Deux Biciclette and a French-Italian Whine

Day 2 - Not Getting Lost and Eating Bull in Arles

It was our first day of cycling and there is only one word to describe it… rainyatfirstandthenlotsofpedaling.  It was great!

Started off not so great when we woke up and looked outside—rain. Not pouring rain, but enough to, ah…dampen our spirits just a bit. And then...it started raining...inside. Water from the room above us started dripping onto the bed…slowly at first, then picked up a bit (about the same as outside). And then parts of the ceiling came down. All we could do (after moving what we had on the bed) was laugh.

We then met rest of the group for breakfast.  Lyn is our coordinator/guide and we had met him briefly yesterday afternoon. There is also another couple—Mitch and Hanna—and John, who is doing the trip solo.  They all seem like great people and will be nice to get to know them.

By 11:00 am the bikes were ready, the rain had stopped, and we were on our way.  Because of the time it took to get the bikes ready, panniers loaded, etc. each group took off on their own.

Early on we discovered the most difficult part of the ride was not actually cycling for 40 kilometers, but reading the directions to get to the end of the route. It’s like following a complicated recipe if you don’t cook…you read three lines, but by the time you finished the first you’ve forgotten the next two (Damon's perfect analogy).

We caught up with Mitch and Hanna as Hanna unfortunately had the first flat tire of the group. They did, however, get to witness the escorting of a bull through the middle of a small town...the bull was surrounded by horses, and the towns people were signaling them to stay back.  Almost would have been worth fixing a flat if it would have put us on a different schedule to have caught that in person....oh well, my flat will come soon enough.

For lunch we stopped in Beaucaire.  The restaurant was across the street from the canal which runs through the center of town...it was wonderfully non-touristy. As we pulled up to our randomly chosen restaurant, we saw another Blue Marble looking bike--it was Lyn at the restaurant where were headed. He hadn't ordered yet, so we joined him for lunch.

Even with Lyn's translations skills--he was good enough to go though the menus for us as he did most of the rest of the week--I still ended up with a plate of whole shrimps (versus the 'prepared' headless variety). It was all delicious.

Somehow we made it to Arles by about 5:00 pm.  The city is heavy on ancient Roman ruins and scenes painted by Van Gogh.  Amazingly, the they have not tried to capitalize on this at all…just kidding.

The day wrapped up with dinner and a great local restaurant.  The food was terrific. The local wines were great. A few of us decided to brave the Taureau “bull meat”…funny, tastes just like chicken (of course not...it actually tasted like a tender pot roast). We finished with some excellent deserts...I had Mousse de Chocolat, and Damon had Mouse de Coconut (whatever that is in French).

Tomorrow’s ride is described as challenging (yes, it was underlined like this in the day’s description). Sounds like 60-70 k of hills, castles, fresh fruit orchards, and an occasional bug in the mouth (sorry).

Day 2 Stats:

• Ride Sheet - Nimes to Arles (42 - 74 k)
• Actual ride - 45 k
• Lunch - Beaucaire
• Remember - Goats, (Hanna/Mitch - Bull escorted through town and flat tire), Van Gogh Cafe

Goats in Provence

For a good time, Click the Pic above (check your volume!).... This was from our first day riding...on the way to Arles. We weren't sure if the 'music' was because we were riding by, or if they were always doing this....kind of the refrigerator light thing.

Day 3 – Les Baux: it was all hell…ah, hills today

I have to say the hotels since we left Nimes have been great.  Last night in Arles it was the Hôtel du Cloître, a family run hotel. It was charming and well maintained, in a great location, and exceptionally clean (and no rain inside!).

Tonight we are at the Hôtel Du Parc in Cavaillon.  This hotel can be similarly ‘adjectivized’ and staffs in both places were very friendly. We were not looking for the 5-star cycling trip where they do everything but wipe your…nose (where, per Lyn, they go out ahead of you and chalk route with little arrows so you don’t get lost—what fun is that!?), but we did expect to have a decent 2- to 3-star hotel stay in each city and they certainly meet/exceed that criteria.

Now, on to today’s ride… We were on the road by 9:30 and it started out perfectly—beautiful weather (partly cloudy…not too hot, not too cold), beautiful ride and landscapes—we were lovin’ it. Then rain...and not the couple of drops, great-it-will-cool-you-down kind of rain—it poured. At one point I had to take off my glasses because there was so much water running down my face I couldn’t see. We knew there was a town coming up, so we just kept riding.

