France with Beast 1: Fontaine-de-Vaucluse

Too many pics to choose from on our 8 hour epic to Fontaine-de-Vaucluse. A new view at every turn.

We thought it we got really nice weather, we would buy a couple of sun hats. Purchasing hats, or anything at all, was not meant to be. So.... nitehoods to the rescue! 
 
 Single track, single track, single track!

 

 What is going on with the crazy limestone rock formations that make up the valleys we hiked through along the way!?

The lovely Sorgue river gave us a taste of what the spring might be like as it flows down the rocks and through this lovely tiny village.

Ahhhhhhhhh - we made it! The spring is 230m high, the largest in France (5th largest in the world!).

"It wasn't until 1985 that the mystery of the Spring's origin was partially revealed: in effect, the lowest point is at -308m - a depth attained by a robot belonging to the Spelunking Society of Fontaine de Vaucluse. The spring is the only exit point of a subterranean basin of 1200 km² that collects the water from Mount Ventoux, the Vaucluse mountains and from the Lure mountain."

The waterfalls tumble down the cliff to the left in the above pic. March - We were there right when they were gushing. Additional crazy fact I learned on wikipedia:

"In 1946, Jacques Cousteau and another diver were almost killed while searching for the bottom of the spring. An air compressor used to fill their tanks had taken in its own exhaust fumes and produced carbon monoxide--nearly killing them before they could return to the surface from a depth of approximately 100 meters."

 A stop at the castle on the way home. Shaky legs!!!


Nature pause - are these Salal berries? We have them at the cabin and walked through miles of them on our way to the Fountain. Rocket loves them. He can carefully nibble them off the branch for a snack.

France with Beast 1: La Roque-sur-Pernes, Provence

We landed in a delightful spot for a stretch of isolation, a farm in the charming Roque-sur-Pernes. Our room had a fantastic patio, perfect for Kings, reading and yoga. The weather cooperated too.

Right at our doorstep, fantastic paths in every direction. Hundreds of kilometres of single track all over the region and not a person in sight. Bliss.
Travel day, hike #1 - Up the hill behind the farm. A beautiful hour or two to stretch our legs.

France with Beast 1: Avignon

The streets were very quiet by the time we settled in Avignon. Luckily, you can't go to get bread in this beauty town without seeing the sights. Here is the amazing Palais des Papes. A Gothic fortress/palace for Western Christianity during the 14th century. 

Our first night in Avignon, we discovered our hosts had Netflix on a large screen! We watched Elizabeth: The Golden Ages which led to 1001 questions and some good discussion for our excursion the next day.

The Pont D'Avignon did not disappoint. The Rhone river, flowing from Lake Geneva down to the Med, by Lyon and then Avignon, was still and shiny - hard to imagine it blowing through the bridge during a flood. 

 
Our air bnb flat was perfect, and the hosts were so sweet, offering to let us stay for free if we felt we needed to hunker down there. Instead, we picked up the necessary supplies and headed into the more rural area of Provence for our isolation stint. This was a change from our original bike touring trip that we had planned, but considering the circumstances, and the warm and sunny forecast, we were pretty pumped.

Our taxi driver practiced excellent social distancing and took all the necessary precautions, and took it upon himself to follow up with us during our travels to make sure we were safe. Very kind.

The medicine was "just in case".
The nail polish was for home spa days.
And the hand sanitizer - well that was a massive score!

As with Montpellier, we will need to return to Avignon one day when we can loiter in the cafes and better experience the buzz.

France with Beast 1: Nîmes

We traveled by train from Montpellier to Nîmes.

Nîmes is called the most roman city outside Italy. One can see why- only moments on foot from the train station, we stumbled across this ancient and magnificent arena.

Alas, it was only an afternoon visit, and then we were off to Avignon by bus. But not before receiving some valuable advice from a man experiencing homelessness -and extraordinary drunkenness- who shared right up in our faces (um, hello, social distancing!), all in French:

"Who are you? What are you doing here? Head to Monaco. That is the only safe place to be. Jump the border there. I know the way. Who are you. Are you fucking Germans? You fucking Germans! [swigs from wine bottle, brushes bottom of feet off on his jeans] Monaco for 24 days is what I say. Then it will all be over. Go there now. That's where I will be. You, you fucking Germans!"

Confession. When on the bus I checked for wifi to see if I could research a bit about Monaco. Such are the times - unraveling every day with news about the Coronavirus and rules for containing its spread. We had only earlier that morning taken seriously some advice that Shark overheard from a distressed woman on the phone while at the London airport (no one but no one can leave France for 21 days, I think it was). Making travel plans during a pandemic based on eavesdropping, so why not take a nugget of intel from this pro Monaco and (possibly) anti German chap seriously!?  

One other tale that makes me a bad mom for sharing. On our bus ride to Avignon, Savvy was asking about Monaco and why it might be an ideal place to camp out. I explained where it was - the posh little bit of land on the Med. Savvy recognised it at last, "Ohhhhhhh. Mon."

What?

It turns out, Savvy had done very well in Geography last term. The countries of Europe and South America all needed to be placed on a computer-based map, in French. Savvy aced her test.
But she aced the "test" and the "test" only, by learning the first three letters of each country.

So we then had a comical discussion about the health crisis in Ita. How it was spreading to Esp, and Fra was not far behind. We only skimmed over Cro, Tur, Lit and Lat. Sue, Nor and other such northern countries were a bit better off at the moment. We got truly stuck when it came to Netherlands (Pays-Bas, in French) but if you stick to the rule (first 3 letters only), she really knows her stuff!

As for Nîmes, we will be back!
As for heading to Mon...the idea didn't seem half bad, actually!

France with Beast 1: Montpellier + Requin

We arrived in Montpellier, greeted by the Shark at the train station. We walked through this most beautiful city to her lovely flat. There, awaiting us, was a surprise: an ash+sav birthday treat! A cake (a full one...I was too slow with the camera), wine, and a biking adventure for the following day. Little did we know at the time how special the cake would be, as now we are home and see the full impact of the coronavirus, we appreciate that Savvy will be spending her 13th birthday in quarantine!

Thank you, Shark!

The bike ride to Palavas-les-Flots in the Mediterranean Sea was splendid! The bike route from Montpellier was top notch. Savvy and I still break out into hysterics when we remember Shark being charged by a black stallion. 

Shark assured us this white tower in the background was special. Voted the most beautiful in the world, if I remember correctly. I think no, pas tres jolie!

 On our way home, we pedaled through some of Montpellier's beautiful parks.

 
Despite tired legs, we made it out for a mini walk to some of Shark's favourite spots later that night.

  

And then a tasty shark-cooked curry which lasted two glorious nights!

I don't remembering things getting so silly, but I guess they did!!!


The next day, social distancing was in full effect. Thankfully, boulangeries are an essential service!

 
  To sum up our beautiful and funny Auntie Shark, a few more pictures :

One last night in Montpellier, when Savvy schooled me at le Monopoly, checking in with le Requin regularly to make sure her flights were on track (they were!) and then we were off on our next adventure!