Yesterday was definitely a 10. How is this possible? The countryside, the people, the things that can never be planned. Incredible!
So, I left Montelimar and used my honed map reading skills to bike on some picturesque rural roads. I had just started down one such road around Viviers, when I met a fellow cyclist, Patrice, who lived in the nearby town of St Montan. He proceeded to take me under his wing and guide me the rest of way to St Montan, a newly restored medieval town (it took 40 years to restore!). Along the way, I practiced my French while we shared our stories. Patrice explained the history of St Montan as well as the names of the flowers and fruit trees we were passing by. We had a quick break at his regular stop, Cave de Saint Montan, where we had a glass of local rose wine and chatted with the lady there (we were her first customers of the day, not surprising at 9:30 in the morning!). We then headed to St Montan and along the way stopped to eat ripe yellow plums from a roadside orchard. St Montan was a fairytale-like medieval town. We spent much time walking through narrow and hilly cobblestone streets and enjoyed some great views of the hilltop castle. Don't worry, I took lots of pictures! As we headed out of town, Patrice invited me to his amazing home where I met his wife, Martine. We sat around their outdoor table for over an hour, drinking juice and talking up a storm. They sent me on my way with cut lavender, a bag full of apricots, and a jar of fig, apricot, and rhubarb jam, all from their garden. Wow. How could things get any better?!
As I made my way to St Martin d'Ardeche, I rolled lazily by countless vineyards and fields of lavender. I arrived at Auberge de St Martin d'Ardeche around 3 pm, after only doing about 45 km. A pretty lazy day indeed! I settled in to my room, which had a balcony that looked out onto a vineyard and the gorge beyond. Can I even say it could get better? I put my cut lavender, which smelled heavenly, on my bedside table and took a much needed shower. The Auberge also had an amazing restaurant, where I dined for dinner and breakfast the next two days. Later on, the town was having fireworks and an outside dance party to commemorate French independence. So, of couse I went! I soaked in the festivities standing by the edge of the river that runs through the gorge. The fireworks were fashionably late but impressive for a small town and how magical! After, the music and dancing started in ernest and there was a huge crowd. I met up with Alexandre, who I knew from the Auberge, and had too much fun talking, drinking, and dancing the night away. The sky was clear and the stars so intensely bright on the way home that you could easily see the Milky Way. I didn't want the day to end. A day like today is the stuff dreams are made of.
The next day at St Martin was exhilerating. After a melt-in-your-mouth croissant, baguette and coffee for breakfast, I was ready to start biking without my extra 60-70 pounds (I think) of bags. I visited the town across the river, Aigueze, then headed up the gorge along a hilly (ca monte!) and twisty road that mainly followed the edge of the cliffs. Yes, the road had no barriers! Didn't I say exhilirating?! The views were absolutely breathtaking. I made it all the way to Cirque de la Madelaine, then turned around and came back, stopping for a tour of the caves at Les Grottes de St Marcel. A piece of my bike computer rattled off my fork as I came down one of the hills - I won't be able to report on my exact mileage anymore but it's not super critical, like brakes for instance :) I relaxed back at the Auberge and after yet another sumptuous three course dinner and a glass of wine, I sat back and reflected, yes, life is pretty good.
Tomorrow, I'm biking to Orange, then Avignon where there is a month-long arts & music festival happening. C'est la vie!
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