After about 10-15 minute we pulled into the town of Paradou and took shelter in front of “La Poste” and started ringing out our shirts.  A few minutes later Mitch and Hanna rode up, and then we spotted John coming out the to grocery store—all were soaked. The funny thing is, none of us really cared.  It stopped raining 15 minutes later and the rest of the day was beautiful.

On to Les Baux! Now, we knew this was to be a “challenging” day, but none of us was prepared for how challenging—except of course Lyn who has led this ride before.  The first (major) hill was up to the town of Les Baux. It seemed to go on forever…just when we thought we were about to hit the top, we would find more ‘up’ around the corner. Of course even worse than the up was the speed at which two ‘real’ cyclists passed us near the top…"bonjour!....bonjour!" and then hey were gone.

Once we reached the top it was obvious the ride was worth it. Les Baux is an amazing—minus the touristy parts—medieval fortress. The views were spectacular and the history evident wherever you looked.

Back to the bikes—for some downhill this time. We met up with Lyn and rode (coasted!) down to the next town called Maussane. There we found a charming little square with a fantastic restaurant. The sun was out, a slight breeze was blowing, and the food and wine were delicious. We could have sat there for hours if not for the next leg of the ride.  Cavaillon, the night’s destination, was still 35 k away.

After a couple of wrong turns (“those signs were NOT there a minute ago…”) we were on our way to Eygalieres. For those of us who had assumed the difficult part of the ride was in the morning, we had quite a surprise when 5 of the next 6 k were uphill—beautiful, but challenging. We stopped in Eygalieres for pistachios, bread with Tapenade, and a very refreshing glass of beer with grenadine syrup (a Monaco).

Finally pulling into Cavaillon at about 7:30pm, we were all ready to relax.  The hotel for tonight and tomorrow night is great, as was Lyn’s choice of restaurants. It was traditional/regional cuisine with great atmosphere and better service.  We all shared stories from the day and learned some very interesting facts about regional cuisine in other parts of the world (special thanks to Hanna enlightening us on the unique (read: puppy and snake blood) culinary habit of the Vietnamese people.

Tomorrow is an optional ‘loop’ day…..hmmmm,  14 k or 40 k…..we’ll have to see how we feel in the morning.

Day 3 Stats:

• Ride Sheet - Arles to Cavaillon (53 to 77 k, Base Route is 63 k)
• Actual Ride - 65 k
• Lunch - Maussane
• To Remember - Hill to Les Baux, Rain in Paradou, Alpilles (little Alps), walking tour through Les Baux medieval chateau ruins, first Monaco

Day 4 – Avignon: Train(ing) Wheels and an Early Departure [updated]

And now we’re four…Mitch and Hanna, who had only planned a short version of the Provence trip, are leaving for Singapore today.  It was great(!) spending time with them and they will be missed.  They did promise they would follow and comment on the blog when they returned home (after recovering from the 12-hour flight of course).

Speaking of our fellow cyclists—and after today’s ride I feel comfortable referring to us as cyclists and not just guys on bikes—John is a one of those pushers of envelopes and is actually going off the page and ADDING k’s to his daily rides (uphill k’s!). We’re definitely impressed and are going to try this ourselves…um, on our next cycling vacation.

Lyn, our coordinator/guide (and menu translator), has been great.  He gives us the info we need without making it too easy for us, and likes—maybe too much :-)—to take us out of our comfort zone.  He definitely represents what we had come to expect from Blue Marble when working with Nicolas (Blue Marble  - Paris) and Lesley (Blue Marble – New Jersey) in planning this trip.

Now, about today’s trip...if you recall I mentioned we had some options. We could:
    A.    Ride to Avignon and back (over 80 k)
    B.    Ride to La Fontaine de Vaucluse (about 30 k)
    C.    Take a day off and take the train
    D.    Some combination of the three

We chose “D” the combo trip—train out and cycle back. We took the train with Lyn, and Mitch and Hanna to Avignon where they were to spend a few hours before heading home. The medieval walled city was definitely worth the trip.  After spending time exploring the city, we had a nice lunch and planned our trip back—train to La Fontaine and cycle 14 k home, or cycle back from Avignon at about 40 k.

