We met up at the TGV shuttle stop and had a great sit in a nearby park. After a short walk around town and some grocery shopping, we hopped a little train to Cavaillon where we stayed for the next four nights. Our room had doors out to a terrace with table and chairs where we enjoyed many a dinner and breakfast. Cavaillon is a town of about 25,000 in the heart of melon country. The Cavaillon melon is somewhat like a cantaloupe, but people rave and rave about it. Sadly, they're not in season until July. We saw tons and tons of fields, though, many bordered by high cedar hedges that cut the fierce Mistral winds that can blow here. (It's the typical wind of Provence that usually comes roaring down the Rhone.) We did see tons of strawberries at the market, though, as well as an anti-GMO protest where people were chained together using bike locks.
Cavaillon is at the edge of the Luberon regional park, an area named after the mountain nearby that we could see from a hike in town. Cavaillon is also the most westerly point on a cycling loop that swings through the park for 230km round trip. We saw lots of cycletourists in town and also serious-looking mountain and road bikers. In fact, we became part of the cycling crowd for four days, too. The bike shop just down the block from our hotel was a high-end place with one really sweet Cannondale RAW up for show that was sadly already sold and not available for a test ride.
We rented nice Cannondale Backcountries with panniers and handlebar bags. First up was a day trip to Carpentras inspired by reports from my first French hosts of an incredible pastry shop there that they used to frequent. We passed through Isle-sur-La-Sorgue where the Sorgue river cuts through the middle of town. This was followed by some getting lost and a long, long climb to a point where we could see Mt. Ventoux in the distance, the biggest mountain in Provence.
The pastries from L'Atelier des Mets did not disappoint. Tim, on his crusade to have at least one pain au chocolat a day and try lots of different places, stuck with his standard while I had a lemon tartelette. We also each had an incredible macaron. On the way back we took a little break again in Isle-sur-La-Sorgue next to a canal.
The cycletouring began in earnest the following day with a rainy, windy ride. We followed the sign-posted route out from Cavaillon, and the weather was wretched until Bonnieux where we stopped for lunch. One great, long downhill later, we arrived in Apt where Tim discovered that "pain frite" with cheese, lettuce and tomato doesn't actually mean grilled cheese. It means a pocket sandwich stuffed with fries.
The following day we took a loop day trip to Rousillion to see the famous ochre rocks there as well as the village which is classified as one of the most beautiful in France. After yet another cheese, bread, olives, fruit and chocolate lunch, we left Rousillion down an enormous hill and got ourselves off the route. It took some frustratingly hot biking to get back on, only to lose it again. But all ended well with a 15-minute-long downhill without pedaling or braking back in to Apt. We rewarded ourselves with delicious Moroccan dinner.
Tim classified the next day of cycling back to Cavaillon as the best he's had while touring. Indeed, the crisp morning air was perfect for the hard climb out of Apt. Bonnieux was buzzing for market day when we came through, so we stocked up for a picnic which we then had in Menerbes and which Tim classified as probably the best picnic he's ever had. (So many superlatives!) Biking-induced hunger, fresh food, a table in a garden and a view of the Provencal countryside were hard to beat. Apricot jam with lemon pulp was the highlight.
We spent one more night in Cavaillon where we had pizza while watching "Borat" in French. Then off for five nights in Nice.
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