Brantes, Buis again

I rode a small loop to Ferassieres, then back via Aulan this morning. It felt good to shake the legs out a little. No video camera this time -- just an early-ish ride through the lavender and hayfields!


Next: we all drove to Buis-les-Baronniers via the col de Fontaube (yet another nice looking road that I would like to take my bike on) and had a very sloooooow lunch at a pizzeria in the arcade along the Place du Marché.

By this time, everything was closed, so we headed back to the cars and drove to Brantes -- a beautiful village perched on the hills above the Toulourenc. Zoe and I walked around a little, but it was very un-Kenji friendly (steep cobbled streets) and Alex had fallen asleep in the car, so it was soon time to leave. I had another "I wish I was on my bike" moment



And then we drove to Savoillan, because the Gite owner had mentioned that there was a boulangerie there which was run by a Japanese woman. It was unfortunately closed, so we returned to Montbrun, where it was time for another nice meal at Chez Paulette

Chateau d'Aulan, Buis

I took mom and dad to the Chateau d'Aulan today which is just down the (tiny) road from Montbrun. Actually, it looks like pretty fabulous place to ride a bike! We were taken around by a very enthusiastic and helpful guy, who explained the history of various rooms in the house. One of the most interesting things for me was that the Chateau is still in use. Photography is unfortunately forbidden, but I accidentally took this photo of Kenji and Gail in a small bedroom

The bed was very short, and apparently it was because they used to sleep sitting up, because of the superstition that to lie down was too close to death. Or at least that's what the guide said. Maybe they were just tiny people. There was a very cool red tiled study/library (still in use), a kitchen, and a formal dining room and billiard room (not in use) as well.

After Kenji did a little painting in the courtyard, we headed to Buis-les-Baronniers, where we wandered around, I bought olives and soap and we all had ice cream. It is a very pretty little Provençal Drome town, complete with a Sycamore lined street and a (mostly) pedestrian-only center.



We had dinner at the excellent Chez Paulette, just a few tunnels and medieval gates away.

Climbing!

Chloe and I went to la Baume Rousse this morning. After being misled by the stupid guidebook on how to get there (it is right next to the road!) we warmed up on some stiff but beautiful 6as, then moved right to stay out of the sun. We got on the amazingly steep and difficult, but very fun tufa climb 'L'Ecolo Net'. 7a seems a little stiff fort that one IMO, but I did it a vue after a struggle.




Baume Rousse has probably the coolest crag outhouse ever:

Made by Kazuba. Huge Kudos to whoever made that happen. It even has a sanitary hand wash dispenser!

Wine

We all road tripped to Apt, and the not-very-picturesque but really good Sylla vineyard.


We bought a case of the Orca wine. We also tried to go to Rousillon, but it was CRAZY and we turned around and wen back to Montbrun.

Ventoux

Today my objective was Le Ventoux. An early start to avoid the 90 degree weather… stomach tied in a knot for some reason, but there are public restrooms *with toilet paper* in town. Those of you who have visited France will probably know the horror of discovering too late that there is no toilet paper in the bathroom. Anyway, I grabbed a gel from a local shop, sucked it down, then went for it. I think other people have described the climb much better than I could, but my quick impressions are that the first section is not bad at all. Everyone seemed to still be getting used to the idea that they had just embarked on such an iconic climb and were taking it easy. A bit later the road started getting twisty and pretty steep, but I managed to get into a pretty good rhythm until the Chalet Reynard. For me this was probably the most difficult part. Next, the moonscape section which, except for a few ramps towards the end was not physically harder than the middle section, but mentally quite difficult, as it seemed like switchbacks kept appearing between myself and the summit. I passed the Simpson memorial, where people were paying their respects -- I didn't know it was so far up actually -- but was too focused on the top to stop… and then the top. I should mention that there was some wind at the top, but having read other peoples accounts, it seems that it was pretty mild for Ventoux in retrospect. It did not feel mild at the time however. The multidirectional nature of the switchbacks also insured that the wind was at my back for part of the time too, which was excellent. It's a great climb. Super difficult, but so memorable and beautiful at the top. And the descent? Just amazing, particularly through the middle section. I talked to my friend Hank about this, and we had the same impression -- just disbelief at how good it is weaving through steep banked curves. I had to ease up a bit because there were so many people, and the visibility is reduced with the foliage (Hank tells me sight lines are a lot better in the Fall). I was also having so much fun that I forgot to record it! Video is below

Drive to Montbrun, le 7

Today we drove to Montbrun-les-Bains with a detour to Valence to go to the bistro of the three starred Pic restaurant (on the recommendation of Franck). After waiting for noon to roll around (we left too much time to get to Valence) and looking at their display of all the Michelin guides since 1908 or so to the present, with other memorabilia


We found our seats



and started with a fun variation on the ubiquitous Caprese salad in which the Mozarella was foamed. My opinion on this is that while it was very good, the best way to improve on a Caprese salad is with the ingredients: better Mozarella, better tomatoes.

The kids, meanwhile, had amazing fries. I will admit that I stole a few of them while they were not looking. I think the fries were cooked in duck fat.

We then had a kind of fish stew which was also excellent.

Desserts:


And coffee

Actually, one of the best parts of the meal were the crunchy little pound cakes filled with jam that came with the coffee. Wonderful!

Next it was on to Montrbrun. We lost a little time trying to find the autoroute ticket, which had slipped under the seat somehow. When we arrived in Montbrun, I called the Gite owner, and he came and met us on his electric scooter. The roads are extremely narrow, so I think we were all a little worried about how we would get our cars up into the village.

After dragging all the suitcases etc up the stairs, Alex and I went to get some provisions (cookies, bubbles: essential stuff)

Market day, Museum

Today was market day, and after the kids beat up on Kenji

we all convoyed into Grenoble to go to the Museum. We ate at the Museum Cafe which had excellent food (the grilled veggies marinated in olive oil was probably the best thing) with pretty poor service.











mmmm Eau de Parking Lot!!

Leaving time

Time to pack up and leave :( Beforehand, of course, there was a little packing and basic cleaning to do before the cleaning guys arrived. Somehow we barely fit all the stuff into the car. We did make it to the market, where we bought some fantastic nectarines and nettle flavored cheese


After reluctantly giving up the key, we headed out. Since this was supposed to be the worst traffic day of the year, we picniced near the col du Lautaret (actually, just outside of Villard d'Arene) and Chloe and I got up a few sandbagged granite routes before we all got in cars again and drove home.


The traffic wasn't too bad in our direction, but coming up to the mountains looked worse than I have every seen. I think it more or less stopped around the turnoff to la Mure, but went all the way to the autoroute, and was at a standstill. A little piece of California in the Alps!