We were feeling pretty good, so we decided to go the longer route. After a finding our way out of the walled city, we were on our way back along the suggested route…over the bridge, past the gypsy camp, and along the river.

Everything was going well until I felt the bike was handling a bit differently.  I looked down and—yep, a flat.  We were all sent out with a replacement tube AND a patch kit (I suppose in case you get two flats). Hanna had her flat the first day riding out of Nimes, so I figured it was just a matter of time. Fortunately, Lyn gave us all the quick tube replacement tutorial in Arles, so it was not a big deal (it had been MANY years since I had fixed a flat bike tire).

Flat fixed in under 15 minutes…I would have taken a “look what I did!” picture, but the camera was in my handlebar bag and my bike was upside down. 

The ride back was through a number of small towns: Graveson, Eyragues, Verquieres, and Saint Andiol. Nothing particularly spectacular to see in any of them--at least from our route--but it was a nice ride. And we mapped it ourselves…no prepared route sheet on this trip, just “here’s how you get to the road out, now pull out your map and find your way home.”  Well, they gave some hints, but still…

One piece of advice from the sheet we missed was the note to "stay off the ERR at all costs (it is really unsafe)." At one point we had a choice...the busy road going in the direction we were headed, or the quieter road that appeared to be heading the wrong direction.

Seems they both would have worked, but we took the busier on the two. It wasn't until we reached Graveson that we realized the "busy" road we were on WAS the ERR (basically a highway). We'll definitely pay closer attention to those notes going forward.

Dinner this night was at a Moroccan restaurant in Cavaillon. It was delicious (another good choice Lyn). As usual we got our next day’s route sheet at dinner.  This sheet gives some history on the various cities/towns, options for base/extended rides, tips for what to see (and what to skip), and basic instructions on how to get to the next location.

The next day’s route sheet was a bit, ah…scary. It is only 48 k, but there is a lot of uphill.  The route will to take us through a number of small ‘fortress’ towns. Should be interesting...

Day 4 Stats:

• Ride Sheet - Loop Day (Variable k)
• Actual Ride - 40 k
• Lunch - Avignon
• To Remember - Flat tire, Gypsy camp(s), Avignon city, St. Andiol, Getting lost and Riding on the ERR (by mistake)

Day 5 – The Luberon: A Killer Day with Killer-ier Views

Today we ride the Luberon....as suggested by our ride sheet, we left from Cavaillon early and planned to arrive in Buoux late.  We didn't want to miss a thing...

What a day(!) and no rain! In talking to Lyn these past few days, we had the sense that today was gong to be a challenging day—even more so than our ride to Cavaillon and the two huge uphill climbs (we were right). He also said it would be well worth the effort (he was right). Today’s route was only 48 k.  However, it was from one hilltop town to the next, so there was a lot of uphill work (yes, work).

The towns were spectacular…all were medieval fortresses at one time and as difficult to get to as I suppose they should be.  Arguably more spectacular than the towns, however, were the views. We were even told to not complete the trip too quickly or we would “miss out” (fortunately, we listened).

It seems that this is such a popular ride, the French folks have 'signed' it for us.  Periodically along the route we would find the "waving cyclist" signs.  Since we were following these most of the way, we felt pretty comfortable in our navigation.

Well, at least until just before the first town. We weren't lost really, just not sure on the road ahead of us (OK fine, if you consider that lost, we were lost). We had additional information on the ride sheet, but not having an odometer we usually had to estimate the k's. We went back and forth for about 1 k quite a few times (and yes, I will count this in our final number of k's for this ride!). We finally choose a road and  kept going....we just hadn't gone far enough and (surprise, surprise) there is more than one big iron cross atop a stone pillar between Cavaillon and Maubec and we were fixated on the wrong one.

When we got up to the second town, Oppède-le-Vieux, we were looking in the distance and saw another town waaaaaaay over on the other side of the valley—yep, it was our next destination, Ménerbes. Before exploring further we toured the small center of town...we loved the mulberry trees in the center square where you could just reach up and grab handfuls of fresh berries to snack on.

[Along much of our route there have been cherry, peach and nectarine orchards were occasionally you could just reach out and grab some fresh fruit off the tree without hardly slowing.]

