May 20 - south of Avignon
May 20
First thing--I e-mailed Union today and accepted the job there (2-year job in Schenectady, NY), which means I need to start thinking about another x-country move. A bit of a distraction.
I got into Avignon around 1:45 or so, after a routine train ride from Montpellier. I managed to get unpacked & riding by 3 or so. The first part of the ride was the unexciting D2--across the bridge to Villeneuve Les Avignon (i.e. the new city...built in the 15th C or so but new by comparison to Avignon itself) then S. along the Rhone. That could be really pretty but the river itself is hidden by the road by a huge levee. A lot of the riding here makes me wonder what it must be like to live in Iowa or someplace like that--it's dead flat, with only the prevailing winds making for any change in the resistance. I find hills much more interesting...
Eventually the ride crosses the Rhone and doubles back NE a bit through Barbentane where there's this small but attractive chateau:
In the parking lot was this sealed house with a sign in the lower L: "A Travers La Montagnette" -- i.e. the little mountain. It was really little.
This is coming down the back of the Montagnette. The scenery is very different from the Alps, both because it's flat & because of the Mediterranean climate. Before this was a short climb through a low, dry forest. Needless to say a lot of it reminded me of parts of southern Africa and California.
This shot is a little further along, going W from Maillane where I started closing the loop of the ride. The trees on the right are a wind break.
Here's one of these corridors of trees like I was describing on the ride back from l'Alpe d'Huez. They're not oaks--I asked someone at the conference about them--they're related to sycamores, but the French prune them into lots of various forms. Especially here, where the sun is intense in May, coming into one of these corridors as you enter a town is very cool and refreshing.
This is why they need windbreaks--these trees are apparently in a very windy spot.
You'd think the tourism dept. planted this old deux cheveux (2CV) on this backroad, but a second later a guy stepped out who was fishing in the stream here. Cycling on these tiny backroads was nice, but each stretch was only 1-3 km or so long, so it made for a lot of navigation stops.
Some haystacks. Van Gogh lived in Arles, about 20 km south of here, when he cut off his ear and was hospitalized.
At the end of this road I passed this old guy on a bike.
This is now in Tarascon. Colorful shutters are one of the trademarks of Provence.
This tower was also next to the bridge over the Rhone at Tarascon--it needs two pictures to convey the mass & size when you're up next to it.
La Tarasque -- presumably this is the creature for which Tarascon is named (?)
A view of a rowing club with some fortifications in the background, across the Rhone from Tarascon.
Looking back--this is the structure with the tower in the two pictures above.
And on the way back--on the bridge leading back into Avignon--some people bowling. I passed several of these bowling grounds, all packed with people of all ages.
After the ride (81 km total, or a little over 50 miles) I got back into Avignon and started wandering around in search of dinner. In the main square there is this interesting two-story carousel.
It was also "La Nuit des Musees" so a bunch of the museums were free & open until 11 PM, which would make for a very long day. First stop was the Palace of the Popes from back in the day when the papacy was based in Avignon rather than the Vatican.
Here's an interior shot. I didn't realize this, but Avignon was ruled from Rome until the 1790s, when it joined with some neighboring areas and became part of France. At this point the palace was used as a military barracks although the picture actually is of a 17th (I think) century ceiling, when the room where the Popes used to hear indulgences was converted into an armory.
Interesting gargoyle of a boy and his dog.
A replica of a papal indulgence. You, too, can be freed of sin if the price is right.
One of the courtyards. Unfortunately most of the spaces were too vast & dark to shoot much here.
This is a window on the courtyard where the popes used to make some of their public appearances--the rose and bars are early 20th century reconstructions.
First thing--I e-mailed Union today and accepted the job there (2-year job in Schenectady, NY), which means I need to start thinking about another x-country move. A bit of a distraction.
I got into Avignon around 1:45 or so, after a routine train ride from Montpellier. I managed to get unpacked & riding by 3 or so. The first part of the ride was the unexciting D2--across the bridge to Villeneuve Les Avignon (i.e. the new city...built in the 15th C or so but new by comparison to Avignon itself) then S. along the Rhone. That could be really pretty but the river itself is hidden by the road by a huge levee. A lot of the riding here makes me wonder what it must be like to live in Iowa or someplace like that--it's dead flat, with only the prevailing winds making for any change in the resistance. I find hills much more interesting...
Eventually the ride crosses the Rhone and doubles back NE a bit through Barbentane where there's this small but attractive chateau:
In the parking lot was this sealed house with a sign in the lower L: "A Travers La Montagnette" -- i.e. the little mountain. It was really little.
This is coming down the back of the Montagnette. The scenery is very different from the Alps, both because it's flat & because of the Mediterranean climate. Before this was a short climb through a low, dry forest. Needless to say a lot of it reminded me of parts of southern Africa and California.
This shot is a little further along, going W from Maillane where I started closing the loop of the ride. The trees on the right are a wind break.
Here's one of these corridors of trees like I was describing on the ride back from l'Alpe d'Huez. They're not oaks--I asked someone at the conference about them--they're related to sycamores, but the French prune them into lots of various forms. Especially here, where the sun is intense in May, coming into one of these corridors as you enter a town is very cool and refreshing.
This is why they need windbreaks--these trees are apparently in a very windy spot.
You'd think the tourism dept. planted this old deux cheveux (2CV) on this backroad, but a second later a guy stepped out who was fishing in the stream here. Cycling on these tiny backroads was nice, but each stretch was only 1-3 km or so long, so it made for a lot of navigation stops.
Some haystacks. Van Gogh lived in Arles, about 20 km south of here, when he cut off his ear and was hospitalized.
At the end of this road I passed this old guy on a bike.
This is now in Tarascon. Colorful shutters are one of the trademarks of Provence.
This tower was also next to the bridge over the Rhone at Tarascon--it needs two pictures to convey the mass & size when you're up next to it.
La Tarasque -- presumably this is the creature for which Tarascon is named (?)
A view of a rowing club with some fortifications in the background, across the Rhone from Tarascon.
Looking back--this is the structure with the tower in the two pictures above.
And on the way back--on the bridge leading back into Avignon--some people bowling. I passed several of these bowling grounds, all packed with people of all ages.
After the ride (81 km total, or a little over 50 miles) I got back into Avignon and started wandering around in search of dinner. In the main square there is this interesting two-story carousel.
It was also "La Nuit des Musees" so a bunch of the museums were free & open until 11 PM, which would make for a very long day. First stop was the Palace of the Popes from back in the day when the papacy was based in Avignon rather than the Vatican.
Here's an interior shot. I didn't realize this, but Avignon was ruled from Rome until the 1790s, when it joined with some neighboring areas and became part of France. At this point the palace was used as a military barracks although the picture actually is of a 17th (I think) century ceiling, when the room where the Popes used to hear indulgences was converted into an armory.
Interesting gargoyle of a boy and his dog.
A replica of a papal indulgence. You, too, can be freed of sin if the price is right.
One of the courtyards. Unfortunately most of the spaces were too vast & dark to shoot much here.
This is a window on the courtyard where the popes used to make some of their public appearances--the rose and bars are early 20th century reconstructions.
posted by Derick at 2:45 AM
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