Our House in Provence, the Most Beautiful Region of France

We have a beautiful stone village house located in the heart of the medieval village of Sablet in the Vaucluse region of Provence France. Dating from the 17th century, the house was renovated by an Italian stone mason with all of the comforts of a modern home while retaining its authentic Provençal character and charm. On this blog, we share experiences from our visits along with those of our families and friends to Sablet and the South of France.

Saturday, October 29, 2016

2016 Stage 12 Tour de France, Montpellier to Mont Ventoux

The moment we saw that the 2016 Tour de France included a climb up 6,273 foot Mont Ventoux, we decided we would be in Sablet that day. As you can see below, the stage was to begin in Montpellier and the riders would pedal 184 km before finishing at the top of Mont Ventoux.

Stage 12 Tour de France Route

We had been told that thousands of people had been camping for days on Mont Ventoux and it would be impossible to find a place to park or see the race with good visibility on the mountain. So we opted to stay below and watch the caravan and riders from a location in Bédoin, a pretty village that sits at the foot of Mont Ventoux.

The first thing you'll notice when you get close to Bédoin is a large, imposing, Spanish-looking church, quite different from most others in Provence. In fact, Saint-Pierre Church is Jesuit, built in 1702 and restored in the 19th century. In spite of the different style, the church does have a wrought-iron belfry so typical of the region.

From a distance, the houses of this compact, old village look small compared to the church, and are clustered up against the hill. Inside the old village it's looks typically Medieval, with long, narrow streets between tall old buildings, many with ancient stone doorways and some colorful Provencal facades.

Saint-Pierre Church in Bedoin

Stage 12 of the Tour de France began with 125kph winds moving the finish from the moonscape of the summit down the mountain 7 km to Chalet Reynard, where the forest gives way to the more exposed road that leads to the summit. There was a fear that riders would be blown off their bikes as soon as they came out of the forest.

Big screen TV set up at entrance to village where you can watch the progress of the peloton

We found a place to park in a field that had been turned into a parking lot for the day just outside of Bédoin on the road that leads to Crillon-le-Brave and walked into the village. Since it was several hours before the first cars in the Caravan were due to arrive, Shirley went shopping and I went to look for a place for lunch.

Tour fans arrive in Bedoin

I got the last open table at Le Gousse d'Ail and waited for Shirley to arrive. We had a really nice meal which included Cannelloni of zucchini and goat cheese, Filet of Merlan with cheesy polenta, and Parmentier of Guardian and finished with a Fig gratin. During the course of the meal, I got into a conversation, as I often do, with the French lady sitting at the table next to us.

As we got up to leave and said our goodbyes to our new friend, she said "take my wrist bands and go sit in the VIP review stands so you have a good view of the race. I will go and watch from the street. We were thrilled and thanked her repeatedly.

My VIP wrist band

Shirley sitting in the reviewing stand reading a book on her ipad while we wait for the caravan to arrive in Bedoin

Fans lining up along the street where the peloton will arrive. By the time they arrived, people were hanging out of those windows

View across the street from the reviewing stand. The street has been cleared for the arrival of the caravan.

Those who have not seen the Tour caravan in person may find it difficult to understand the allure. It’s just a parade, right? It is, but on a scale seen nowhere else on earth. It’s a parade that covers 3,360 kilometers, every last meter of the Tour de France route, passing by millions of fans, throwing 14 million tiny trinkets and gifts; a parade that represents, directly and indirectly, a significant portion of Tour revenue.

The caravan is a 45-minute string of vehicles, each modified and decorated by advertisers, that rolls ahead of the Tour peloton. It was founded in 1930, conjured up by Tour founder Henri Desgrange, conceived originally as a way to pay for the organizer-supplied bicycles that riders had to use at the time. Its commercial success was immediate, and has never waned.

Tour de France sponsor car

In the pictures which follow, you can see a lot of the action that occurred in front of the reviewing stand.

Tour de France sponsor car

Shirley's favorite Tour de France sponsor car

Tour de France sponsor car

First group of riders

Tour de France breakaway riders

Tour de France riders

There are 5 camera-equipped motorbikes in the convoy. These are registered to Euro Media Group which provides the live-feed for all coverage. Near the finish, one of these camera-equipped motorbikes stopped without warning directly in front of Richie Porte of BMC, Bauke Mollema of Trek-Segafredo, and Chris Froome in the yellow jersey. Porte smashed directly into the camera, followed by Mollema and Froome, but only Froome’s bike came out of the tangle completely unrideable.