Before leaving Oppède we toured some ruins and a 5th-century chapel, which was (slowly) being restored. After lunch in the next town, Ménerbes, we were off to Lacoste.  Here we walked up to the 9th century Château de Lacoste, which was once owned by Marquis de Sade in the late 18th century (and is currently owned and being renovated by designer Pierre Cardin). A stop at a hillside café for a beer w/ grenadine (a Monaco) and we were off.

From Lacoste we rode on and up to Bonnieux, and then (finally) down to our destination for the next two nights, Auberge des Seguins , just outside of Buoux. We seemed to descend forever—my thoughts flipping randomly through a) what a spectacular ride…no one will believe this, b) will we have to go back up this?, and c) how am I ever going to get internet access to post?

[We didn't have any connectivity for the next few days as we had no cell or broadband card signal, nor did we have a phone or TV in the room...it was wonderful (at least after I stopped twitching uncontrollably and responding to phantom message notification vibrations)]

As we rode up to the hotel, we just looked at each other. The hotel itself was quite charming. There were a number of old stone buildings with terra cotta tile roofs and brown wooden shutters…similar to many of the Provençal town centers we passed through today.

Surrounding the hotel—seemingly on all four sides save the one-lane road we came in on—can only be described as small mountains; the backdrop of the hotel being a sheer rock wall rising hundreds of meters. The setting was/is (here’s that word again) spectacular. I'll post some more photos of Auberge des Seguins in the Provence photo album.

We unloaded the bikes and just left them leaning against the stone wall in front of the hotel...unlocked. After resting and cleaning up we met for dinner in the restaurant.

The menu was limited to a few select dishes, but having had the opportunity to taste a few of them you can 'limit' me to a menu like that any time. After stories from the day and some tasty deserts--which you really HAVE to eat to keep your calorie intake high enough :-)--we turned in for the night.

Tomorrow we have options, including a hike instead of a ride. We’ll see, but I think we might just take the easy (ah, easier) route… This trip truly is amazing!

Day 5 Stats:

• Ride Sheet - Cavaillon to Buoux (48 k)
• Actual Ride - 52 k
• Lunch - Ménerbes
• To Remember - So much!  Mulberry trees, the chapel, Cafe in Lacoste, hills, hills, hills, lunch in Ménerbes, old pine trees in Bonnieux, first sight of Auberge

Day 6 – Auberge des Seguins: Where's the Goat Farm?!

Today is the second of two days/nights at Auberge des Seguins. We had options:

1.    Loop 1: bike from Apt to Cereste and back (50 k)
2.    Loop 2: along the Montagne du Luberon (70 k)
3.    Loop 3: hike up to a goat farm in Sivergues for lunch (? K – 2.5 hours x 2)
4.    Eat, drink, read, sleep (0 k)

We chose option #3. It sounded interesting as Lyn told us about a goat farm 2.5 hours away with a 25-25 Euro prix fixe lunch…and they took reservations. After borrowing a supplemental 20 Euros from him (they don’t take credit cards and there wasn’t an ATM to be found) we headed off.

The walk was beautiful.  It took us along a rushing stream, through rock formations and up…up…up…all the way to the top of the hill adjacent to our hotel.  It seemed quite an accomplishment—at least until we came across the group of 25-30 elementary school students on a field trip along the same route.  Funny, none of them looked winded in the least. We picked up our pace and passed them and their teachers/guides. "Excuse-em-wah...mare-see..." we said, trying not to show any signs of elder fatigue.

The hike took us up through some very small towns (a couple of buildings each) and along the ridges of the hills surrounding Auberge. We occasionally ran into some other hikers—there was a German hiking group at the hotel with us—but for the most part is was exceptionally quiet. 

At 2.5 hours we were ready for our goat farm lunch…funny, for a place that took reservations there weren’t very many people around (actually just us)….nor were there any buildings. After another hour of backtracking and walking back up previously covered trails we figured we might have taken a wrong turn.

A short time later we came across an old vine covered sign for our hotel—pointing in the direction we were walking: “Auberge des Seguins – 1,3km →” We had circled around and were heading home. No goat for us. We decided to just have lunch at the hotel since dinner the night before was so delicious.

