It is going to be quite a mammoth trip as there is even snow on the mountain top and so the correct clothing has to be found for all -
gloves for the downhill (hands can get particularly cold),...
hats, fleeces and rainwear in case of the odd downpour....
snacks and bottles of water.....
It's a matter of searching out all our stuff and layering up - dad has all this gear secreted away in boxes in the boot of the car !! and we supposedly only packed for the summer holiday. I ask you !! but of course as he always says - you never know what you're going to need and when...
and he's usually right...
The car is laden and off they head into the hinterland of Provence ...... excited at the challenge. Last few words were - we'll be back for a late lunch, hopefully
about 2 pm ish ?
They have decided to tackle the mountain from Sault on the east side, longer but less steep and the advised tactic is to take it steady,
(Trystan being a bit steadier than the others apparently !).
It is hard work for sure but not as tough as they'd thought it was going to be....??
On reaching Chalet Reynard (two thirds of the way up) they are surprised and annoyed to find a Route Barree sign !! A Dutch film company is doing a shoot there and for a while they watch an old bus carreereing down the hill time and again !!
No warning anywhere about all this and the marshals stand firm despite being harangued by about twenty irate cyclists who rightly feel quite thwarted !!
So, no choice but to cycle back down to the car and try another route. Crumbs, two treks.
They drive round the base of the mountain to the west side and actually drive up from Malaucene to the top just to make sure it was actually open on that side.
By now the summit was in cloud so they drive back down one third of the way and get back on the bikes again and finish the challenge.
All completed !! Euphoria and best of all the cloud lifted and they had marvellous views all round.
Time for a celebratory crepe or two - all this cycling certainly works up an appetite,
A team photo was taken at the summit and also one of Leila's Ted - a soft toy doggie - her first solo writer/illustrator creation.
Marian and Ben buy a souvenir milestone - they have growing collection of quirky souvenirs from all their travels!
I think Ted deserves his own travel blog, maybe we'll have to start one.... 'Ted's Travels' ?
Afterwards, they gleefully whizz down the mountain, dismantle the bikes, load them up and head home.
Weary but happy.
In the meantime, Leila, Isabel and I decide to walk into Roussillon for a painting/sketching trip. We gather all our bits and pieces, and I suggest that Leila and Isabel head off first as they are both hardened fast walkers and I know that as it is almost all uphill I will struggle to keep up. I follow at a stately pace and wander off the track here and there to admire the views of Rouissillon from the opposite ochre cliffs and of course take more pictures as I ramble along.
Eventually I find Leila busy at her sketching in the market square. She is quite an inspiration as she always carries her sketching papers and pencil n her handbag, just in case, so wherever she is, she is happy, drawing away and taking it all in.
Today it is a general market and there is a lot of hustle and bustle with a wide variety of stalls.
Thank goodness I find the cashpoint and we treat ourselves to some quite fantastic maccaroons - there is at least a dozen different flavours and we buy one of each to sample..
(how can you not, especially after the lady at the stall gives us quite generous taster samples?).
Her husband is the baker and he has been very inventive with his flavourings - pistachio, lavender, aniseed, coffee, caramel, swrawberry etc. We have a bagfull and they are deliciously moist and succulent inside with a nice crunch to get through first. Perfect for a pudding later on. Can't wait !!
We also select one of the salamis on offer - there is a whole stall of different varieties - we choose the fig as we have never seen this before anywhere and it has an intriguing sweetness, again a little tasting beforehand.
Aren't they clever tactics.....?
Also we are very very tempted by all the olives for sale and finally decide to get some tapenade made with black olives, anchovies and capers and also two different types of olives.
My husband thinks of cakes at treats but I can skip these over quite easily !! Although when I lived in Germany I used to treat myself (once a week) to a coffee and a black forest gateaux !! very very 70s indeed. yummy though and compared to the cakes I'd eaten back home as a child, these creations were the height of sophistication to me !!
The germans and austrians make some of the most delicious cakes and they are always loaded with fresh cream or at least dolloped on top generously. Calories galore but one has to be a little indulgent now and then !
Leila decides to stay in the market square sketching and I head up the hill in search of Isabel. She is perched high up on a wall and my heart almost stops !! It is a good 40 meter drop but she is blissfully engrossed in her drawing and painting.
When I eventually get up there I can hardly stand near the wall and decide to pop round the corner to do a quick watercolour sketch of a beautiful blue doorway. My brush is tiny and we had arranged to meet again at 1.30 so the little drawing and colouring in is more of a token than anything seriously studied. Fun though.
While wandering round the village I discover the cemetery - somehow I find these places fascinating, not in a sad way but just interesting. They are so different to the ones back in the uk - here they are much more ostentatious, have flowers galore, though mostly of silk or china and lots of photographs of the deceased.
Sometimes you can get a real sense of the person while alive simply from the various plaques placed on the tomb. Not at all creepy.
I head off back to the house and the leave the two girls to decide what flavour ice cream to indulge in. There is quite an amazing choice on offer and when I do eventually decide (a week later) to have an ice cream I ask politely if I could have a half and half (not being a great fan of ice cream.I usually have one half scoop of coffee another half scoop of choclate flavour - I find that's enough for about six months), and am not very politely told - 'no mixt' !! so much for the french idea of service.
I am astounded as this is the first time ever ever I have been refused. Ah well, such is french life. I buy a coffee flavour ice cream and hubby gets half of it as well as his own !! He could live on the stuff almost, well , beer too.....of course....Back at the house we all change into our swimming costume (in my case) and the girls into their bikinis. Gosh, I can't even remember when I last had the courage or the body to wear a bikini ?? Anyway they both looked fabulous.
We read, potter, and eventually have a little dip in the very inviting looking pool, but, it is still unheated water and quite takes our breath away to start with. I think I did manage about 30 lengths in the end but had to get out to warm up as my heart started to pound !!Funnily enough though, the longer I was in the water the warmer it seemed to get ? Isn't that weird ? Isabel noticed this effect too...perhaps we just got number....
We decide to start our lunch as the troops were not back yet, and luckily we did as they weren't in fact back till quite late afternoon. cyclists return weary and elated. Mount Ventoux conquered !!
Trystan has a much needed haircut, he likes to keep it fairly short these days - Leila's sister Holly is a hairstylist in Camden, London - and has shown her how to get a cool flicking sort of cutting style.
I watch keenly and I might try this technique on dad's hair, although he is ultra conservative normally and just wants it short and very easy maintenance !!
Next time he's due for a crop I'll get adventurous with my shears but just won't tell him.
In the evening, Dad and I get cheffing - roast lamb and lots of trimmings for supper - a real treat as lamb seems horrendously expensive in France. We even have fresh mint for the sauce - Izabel the housekeeper had arranged for her husband to bring a large bunch from her garden for us - meant for a cold cherry soup in fact (one of the many local way of preparing the cherries) but the cherries had long since disappeared and hence the mint sauce....The maccarroons disappeared at an alarming rate too - quite delicious.
The end of another wonderful day.
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