Les Ocres en Vélo

Allons-y!

The rest of the group has been here for a few days and tell me that I have brought sunshine and cooler weather.

Our plan for the day was to follow one of the local cycling circuits, Les Ocres en Vélo, in the clockwise direction. We collected some brochures at the tourist office in Cavaillon yesterday; if you are planning a visit here, you will find the same helpful information at the Vélo Loisir en Luberon website.

Riding from the hotel lengthened our loop. Not long after we merged with the published route, we began to pass other (American) cyclotourists (Backroads, Trek Travel). Think of our style as akin to a loosely organized club ride; their ambience is more like an orchestrated cycling event. We have the freedom to stray and get lost; they are shadowed by support vehicles that keep them on track.

We started in the heart of lavender (and wine) country; the fields must be spectacular in the spring, in full bloom. Continuing on to Roussillon, we admired the ochre cliffs, explored the town, and studied the distant contours of Mont Ventoux across the wide valley.

Diverting from the official route onto some real backroads, we headed down a rutted dirt and gravel track before turning back to find lunch in Rustrel. Facing winds blowing steadily at 25 mph, with stronger gusts, we opted for a more direct route back to Coustellet—a route that included cycling over the Pont Julien, a Roman bridge dating back to 3 BC. That is not a typo: the bridge is more than 2,000 years old.

Having climbed some 2,445 feet over 51 miles, a few of us headed straight for La Vie en Rose—a pink palace of a patisserie, improbably situated in the local strip mall.