The food in France is something that neither of us did well with last time we were here. We don’t speak the language and have never had a ‘Lyn’ with us to translate the menu. Somehow we would usually end up with sandwiches from a patisserie…or worse.  I remember years ago having lunch at the Micky-D’s right around the corner from the Château de Versailles (and yes, Lyn, we're sufficiently ashamed now(!). This time we’re doing it right.

We returned to Auberge in time to have lunch in the restaurant. The food was on a metal TV dinner looking tray, but that's here the similarity to freezer food ended.  Everything was fresh, unique (hard boiled eggs with tapenade), and delicious.

At dinner with Lyn and John we found out that they had chosen option #2 (over 70 k).  Suddenly, John had (rightfully so) earned the nickname “The ‘J’ Machine” or J-man for short. Hmmm, we 'just' walked all day...what does that make us?  Hikelists?

I hate repeating, but again the food was delicious....we also tried the house--literally, as it was named for the hotel--red wine, which was pretty tasty.

Day 6 Stats:

• Ride Sheet - Loop Day (Variable k)
• Actual Ride Hike - ? a few k's...in a great big circle
• Lunch - Auberge des Seguins
• To Remember - The peacefulness, Hiking, No connectivity, Lunch, Stars at night

Day 7 – Aix-en-Provence: Foie Gras…and a Hookah Lounge

We hated to leave the peace and quiet of Auberge, but we were ready to ride again.  The first stop on today’s route was a farmers’ market in the town of Lourmarin about 14 k away). Amazingly—considering the long downhill we had heading into our last hotel—most of the k’s to the first town were downhill.

We spent a good hour + at the market and picked up a picnic lunch of bread, meats, fruit, and pastries for later in the day (had to pass on the goat, puppy and bunny being paraded around for ‘donations’). Found some things we would like to have picked-up, but the whole bike/pannier thing limits purchases greatly.

[A note on how we packed.... The luggage arrangements definitely took some forethought/planning.  We each brought a standard size suitcase with us for riding and street clothes, bike helmets, etc.  When we arrived in Nimes, we were given a pannier to pack that would typically hold two days worth of clothing and supplies (and in my case a small laptop...I know, I know....).  Our suitcases would catch up with us every couple of nights to change out clean clothes. Of course the more you packed in the pannier, the more your were pedaling up the hills with you.]

The rest of the ride was moderate to challenging…lots of hills, but most not quite as long or steep as previous “big” hills. The gods were smiling (and spitting just a bit)...the temperature was mild; the skies were mostly cloudy; and it sprinkled lightly every few kilometers (the kind of weather we hope for now!).  It was never enough to get our clothes wet, but it kept us cool and made the hills a bit easier.

Also helping with the hills occasionally was music by Tiesto....I had loaded some Tiesto Club Life podcasts from iTunes before we left home...just for this purpose. We didn't listen to music that often on this trip,but sometimes it made the difference between making up the big hills in a single ride and stopping at some point for a "picture" (code word for stopping for a breather mid-hill).

We rode into Aix-en-Provence at about 2:00 in the afternoon and were greeted with lots of fast moving cars, horns (not always directed at us), and narrow streets. It was an adventure. Damon’s directions, as usual, got us where we were going—the Hotel de France.

After we checked in and stored our bikes, it was time to see as much of the city as we could in the short time we were there. Like the other cities we’ve been in Aix was expensive...probably more so than the others.  I came uncomfortably close to paying 70 Euros ($100 +) for a plain pair of Gap jeans (a whole other story I won’t bore with).

We finished the night with a three-hour dinner—two hours at the table waiting and one actually eating—at Le Zinc D’Hugo. Here we had an incredible plate of (yes, quite politically incorrect) foie gras (including foie gras ice cream), melon soup, and delicious scallops...unfortunately, the kitchen had a bit of a challenge with the shrimp as they were small, over-cooked, and just didn't taste good...at all. But, everything else was so good they’re forgiven.

After we left the restaurant we walked up the block for a new cultural experience…Hookah.  We found a great little Hookah lounge (mom: if you’re reading this please note that’s an “ah” not “er…big difference :-) We tried a melon Hookah and had some of the best mint tea I’ve ever had.

Finally, back to the ‘de France to pack and get ready for a series of train rides which will take us from Aix to Pisa by way of four trains in a 10-hour period.

Today was also John’s last day, but we didn’t get to see him before he took off. He said he’d check in when he got back. John: hope the trip back to CA wasn’t too bad. Be sure to say hi when you stop by to check up on us.

