[Travel book #1] – On the roads of Provence by bicycles

D+7, 312km.

It’s already been a week since we left Cabannes to (re)discover the varied landscapes of Provence! Vines, olive trees, perched villages, lavender fields, pastis: we enjoy !

It’s true that we didn’t really have the opportunity to connect this week to give you news. In fact, our days have been quite busy with road, meetings and the satisfaction of our most primary needs! From the beginning, our legs were put to the test! We were not particularly trained to climb, but we were immediately thrown into the action, to conquer our muscles! Even in the downhill, the headwind, we could hardly reach 12 km/h, it was pretty long! This east wind was deliberately pushing us back towards Cabannes! But we are pretty glad, we managed to respect the steps of our roadmap, and with this wind, it was really far from being won.

Some stories below (if ever… )

And more photos of the trip here!

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The first evening, a wind of freedom blows on Beaumettes! Village near the place where we spent our first night, accompanied by the rain! Lucky because it stopped when we woke up and we could take the road again ! (but not under the sun either, one should not push!)

A breath of freedom

Villemus. We ended up pitching the tent on a delicate mattress of stones, for lack of better. Settled in an apocalyptic scenery between small clumps of Thyme and the place of shooting of “Portés disparus” the wind blew so strong that we thought we were going to fly away. Good news, our tent is solid!

Sillans la Cascade. We see a riverside raised and arranged with tables of picnic. Ideal place to take our first bath since now several days. Anais runs to the river, half naked with her towel as dress and begins happily her washing. Suddenly, when she looks up, she sees cars, passers-by and dogs heading straight for our new bathroom. We were far from being alone.

Sillans la Cascade

Flayosc. We had a hard time finding a place to put our home. Between private properties, industrial zones, hunting grounds, big roads, and not very welcoming ground: not easy. The wind in the face, we just wanted to settle! We finally resign ourselves to settle down below a soccer field. Small clue for the continuation, the ground was strewn with animal droppings. But it does not matter, they look dry, and we want to go to bed! We spent an agitated night, some prowlers woke us up around 2-3 am. With a heavy step, they seemed to run towards our tent. We wake up, the heart ready to leave our thorax. Wild boars! At the sight of droppings we could have suspected it, but difficult to imagine the presence of these wild animals so close to the houses. We did not make the malignant ones!

Bargemon. It goes up again but it is very beautiful. This evening, we are lodged at Claudine’s, our host Warmshower. We arrive in her small warm house in a narrow street, very sloping. We spend a very pleasant evening to chat, eat crepes and drink cider. We had a good time. She tells us the sparkling eyes its numerous anecdotes of journeys in hitchhiking in Greece, in Ireland and elsewhere. During our discussions, she evokes a period of her life when she lived in Sri-Lanka with her 8 years old son. After a while, Anais ends up asking her if her son has returned to Sri-Lanka since. We can’t believe it! It turns out that indeed, 2 years ago, he was in Galle (south of Sri-Lanka). That’s where Anais had met him, and they had even spent several days together! The world is definitely small.

Bargemon on the horizon
Drapeaux de prières

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