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After a good last French night's sleep I meet John when I descend the staircase from my 'own' floor upstairs. He's just back from the bakery,
with fresh croissants, and tells me there was a tiny bit of rain when he left home. Breakfast is as copious and as cozy as dinner. I feel almost sorry I don't eat more than I do, and to 'compensate' for that I take a carton bowl with taboulet. John accompanies me till Villes-sur-Auzon over tiny, not always paved, and definitely not flat routes. We don't have a problem keeping the conversation going. Every now and then I have to stop to make a picture of the Géant de la Provence (with or without my cycling mate).
Stephany and John
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André and John
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John and the Mont-Ventoux
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Peloton from Nyons
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Cylingwise the real fun starts just after we've said goodbye. The D942 is simply amazing. The very small road first rises slowly through very green hills, fully overgrown by short green trees. It's partly clouded, there's hardly any wind, it's a perfect day to be out here, and I'm certainly not the only one to enjoy it. Higher on white rocks emerge more and more; every now and then I can look two or three bends ahead and see the road rising and rising, though I don't feel it in my legs so much. My odometer is still non-cooperative, so I can't check my speed. I guess it must be between 11 km/h and 16 km/h most of the time. It's Saturday and I share the road with many 'of my kind'. Among them a dozen or so cyclists from Nyons in nice blue-orange outfits, that pass me in couples and triples. The last triple consists of two women on e-bikes following an older man on a racing bike. "Il a 84 ans!", one of the women whispers. Great! What a great, great environment, the whole route till the belvédère, the highest point of the route (± 450 m higher than Villes-sur-Auzon), by which I mean: not just the spectacular part of the Gorges de la Nesque with the 'natural' tunnels and the deep abyss. The peloton from Nyons honour the spot with a group photo.
On my own again
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Gorgeous gorges
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Spectacular Gorges of the Nesque |
Les Nyonnais
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Sault
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I just ride on, definitely in need of coffee and pastry. Sault appears a bit further than I had thought, and at the end there's some climbing in store. I recall the rumbling rainy morning in 2019 when I had to skip the Mont-Ventoux from Bédoin. I don't feel like I'm fit (anymore?) to do it from that side. In Sault I have no problem finding good sweet calory rich stuff in Sault (only problem: which two to choose from many appetizing pastries?). It's fun to see so many sporty people arrive and leave, each with their own 'projects'. Around twelve I mount JJ for the last big enterprise. First a short descent, 70 m down, to cross the Nesque (first time I notice that the river runs there), and then a long, long climb.
Pastry in Sault
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On the other side of Sault
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"Chalet Reynard"
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The final stretch
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It's a more interesting climb than I remember, more trees for instance, but with many open spaces offering faraway views over the Vaucluse plateau. The clouds 'up there' slightly worry me; well, should things deteriorate I can always turn left (= down) at Chalet Reynard (which would mean a first descent over the steep Bédoin route). I take it easy and have about the same pace as two girls running; I'm closing in on them very slowly. The grades are between 2% and 6% almost all the time. The 'giant' is hidden till very close to Chalet Reynard. And what a site that has become: a giant parking place and a giant restaurant (or had I just forgotten; twenty years have passed since I was here last). I don't feel like getting into the crowd, so I take place on a low wall bordering the parking lot, in the (not too fierce) sun, and enjoy the taboulet from Stephany. And I see cyclists coming from and going into three directions. It's fun! The funniest encounter happens just when I'm about to leave. A man with two girls (daughters, I guess) aged around ten, on tiny racing bikes (24 inch wheels?), turn onto the parking lot. They are Dutch, and I understand they came 'from above'. Woww! I express my amazement and respect! Well, Dad explains, the plan was to cycle up (from Sault) to Chalet Reynard, but then when they got here the girls decided they wanted to go all the way to the top. 'It's not so hard anyway', Dad comments. That's not especially nice for the girls (who were too full of adrenaline, I guess, to be offended – or too young to notice), but it is certainly reassuring for me. I must admit, until the last two km it's okay and it's real hard only at the very end.
The barren last
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7 km
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Approaching la tour météorologique
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"Stormy Pass"
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And it is windy, as it should be. At the summit the situation has undergone some changes during the last twenty years, so, hey, what would I expect (and how accurate is my memory anyway): cyclists follow a detour that brings them 5 meters higher than the cars. Busy there of course, and today remarkably many Belgians (amongst whom the girls that ran all the way up; I gather). One of them tells me the Mont-Ventoux is the Belgian equivalent of 'our' Alpe d'Huez. And the real challenge is to climb it from the three main directions in one day.
5th time around
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View to the south-east
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Tour météorologique
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View to the east
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Souvenir!
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Tour météorologique from the other side
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And quickly down
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Two more pix to get it over with
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Vallée du Toulourenc
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In the souvenir shop I finally find my mountain t-shirt! Because of le vent I ride the first part of the great descent very cautiously.
I vaguely remember to have seen 80 km/h on my odometer in the past; today I don't think I surpass 60 km/h. While the altitude decreases the temperature rises. So I cherish a warm last part of this long descent. In Malaucène, the one issue village (cycling of course) it must be way over 30 degrees. I don't like the crowd there, so ride on till Vaison-la-Romaine; to end up in another crowd. I first take a table on a terrace, but then move to the cooler inside. After some refreshments there, and the usual last day purchase of a French novel ("La Bicyclette Bleue") further up the street, I mount JJ for the final stretch. I'm a bit disoriented, but I am guided by a commuting cyclist (whom at first I mistake for a randonneur à vélo) who rides along for some 5 km. I add a nice climb between Cairanne and Tulette. It used to be called Col le Débat if I'm not mistaken. And I'm not, twenty years ago I included both cols (and also the Col du Négron) in a stage of 163 km, also the final stage of a Tour in which I covered 200 km more than this year, in three days less . . . . From the tiny route to this tiny col I enjoy the pretty last views over the vineyards and lavender fields of the Provence (and the M.-V.), and get onto the D94 a bit earlier than planned.
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Vinyeards
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Well, that's okay, the engine is almost empty, so I don't mind eight almost flat km over a semi motor way too much. Around 18:30 I arrive in Suze-la-Rousse, to note that the restaurant 'of old' – I spent many a last evening there – is closed. There's a notice forwarding people to campground Le Ley (more historic ground for me) to have dinner. There I don't mind to share a table right in front of the reception (the terrace is already fully booked, whereas the kitchen is just opening up) with a middle aged couple (so: in my age group). They look quite done for after a day in the car.
Vaison-la-Romaine
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Restaurant fermé
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They rode all the way from Switzerland and have a second home here. The man is okay, but his wife gets on my nerves, she is so self-confident, happy with her bungalow en piscine, and so tacky (kiss kiss) to her husband (and why can't she keep her legs together?). Anyway, when they leave I still have one and a half hour to kill (= write in my journal). After which I spend a lonely three quarters in the dark at "La Suzienne", expecting an early (viz. half empty) bus. Half empty as it may be, all benches are taken, and people are not very forthcoming to grant me a seat. However, right before I start to scream someone shifts to her companion. And that female, just in front of me, not happy with her unexpected neighbour, keeps grumbling. But hey, I made it, had another great tour, so why grumble back.
THE END
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