Hmmm, half way through the trip and we’re still here…hopefully a good sign.

Day 7 Stats:

• Ride Sheet - Buoux to Aix-en-Provence (49 k)
• Actual Ride - 49 k
• Lunch - Aix-en-Provence
• To Remember - Marketplace in Lourmarin, Picnic lunch in ?, Foie Gras, Hookah, Riding into Aix, Riding through Beaulieu Vineyards

Day 8 – Travel Day and a Note About Aix

Today is our travel day from Provence to Tuscany...full of train tickets, stations, schedules, etc.  We started at 9:45 am with a bus from Aix to the TGV train station and pulled into the Pisa train station at about 8:30 pm.

We passed through Toulon, Cannes, Antibes, Nice, Monte-Carlo (above photo from the train), Genova, and a number of other cities before reaching Pisa. Also, since neither of us has ever seen the leaning tower in person, we made that a priority right after we checked-in to the hotel.

We threw our bags in the room and started the 20-minute walk from the Hotel La Pace through some pretty seedy looking/feeling areas to get to the tower. I don't know what we were expecting from Pisa, but this wasn't it.

We saw the tower, took some photos before it rained and got dark, and had the worst pizza I’ve probably ever had in a restaurant. Then back to the hotel for some fine B (minus) American movie dubbed in Italian and some rest before tomorrow’s ride to Certaldo. All told, we were in Pisa for about 13 hours (7 of them sleeping).

It occurred to us that one of the differences in this trip to past trips we've taken—besides the all the sweating, exhaustion, ride sheets, and washing padded spandex bike shorts and t-shirts in a hotel sink—is the length of stay in many of the cities. 

Because we’re often just riding through (and not actually to) many of these cities, we haven’t really had a chance to explore them. Because of this—and the fact that this is first and foremost a vacation—not much info on the actual cities has been posted here.

I did, however, want to mention a bit more about Aix-en-Provence.  We liked Aix. We spent much of the day here yesterday and definitely could have stayed longer.  It has that energy of larger cities like Florence, but didn’t seem as touristy as might be expected. As soon as we rode into town we could tell it was different than previous destinations on this trip.

We were told it was considered a college town, but many of the shops and restaurants are upscale to Rome/Paris/New York standards...oh, and English is spoken by more locals here.  It just had a great—for lack of a better word—vibe that we hadn’t yet experienced anywhere else on this trip. We also found a great tea spot where we spent some time just watching the city life in Aix.

It would have been great to spend a bit more time here, but the now dry biking shorts/shirts on the shower door signal it must be time to head out again.  When I pick this back up we’ll be in Tuscany—Certaldo, Siena, Lucarelli, and finally our ride into Florence. Oh, and we'll also have six new co-cyclists and Blue Marble coordinator named Catherine.

Day 8 Stats:

• Travel Day - No k's
• No Riding
• Lunch - A train station somewhere...
• To Remember - Trains through Monaco, the Tower

Day 9 – Tuscany: New Group, New Guide, New RAIN…

So here we are, starting part deux of our bike tour—Tuscany! New country, new group, new Blue Marble coordinator…the bikes are the same (thanks to Lyn who handled the transport from Provence).

We started (as usual) with breakfast...this morning at the Pisa hotel.  We were possibly going to be meeting a few members of our new group, but had no idea who they were. Funny, but we somehow managed to hook up with them minutes after sitting down with our croissants and coffee.  Brian—a computer hardware developer from Austin, TX—was easy to spot in his Curious George cycling shirt.

We had been talking to Brian for about 10 minutes when John—the photographer (and performer)—came in.  He’s a very funny guy and we knew he’d be life of the party/ride. As the four of us were talking, I pulled my ride sheet off the table and managed to elbow some poor woman in the thigh, thus welcoming Jeannie—a very smart and charming lady—to our newly formed group.

After breakfast we met up with Lyn and hopped a train to Empoli where we were to start our ride to our first stop, Certaldo. We knew from the conversation on the train this was going to be a fun/interesting journey. Unfortunately, Lyn was leaving us for Paris to prepare for his next group later that day, but we would be meeting our new coordinator at the Empoli train station.