Camera-equipped motorbikes

Main group of Tour de France riders

Chris Froome wearing the yellow jersey of the race leader arrives with the main group of Tour de France riders

Chris Froome in yellow jersey

Main group of Tour de France riders

Main group of Tour de France riders. Adam Yates is wearing the white jersey for the best under-25 rider in overall standings

Last of the main group of Tour de France riders

A straggling Tour de France rider

Last of the Tour de France riders

Last group of Tour de France riders

As I told you earlier, Chris Froome's bike was broken when he, Richie Porte and Bauke Mollema collided with a television bike on the crowded road a little over a kilometer before the finish line. Mollema disentangled his bike and remounted, but Porte’s chain was off and Froome’s was unrideable.

Chris Froome took off running just as fast as his cycling shoes would allow up the mountain before taking a bike from the neutral service car, but struggled to gain traction on the ill-fitting bike and had to swap it again when his team car finally made it through.

Froome lost around a minute and a half on the road and slipped to sixth on the provisional general classification, 53 seconds behind fellow Briton Adam Yates, before the race jury intervened.

They ruled that Porte and Froome should receive the same time as Mollema who got back on his bike and stayed clear of the chasing rivals. Thus Chris Froome retained the overall general classification lead of the Tour de France.

Crowd in front of the reviewing stand watching the drama unfold up at the finish of the Tour de France

At the end, Thomas de Gendt of Belgium (Team Lotto-Soudal) was the winner of Stage 12 after he outsprinted fellow Belgian Serge Pauwels of Team Dimension Data after surviving a day-long breakaway.

The route for the 2017 Tour de France has just been announced. See map from Tour de France below.

Monday, October 3, 2016

2016 Tour de France Stage 11, Carcassonne to Montpellier, Near Valmagne Abbey

We scheduled time in Sablet this summer so we could watch one or two stages of the 2016 Tour de France. There were three stages where the route provided good options for watching. The first was Stage 11, a 162.5 km flat stage which began in Carcassonne and finished in Montpellier, the second was Stage 12, a 178 km mountainous stage which would begin in Montpellier and finish on top of Mont Ventoux and the third was the 13th Stage, a 37.5 km individual time trial which would run from Bourg-Saint-Andéol to La Caverne du Pont-d'Arc.

After looking at the map and considering what we wanted to do before we left for California, we settled on the first two options. Although being at the finish line in Montpellier was tempting, we chose to find a quieter vantage point where it would be less of a hassle to get to and from. So we headed to the Valmagne Abbey, about 35 km east of the finish line in Montpellier. We figured we could kill two birds with one stone, see a historic abbey and watch the Tour.

Valmagne Abbey seen below is a beautiful Cistercian abbey that was transformed into a wine cellar after the French Revolution. Its magnificent Gothic church has been called the "Cathedral of the Vineyards. The Abbey was founded in 1139 by Raymond Trencavel, Viscount of Béziers. The Abbey was dedicated to the Virgin Mary and given to Benedictine monks. The Abbey joined the Cistercian order two decades later.

The Abbey's downfall came with the Hundred Years' War (1337-1453) and Religious Wars (16th century). The extensive damage inflicted by Huguenots on the Abbey in 1575 — which included the smashing of all stained glass — was instigated by the abbot of Valmagne, who had converted to Protestantism.

At the French Revolution in 1789, the last five monks of Valmagne fled just ahead of rebellious peasants, who ransacked and burned the Abbey. In 1791, Valmagne Abbey was sold by the government to a private citizen, who turned it into a wine cellar. This unusual use of the Abbey church saved it from destruction. The Abbey has been beautifully restored and was opened to the public in 1975.

Valmagne Abbey

A view from the Abbey

Young ladies killing time till the caravan arrives

Shirley perched above the crowd to take pictures

View down the road toward the Valmagne Abbey

View east in the direction the caravan and peloton would arrive

The 103rd edition of the Tour de France was scheduled for Saturday July 2nd to Sunday July 24th 2016, and would be made up of 21 stages, visit three neighboring countries, Spain, the Principality of Andorra and Switzerland and cover a total distance of 3,519 km.

