Had some brekky, and then it was time for a gorgeous ride.
Rode for an hour and a half on a quiet path by a canal. The canal was tree lined, and the path was a nice bitumen, similar to the one that heads to Nudgee Beach.
The weather was gorgeous, and at times we had vineyards next to us as well. Could have ridden for hours. We were one of the few cyclists on road bikes. They seemed to be reserved for the ‘serious cyclists’. That may explain the looks we get from others.
Typical sights along the ride
Narelle hits the turbo through the tunnel
After the ride, we stopped by the river for lunch. It wasn’t a formal rest area, but we made it our own. Very relaxing.
We like the smaller townships and villages. So after our wonderful visit to the Meditteranean, we decided we would not bother heading off to the other meditteranean hotspots such as St. Tropez, Nice, nor Monaco. A lot of travel just to think that it was not as nice as our own beaches. We could be wrong.
So we decided to hang around this area and spend more time in the Provence region. Good food is calling.
So we decided to head to Sommelier, which is where the Tour passes through, and about 25km before the finish This will give us the chance to see the Tour along the course, and see Cadel wearing yellow.
We had a bright idea to head to Montpelier, which is a sizeable city, before heading to Sommelier.
John should have learnt a couple of things by now. One is that whenever we wing it, we end up in adorable places, that far exceed our expectations. Whenever John ‘plans’ something, it all goes pear shaped. He thought it smart to tell Gina (the GPS unit) to find the tourist office in Montpelier. We were 100m short of the Tourist Office when we realised there was no tourism office at this address. That is when our fun began. Gina tried to direct us to the office via another way. Turns out this was via a construction site and roadworks. Lots of cars beeping horns as no-one had any idea what was happening, and cars were trying to squeeze into non existent gaps. Then Gina directed us down this tight one way street, with cars parked either side. Narelle was less then certain, especially when she said “Are you sure this is really a street”. John’s confidence about getting through wasn’t even rocked by the large ‘thwack’ as the mirror was clipped. Rule No. 1 - don’t look in the mirrors anyway. it is all too scary. Just when we saw actual signs to the tourist office, the mirage disappeared yet again. John, in a moment of madness, too the first turn at a roundabout. Gina had gone into meltdown at this point in time. 5 seconds after he took the turn John realised he has in trouble. It was an entrance to a carpark, with a height limit 1.4 m less then the height of the campervan. But this was not a degree of difficulty enough for John. No, he had to pick a place where there was no opportunity to do a u-turn, and the entry and exit lanes were seperated by a median strip, and there were 5 or 6 cars impatiently waiting behind John. To say Narelle was a little tense was an understatement. John was loving the challenge though. Some innovative lane changing across median strips, followed by a reverse up a tight and winding exit lane (in a campervan), and finished with a tight uturn at the roundabout saw them off and away again. Needless to say, we saw more of Montpelier from the car than we had anticipated.
Sommelier was fabulous. A beautiful town centuries old. We found a neat place to park for the night in a carpark.
We enjoyed quite walks, and having a cold drink in a local establishment. It is really quite warm here.
Narelle enoying the sights of the local river. We are camped about 30 seconds walk from this spot.
Narelle checking out the local shops
After dinner we wandered the city to get some dessert and check the place out. It seemed quiet, but then again, it was only Thursday night.
A glass of Chinon Rose was a good way to ward off the heat of the day, even at 9pm.
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