At Empoli we got our bikes, packed our panniers (and left our luggage), and started the ride.  The rest of the group was waiting for the Blue Marble van with their bikes and a brief orientation, but they would only be an hour or two behind us (remember this seemingly unimportant time span when you're reading about the torrential rains that hit in and around Certaldo).

We also had the pleasure of meeting Nicolas as he was on site at the train station doing whatever he did in the background to allow us to not have to worry about a lot of things--thanks Nicolas!

The difference in the two regions of this trip--Provence and Tuscany--were evident early on…the pace in Italy seemed a bit quicker and the people friendlier. There were also ‘real’ cyclists all over the place. In our first hour of riding, we must have, ah, been passed by 20-30 of them in their matching spandex and bikes likely costing 1000’s of Euros. 

This passing thing might have bothered us more, but they were so nice as they rode  by…”Ciao!” whoosh…. “Ciao!” whoosh…”Ciao!... Ciao!... Ciao!” whoosh, whoosh, whoosh. We’re not sure, but we thought we heard some chuckling as a few of the ‘pros’ passed us (but maybe that was just our cycling insecurities at work).

We kind of knew what we were in for by the classification of the ride on the website (“moderate to challenging”) and subtle hint from Lyn (“Tuscany has a lot of hills!”), but we were not expecting the ride we made.  It had to have been 65% - 70% uphill at various grades. The first hill was so steep that we abandoned our bikes a third of the way up and walked for a couple hundred meters. Today’s ride was the most difficult yet.

The only way the trip got better this day was a) the hills—while there were a lot of them—were not as steep as the first one, and b) the hotel that was waiting for us was wonderful and better that we ever expected. We also missed the torrential rains later that afternoon, but everyone else was stuck in them (for hours), so I won’t actually list that as a plus.

Certaldo is another (smaller) medieval fortress town, minus much of the touristy stuff and garbage on the ground we encountered in some of the other more popular areas. We rode up to it and both liked it immediately.  Everything is brick…the outer walls, the streets, and all of the buildings. And it was clean and quiet. We made our way up to the to the top and to our hotel, the Osteria del Vicario. We were the first to arrive.

We walked in the hotel and loved it immediately. We did our check-in with Sarah, who manages the hotel...she was great,very welcoming.  Our room (#3) was too cool.  It was on the smaller side, consistent with most of the other hotels where we've stayed, but what it lacked in American hotel room size it more than made up for in charm.  The entire wall behind the bed was a hand-painted mural.  The hotel itself is small--5 rooms--but they can accommodate more people in equally wonderful rooms  in a hotel down the street.

Then the rain…not just heavy rain like we had on our second day in Provence, but a downpour that lasted for a couple of hours.  Seeing as we were the only ones in the hotel, we knew that the rest of the people in our group were somewhere in the rain.

Then we started hearing voices…actually it was the Blue Marble people—Lyn (who ended up riding with the new group much of the distance to Certaldo) and our new coordinator Catherine—making phone calls and figuring out how to get the rest of the group to the hotel. Somehow they did it...the rain stopped (wow, they’re good!).

People started trickling in…first Rick and Zhen from Berkeley, CA. We saw them walking up the hill to the hotel, soaked. Shortly after they got to the hotel, we saw John on the road up, sitting with two bikes and no Jeannie…also soaked.  Jeannie was a few steps behind him and neither of them looked too happy.

Ten minutes after pointing them in the direction of the hotel, we saw the final three walking up the road—without their bikes. They had the same looks on their faces as the others when they arrived…all were obviously tired, cold, and soaking wet. This group was Leslie from Canada, Jan from Denver, and Brian who we had met earlier in the day.

Damon and I couldn’t help thinking—with the difficulty of the ride and the torrential rains—if this had been our first day, would we have made it to the second? I’d like to think yes, but just glad we had that first week of practice.

That evening we ate (a lot), drank and got to know the rest of the group.  We knew pretty much immediately this was going to be a perfect set of personalities for this leg of the trip.  Just as our Provence cohorts mimicked the calmer, more laid back attitude of southern France, this new group was larger and a bit wilder—can’t wait!

Tomorrow is a trip to San Gimignano…touted as the “Manhattan of Tuscany”…we’ll be the judge of that(!)

