off course  in the Pyrenees one fan through a glass of urine on him.  Hard to explain such hostility especially when Froome appears to be very much a  gentleman and a good sport in his interviews.

It took about 30 minutes for all the racers to pass us; some of the ones in the back even interacted with the crowded, joining them in "the wave".  

Once the blue van displaying the "Fin Du Course" sign passed by, we started packing up and were in the car and heading down the moutain quickly.  It was a little after 5 pm.  Unfortunately after travelling no more than 100 yards we were stopped by the gendarmes who said no private vehicles can move until all the official trucks and buses at the top have left...and that probably not happen  until 10 PM.  This is the normal routine for summit finishes that have only one route down, but we didn't know it.  So we sat in the car, visited with Matt and Emily who were walking back to their accomadations in nearby Villard Reculas, and just enjoyed the scenery.  If you have to sit in your car for 3 or 4 hours, you couldn't have a better view.

A little after 8 pm we were finally allowed to get going.  The drive back to Grenoble went smoothly, and we were sitting in our dinner restaurant by 9:45 pm.  

We ate at one of the oldest cafes in Grenoble, La Table Ronde, which serves very traditional, regional food.  Since Grenoble is a univesity town, it is very busy at night...thousands of students everywhere...very much like Harvard Square, so it didn't seem that late. Joni and I laughed about where you could even get anything to eat after 10 pm in Littleton...probably only a candy bar at Iving Gas!

Days 12 & 13, July 23 & 24

Thursday was a travel day, we drove from Saint Saturnin to Grenoble.  Started the day in the usual way, early morning ride  through the vineyards surrounding our B&B  to Rouisillon, where their weekly market was just setting up when I rolled in around 7:15 AM.   

We enjoyed one last outdoor breakfast at the B&B,  said goodbye to all our new BFF's were in the car around 10.  Stopped at the post office to mail a box of goodies in order to keep our baggage under the 50 pound limit.

Stopped in the village of Gordes for some quick souvenir shopping, dropped off my rental bike in the village of Velleron, bought some groceries for lunch,  and were actually heading to Grenoble by 11:30 AM.

The ride to Grenoble is almost all highway, so we made good time, covering the 278 KM in less than 3 hours.  Checked into our hotel...thank you Garmin for successfully guiding us through the city of Grenoble, it seems their streets signs were only meant to be read by pedestrians.

We switched to Italian food for dinner and had a wonderful meal and returned to our hotel by 10...we planned on getting up at 4 AM  so that we can get to our Tour viewing site before the roads close.

FRIDAY

Well other  than having to get up by 4 AM, today  couldn't have gone better.

We had only a short, 75 km drive to the Col de la Croix de Fer where we watched today's race.  Arrivng at 6 am gave us the luxury of actually parking our car along the Tour route, only 1/2 km from the summit of the climb up the 2067 meter pass.

We spent ten hours at our spot, the racers not arriving until 4:15 pm, but the scenery, couldn't have been more spectacular.  One of our top two Tour experiences!

Trraffic jam after the race was terrible, we didn't move more than 1/2 km in 90 minutes, but once we got going we were back in Grenoble by 7 PM, just in time to enjoy a great dinner at the #1 rated Indien restaurant in Grenoble.  We me a girl from Bedford, NH, in the restaurant.  She's studying at the University of Grenoble for two months before returning to Harvard next month. Small world.!

Day 11, July 22

Our last full day in Provence, so after my ride (I took a different route)

and breakfast at the B&B,

we hit the gas station and ATM before driving back across the Vaucluse Plateau to Sault where another market day was in progress.  The lavender near Sault was the best we'd seen, but there was no time for photos, the market was already open.  Have to take some lavender pix on the return.

We arrived in Sault around 11:30.  Joni's shopping list was still not completed, so she took off for the stalls and I hit an outdoor cafe for all my usual indulgences.  As I read the paper and sipped my coffee I was entertained by a French guitar player/singer who focused  on classic American rock.  Thunder storms were rolling in as he sang, and eventually the rain ended his concert.

Around 1, Joni met up with me and we headed back to Saint Saturnin, buying some fruit, bread, and cheese for our lunch.  

On the way home we saw about a 20 degree temperature swing as the thunder storms came and went.  The temp dropped to 73, probably the coolest it's been since we were in France, but by the time we got back to the B&B, it was back in the 90's.

We spent the rest of the afternoon at B&B, eating lunch, watching the storms clouds, packing, swimming,  reading the papers, and watching the end of the Tour on my iPad.

We had dinner in the hilltop, yes another hilltop, village of Caseneuve, at Le Sanglier Parreseux, the  lazy boar.  The meal was amazing, our best in France.

Day 10, July 21

A lot of driving today.

After my typical morning ride and breakfast we drove to the town of Vaison-la-Romaine, where it was market day.  This is one of the best in Provence, so Joni was very excited after months of planning on what she'd like to buy there.

It's a 90+ minute drive to Vaison, winding back country roads that go over the Vaucluse Plateau and into the Mont Ventoux valleys which are full of lavender farms.  

Driving around Mont Ventoux is very similar to driving around Mt. Washington;  one side is very different than the other.  We took the less traveled, more spectacular scenery route and enjoyed every curve and kilometer.  Like Mount Washington, Ventoux is usually surrounded by clouds or haze, but today was a "blue bird" day.

We arrived in Vaison around 11...it was very hot and very crowded.  We had tentatively arranged to meet Anne Toole from Cape Cod at the market, but she was long gone by the time we arrived.  We would be joining her, her daughter, grandson, and several of her French friends for dinner, so missing her at the market was no big deal.

Joni shopped and I read the papers, drank coffee, and stayed in the shade at the Cafe du Thym.  Around 1:00 pm most of the vendors at the market started to pack up, and the 100+ degree heat also convinced us to get out of town.  It was actually 111 F in our car!  Oh, la, la, c'est chaud!

For the remainder of the afternoon we kept cool by visiting an ice cream/candy shop in Crestet, drinking Orangina at an outside terrace in the tiny mountain top village of Brantes, and then stooping for a "pastis in the shade of a plane tree in Buis le Baronies.

We then headed to Mazan to meet up with Anne Toole, her family, and friends.  Anne served all of us drinks and cocktails at her rented farmhouse.  It was lots of fun catching up with everyone since we have known them since we first started our string of trips to France in 2008.  I will always be grateful to Anne for convincing us to come to Provence.  We worked together in Barnstable for 30 years and as French teacher, who knew I lived in Paris as a 1st grader, she continually invited us to join her for a summer at her farmhouse...I'm glad we finally gave in.

Dinner was simple...pizza...so no pix were taken.  Finally around 11 PM, we said goodbye to all, and headed back to Saint Saturnin-les-Apt, arriving just before midnight.