Cycling in Provence – the absolute BEST

Yesterday was a beautiful day. We thought we had signed up for a bike/wine tour, but we signed up to rent e-bikes for the day and a self-guided tour (it was in the small print). I downloaded their app with the map of our 30 mile course and hoped my phone battery would last.

Fortunately I thought to get a paper map before we left because my phone battery ran out about half way through the trip. Our first stop was Le Beaux – am amazing castle on the top of a mountain. We didn’t go to the castle itself but did see – From Vermeer to Van Gogh | Carrières des Lumières (similar to the Van Gogh immersion light show that is circulating in the states. Here, the images are projected on the cavern walls under the castle. The effect was amazing.

To show the scale of these caverns, Kay is posing – doing her best to be tall. It looked like the Castle was carved out of the mountain top (below).

We stopped for lunch in Eygalieres (or the E-town) where we were told Hugh Grant has a home. We looked but did not see him. Their market was just shutting down. You could spend every day at a market without driving more than 30 minutes. They all have some unique vendors. I had hoped to be able to charge my phone while we ate, but no luck.

An aperol spritz was a nice accompaniment to our cheese pizza.

The beauty of the countryside is impossible to capture.

We wandered our way through St. Remy and accidentally ended up coming in very near the place we rented the bikes. I was impressed by how gradually graded the majority of the roads were through the mountains. I would like to think that had this not been my first ride of the season, I might have been able to do the ride without an e-bike. But it made it much more relaxing to know that I could get assistance when I needed it.

We ended the day with a seafood dinner. For different health related reasons each of us had considered NOT going on this trip. We all agree that would have been a mistake. Today is our last day and the weather will be fabulous again.