Day 9 Stats:

• Ride Sheet - Empoli to Certaldo (39 k)
• Actual Ride - at least 39 k
• Lunch - Montespertoli
• To Remember - Views on the way, The Rain(!), The Hotel Staff and Room, Meeting Catherine, So much food for dinner

Day 10 – San Gimignano: The Manhattan of Tuscany??

We woke to a beautiful sunny day and a fantastic breakfast at the hotel.  Saw the whole group and talked about the day’s ride.  We had a couple of options…a shorter ride to San Gimignano and back (about 28 k) or a longer ride to a city beyond. Since we missed San Gimi last time we were in Italy we decided to go there and just play the rest by ear…if we see the city and continue to ride to the next town, great.  If not, we’d be happy with the 28 k (especially after the workout yesterday).

Surprise, surprise…we immediately started heading uphill after leaving Certaldo. According to the sign, we were heading up at a 12% grade. I’ve never really paid attention to what grade my hills have been (though I thought I recalled yesterday’s sign saying 10%), but even a 12% grade makes you pay attention. Wait until we get to the 20% grade later in the trip....

The ride was spectacular. We seemed to be riding up and along the peak of this hill as we saw these amazing panoramic views of Tuscan landscapes on both sides of us. Most of the 14 k to this town were uphill…especially when we got closer to the town proper. San Gimignano, as with many of the other towns we’ve seen on this trip, is at the top of a hill/mountain surrounded by a stone wall—basically another fortress.

We brought our bikes into the town and walked up to the main square area next to the San Gimi Cathedral and locked them up. We bought tickets to see the  main cathedral in the center of town.  As we went through the turnstile, the woman at the entrance said something to me as we walked towards the main door.  I thought she said “Jesus”, which was fine and all, but I didn’t recall the ticket takers in other holy settings mentioning their boss.  I just looked at her and smiled and she said it again—did she say “nieces”?  No, it was “kneeses” (knees)…we were wearing shorts and would have to cover our knees if we wanted to enter the cathedral (same for women who also had to cover bare shoulders to enter).

She handed us each a medical-scrubs-blue-green disposable wrap that we put around our waists.  Once she saw all four of our naked knees were covered she smiled and let us pass. The temporary discomfort of wearing a makeshift knee-covering skirt was offset by the incredible mural images inside. Damon was in heaven as this is his kind of thing and we hadn’t seen much of it this trip.

After getting a couple of pictures of us in the temp garb, we disposed of it and went in search of more culture. Instead, we ran into Leslie, Jan, and Brian (I didn't mean that the way it sounded!).  We decided to have lunch together and found a decent restaurant with a great view. This was our (re)introduction to the coperta or servizio charge. 

We finished lunch and parted ways again…still not sure if we would ride on or just hang in the town. The double scoop of mint and chocolate gelato helped us decide to stay around town and explore some more. Much of this city is very touristy (I guess like Manhattan) and the rest is very expensive (also like Manhattan), so I guess their claim to fame as the “Manhattan of Tuscany” could be considered accurate.

Seriously, it is a beautiful town with amazing views and a rich history and it was worth every pedal up to get there. Just before we got back on our bikes, we went to the Panoramic Point view area from the edge of town. It’s funny but on any other trip we would have ooh’d and ahh’d and taken pictures.  On this trip, however, every day has been filled with these (and better) views that 100’s of others aren’t seeing in any given hour. We turned and left the view area without taking any photos.

The ride down was a treat for two reasons…1) about 11 of the 14 k back to Certaldo we downhill or flat roads, and 2) we left in time to get back to the hotel before the afternoon rains started. As we were riding the last (huge) hill into Certaldo, we felt the first raindrops…by the time we were at the hotel door, it was a steady rain. Fortunately, the rest of the “Blue Marbles” were not riding then and no one came in soaking wet.

Dinner that night was at a wonderful restaurant in Certaldo where we (again) ate too much but had a great time telling our stories from the day. That’s one of the nice things about a cycling vacation…you can eat basically anything you want knowing likely burn off many times the number of calories the next day.
Tomorrow we’re leaving our wonderful hotel and this beautiful village and heading to an equally wonderful—at least it was two years ago—Siena for three nights.

Day 10 Stats:

• Ride Sheet - Loop Day (28 - 88 k)
• Actual Ride - 30 k
• Lunch - San Gimignano
• To Remember - Cathedral frescoes, Knee covers, Lots of JR terriers, views to and from San Gimi, Dinner with the group