Mont Ventoux

Our final day of riding gives us the option to climb Mont Ventoux. As brave as we may be, we certainly didn't come here to climb a mountain - or at least I'm not. So instead we worked our way through by Mont Ventoux and a smaller set of mountains to Bédoin.

Pluie
While we were able to avoid rain for most of our bike trip, today we awoke at 6:30am to the sound of rain on the roof. The rain kept a steady pace even as we made our way down for breakfast. Forecast - rain, and lots of it. So after delaying as much as we could, we got on the bikes for the last time and were on our way.

As much as we like riding bikes, we certainly don't like riding on the rain. Stopping at our first city on the map we realised how drenched we were after only 10 kms. Knowing that we wouldn't enjoy any scenic route - nevermind the slight headwinds - we chose the quickest route possible to get us to our destination.

Looking up at Mont Ventoux we couldn't even see the top of the mountain, since it was covered in clouds. In fact all the mountains around us were covered in a thick grey, that mirrored our spirits.

Côtes du Ventoux
Just before noon, we found a wine cave that we could have a brief break from the rain. We are now in the region of Côtes du Ventoux, and it never dawned upon me until now why it was called as such (ie. the region at the foothills of the mountain). We had two quick glasses, which were actually quite nice, so we purchased one and made our way.

Things that crawl
Yesterday's surprise was finding a grasshopper on our window of our hotel. First note that we were on the second story of our hotel, so quite a ways up for a grasshopper. The second, and most horrific note, was its size. The guesstimate before escorting it out of our room was about 7cms long at minimum.

Today's surprise was found on the road amidst all the rain. Like habit at home, the tendency is to be on the lookout for earthworms. Instead, we saw what seemed to be an earthworm (I say it looked more like a stick, while mon mari says it looked more like a snake), but only it was slightly thicker and about 40 cms long! No wonder their crops do so well here with such irrigation.

The final nail in the coffin
Just when we thought we couldn't get more frustrated with our tour company (especially with the rainy squeaky, creaky, ill-shifting bikes), we got to Bédoin to try and find our hotel. The rain had gotten heavier, so we were soaked through to the bone and just wanting to rid ourselves of our sponge-filled shoes and shorts.

We find a map, only to find out that our hotel is located several kms outside the city, in the middle of nowhere. It was only about 1pm, but we had no desire to hang around town, so only had the option to make our way to the hotel. Thank goodness for our pannier filled with bread, meat, cheese and wine, as it was going to make for a delicious meal.

Unfortunately we were so early that we beat our luggage for the first time, but that didn't stop us from cleaning ourselves from road grime and warming ourselves dry. A lazy afternoon hid in our hotel room, listening to the sound of rain.