We started off today by getting on a bus and leaving our hotel in St. Remy to visit a UNESCO Heritage site, The Pont Du Gard. It is a Roman aqueduct dating back to 19 BC. It is very hard to get proper perspective from a photo. There is also a 1,000 year-old olive tree near the site.
We loved the ride today as we started out going up and down, from small village to small village. There were lots of hills. Mark and I got separated from the group and went down a small hill intersecting a busy highway. We stopped and I checked the instructions and asked Mark if he saw the sign to Argilliers and he said yes. I was leading out and did not see it but I asked him again and he said yes, he saw it. Mark thinks I am too cautious when ever I cross a busy road. I like a lot of room before I cross on my bike. This time, I just looked quick and went across when I should have stopped. A fast moving car honked for a good 5 seconds straight as it whizzed past me. Mark followed right behind me and barely made it. I was a little flustered but relieved when we started down a beautiful downhill on a very empty road. When we got to the next intersection maybe a mile down, I realized we were in the wrong place. We had to ride back up the hill, across the highway and back to the turn we missed. I looked at the signs and it said Colleirs. I asked Mark about it and he said, "close enough." Mark looks at the rough map and never reads the step by step instructions. Many times he looks down a road and says, "that looks right to me" when it is nowhere near the right road or direction. The guides get a kick out of him. We found the right road and a little while later we saw Pascal driving the van looking for us. I stopped to tell Pascal what happened and he laughed and said, "you have a funny life." I am not quite sure if he meant "fun" or if he really meant "funny." The language barrier shows up quite often. But either way, he is right. Pascal also keeps telling me that Mark is lucky to have me. I quite agree!
One of the reasons I love biking so much, is that I have a lot of time to think about random things. I started thinking about how I took a wrong turn really enjoyed it and then had to pay a pretty steep price to get back to the right place. A little repentance analogy that I had a good time thinking about even though I was unhappy with the bad guidance from Mark. Lunch was a picnic prepared by Stephan and Pascal, our guides. It was my favorite kind of eating, lots of really amazing snacks. We talked with Evon and Penny from Ottawa while we ate. I loved the conversation and the food.
Our French guides, Stephan and Pascal
Gwen decided to ride with us today since Randy is still in the hospital waiting for the medical evac flight to come. Hopefully it will be here tomorrow morning. After being in the bleak hospital room for 4 days on his back with only tylenol, he is not a happy camper. It is hot and the food is terrible. We sent him some snacks last night and tried to find a fan but they are "out of season."
This is for Liz!
We rode through beautiful vineyards, pine forests and olive orchards as we made our way up hills and down valleys. We stopped at a Winery and even though we didn't do the tasting, it looked so pretty with all the different wines.
We made it to our new hotel, La Magnaneraie in Villeneuve Les Avignon. It is a more traditional hotel that is so beautiful. We have a nice big room with a king size bed and an alcove that has bunk beds.
We had a group dinner at the hotel. It was wonderful--stuffed zucchini flowers in mushroom sauce, sea bream (a tender white fish) with polenta and a trilogy (their name) of creme brulee for dessert. Of course, I loved it all!
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