The first car in the caravan arrives

Škoda Auto is one of the sponsors of the Tour de France

French TV car

Sponsor car

Patiently waiting for the peloton to arrive

Helicopter heralds the arrival of the peloton

The peloton arrives

The front of the peloton

The peloton

A rider from Santa Rosa, CA based BMC

Peloton

A Team Sky rider gets liquids from his support car

A straggler rider trying to catch the peloton

BMC support car

Riders bringing up the tail end of the peloton

Trailing riders

192 riders started Stage 11 in Carcassonne.

Final rider

Peter Sagan stormed to victory in Stage 11 as he rode away from the pack with 12 km to go. It was a spectacular finish as overall race leader Chris Froome responded to Sagan's attack. They both took a team-mate with them and rode to the finish where the Slovakian Peter Sagan took his second stage win and significantly consolidated his lead in the points competition signified by the green jersey. Froome gained twelve seconds over his rivals and his hold on the overall lead and yellow jersey.

Team support cars

The road from the Abbey back to where our car was parked

A field of cantaloupes next to our car

If you enjoy the Tour de France, stay with me as we go watch the 12th Stage in Bedoin when the peloton begins their climb up Mont Ventoux.

Sunday, October 2, 2016

A Visit by Canoe to Pont du Gard

In the morning we walked across the Pont du Gard and then hiked up the trail to get an "aerial" view. After a light meal consisting of food and drinks from the Canteen at the Pont du Gard visitor center, we headed to Collias for our rendezvous to pick up canoes for our trip down the Gardon River to the Pont du Gard. It appears there are several companies that rent canoes, we reserved at the number listed in Rick Steves' Provence and The French Riviera guide book for Collias Canoe.

When we arrived at the location near the large sunflower field shown below, it turned out we had reserved at Canoe Le Tourbillon in Collias. So Rick Steves, if you are reading this, please correct your guide book and change your recommendation to Canoe Le Tourbillon, we highly recommend, or put in the right number for Collias Canoe.

Sunflower field near Collias France

The Gardon River starts in the Cévennes mountain range and flows 133 kilometers before it runs into the Rhône River at Comps, north of Beaucaire. It is the namesake of the department of Gard. Several of its tributaries are also called Gardon.

It is about 8 kilometers from the starting point in Collias to the pick up point north of the Pont du Gard. It takes about one and one-half hours to get to the Pont du Gard and another 30 minutes to go from there to the pick up point.

According to the Canoe Le Tourbillon website, the Gardon River is a calm river (degree of difficulty 1 on a scale of 6), so the canoe trip is suitable for everybody able to swim. The law requires that children be at least 6 years of age to go in the canoe.

Gardon River

They have a number of different types of boats, kayaks for 1 or 2 people, and canoes for 2, 3 or 4 people. You can protect your personal items with you in watertight containers that you take with you in your boat.

Shirley and I resting in our canoe

If you go, bring sunscreen, sunglasses and a pair of shoes that you can wear in the water. If you have to push your boat because of low water levels, you will be happy to have shoes because those stones are quite uncomfortable.

Daughter Tricia with family and Shirley

I wanted to record our trip down the Gardon River but was afraid to risk my Nikon or mobile phone to do this. I was afraid Shirley and I would figure out a way to turn our canoe over. For some reason I figured that Tricia riding with Alvin would be less likely to tip over and lose my mobile phone, my hunch was right, and she shot all of the pictures of our trip down the Gardon River.

First view of the Pont du Gard

Check out the sights as we approach and pass under the Pont du Gard.

Closer view of the Pont du Gard

Taking a break while granddaughter Avery enjoys the cool Gardon River

Water tight container tied to canoe

Approaching the Pont du Gard

Getting ready to pass under Pont du Gard

Under Pont du Gard

Close up of Pont du Gard showing three levels

Young people on rocks under Pont du Gard

Doing flips off the rocks into the Gardon River

Diving into the Gardon River

We made it back to the pick up point on time and headed home. We had not done a water visit to the Pont du Gard before but were very happy we did it and will do it again I'm sure.

Canoë Le Tourbillon
3 Chemin du Gardon
30210 Collias
Tel:+33466228554
www.canoeletourbillon.com