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All posts for the month April, 2014

Mark biking on down towards Avignon, with 79-year-old Paul keeping pace. Did I mention how impressed I was with a 79-year-old biking with us?!?

Mark biking on down towards Avignon, with 79-year-old Paul keeping pace. Did I mention how impressed I was with a 79-year-old biking with us?!?

We finished the bike trip. As with most biking, the end is a lot the same as the start … you’re biking. Of course here it’s biking on tiny country roads through cute French villages, stopping for spectacular little lunches with great rosé wines and then going out for great dinners (with more wine). Beats the heck out of biking across Nebraska.

Our biking group nearing the end

Our biking group nearing the end

Small, paved roads, green fields, beautiful farmland ... that's biking in Provence

Small, paved roads, green fields, beautiful farmland … that’s biking in Provence

Happy Jim

Happy Jim

Bizarre human statue in Aix-en-Provence, where the students rule.  And no, there was no obvious way to figure out how they all stayed aloft.

Bizarre human statue in Aix-en-Provence, where the students rule. And no, there was no obvious way to figure out how they all stayed aloft.

After finishing up in Avignon we took the train a little south to Aix-en-Provence, a little college town in southern Provence. It was a beautiful little town, but for whatever strange reason we didn’t get a lot of good pictures. And unfortunately we found ourselves there on Sunday and Monday – most restaurants are closed on Sundays and many of the good ones are closed on Mondays as well. We’ve really come to hate all these holidays and “days off” crap. Why can’t people just work all the time?

Now we’ve moved down to Marseille, France’s second-largest city and the biggest port, right on the Mediterranean. Our first impression is pretty good, but no one would ever mistake this for Paris. It’s got a much more exotic feel, with all sorts of North Africans and other Mediterranean types around. Definitely grittier and dirtier than anywhere in France we’ve ever seen so I think we’ll love it. We’re already scouting out the best places for bouillabaisse, the city’s iconic fish stew. I expect we’ll have some pictures soon.

The French are apparently obsessive about pruning and trimming trees. We saw thousands of plane trees like this pruned way back, just waiting to sprout in the spring. This was right in the center of old town Aix on a night with a strange sunset.

The French are apparently obsessive about pruning and trimming trees. We saw thousands of plane trees like this pruned way back, just waiting to sprout in the spring. This was right in the center of old town Aix on a night with a strange sunset.

Happy in Provence

Happy in Provence

Poppies in Provence ... just part of the beauty

Poppies in Provence … just part of the beauty

There’s way too much to write about and way too many pictures to post with way too little time before dinner. Three days ago we took the train down to Avignon where we met a Zephyr Adventures tour group for six days of biking in Provence. Under any circumstances Provence is beautiful, but in the spring … with great weather … all is good.

The highlights so far? We met in Avignon but quickly biked out of the city. First stop was St. Remy, birthplace of Nostradamus but better known as the town where Vincent Van Gogh was institutionalized in a mental hospital and painted many of his masterpieces such as Starry Night. As we biked in the area it often felt as though we were moving through a Van Gogh painting.

Brad, Miriam, and Mark

Brad, Miriam, and Mark

One of the great things about Zephyr bike tours is that we get to meet and spend time with people who love to travel, (presumably) love to bike, and are typically interesting travelers. And one of the inspiring parts of this trip is that three of the eight riders are over 70 years old. Yikes! They’re not the fastest riders on the road, but you have to be impressed by these three getting out and riding up and down hills for 25 to 35 miles a day. Here’s hoping I’m that healthy when I’m in my 70s!

Paul cleaning fish for dinner. Paul is 79 year old and bikes more than someone half a century younger (and he has a great dry sense of humor). May we all age so well!

Paul cleaning fish for dinner. Paul is 79 year old and bikes more than someone half a century younger (and he has a great dry sense of humor). May we all age so well!

One of our activities after the bike rides was a cooking class. We learned how to peel asparagus and celery, make aoli, and cook risotto. What’s amusing is that they didn’t know how to make risotto or aoili. Risotto requires adding small quantities of liquid and stirring it in gently but constantly. The chef just through a bunch of liquid in at once, meaning we got a cooked rice dish with vegetables, not risotto. And they made the Aoli with potatoe instead of egg and oil. That’s just wrong.

So that’s our lives these few days. Mark & I rode about 50 miles today, some of it over steep and long hills. Past poppy fields, shepherds guarding their flocks (seriously), vineyards just starting to blossom out for the summer, poppies and irises, and – after two days of postcard-perfect weather – even some rain.

"That's where we're going!" And yes, we rode up there.

“That’s where we’re going!” And yes, we rode up there.

People in Provence are passionate about what they do. At this place we stopped in, they're passionate about figs.

People in Provence are passionate about what they do. At this place we stopped in, they’re passionate about figs.

A shepherd and a couple members of his flock. They pretty much ignored us, but we were amused to see a modern-day shepherd on his cell phone.

A shepherd and a couple members of his flock. They pretty much ignored us, but we were amused to see a modern-day shepherd on his cell phone.

A highlight of our long route today was this old Roman bridge, some 2,000 years old

A highlight of our long route today was this old Roman bridge, some 2,000 years old

Our Lyonaise selfie, from a hill above the old city

Our Lyonaise selfie, from a hill above the old city

We hiked up to a 2000-year-old Roman amphitheater that looks over today's city

We hiked up to a 2000-year-old Roman amphitheater that looks over today’s city

From Paris, Mark and I headed south to Lyon, at the confluence of the Rhône and Saône rivers. It’s the third largest city in France (after Paris and Marseille) and a fun place to stop for a few days en route to Provence, where we’ll be biking for six days.

Getting there was half the fun. It’s easy to fall in love with European trains; fast, quiet, and comfortable, they practically beg you to nap. But every time I’d open my eyes, there was another beautiful mustard field in gorgeous golden bloom.

The big disappointment of Lyon was that we got in on a Saturday afternoon, and then on Sunday it was Easter and pretty much everything was closed. OK, we thought, we can still see stuff on Monday. But Easter Monday is a big holiday in France, and even more stuff was closed. Thank goodness a laundromat was open, so we could at least have some excitement.

Here are some pictures from Lyon and then it’s back on a train to Avignon, home to 14th century popes, where we’re meeting up with Zephyr Adventures for some biking and wine tasting in Provence. Should be fun!

This is a mural on the back of a building showing a bunch of famous Lyonaise. The only one I'd ever heard of was Antoine de Saint-Exupéry, shown in the middle row on the right with The Little Prince himself

This is a mural on the back of a building showing a bunch of famous Lyonaise. The only one I’d ever heard of was Antoine de Saint-Exupéry, shown in the middle row on the right with The Little Prince himself

More public art, this one titled "The Weight of Oneself"

More public art, this one titled “The Weight of Oneself”

A pretty grand City Hall. At noon on Monday there was an hour-long concert on the buildings bells. Fortunately, by then it was not raining anymore.

A pretty grand City Hall. At noon on Monday there was an hour-long concert on the buildings bells. Fortunately, by then it was not raining anymore.

Mark & I are feeling a little guilty for enjoying the spring weather so much without having suffered through winter at all

Mark & I are feeling a little guilty for enjoying the spring weather so much without having suffered through winter at all

One last view of our postcard-perfect little walk in the city

One last view of our postcard-perfect little walk in the city