Day 11 Sault to Moustiers

The riders who completed the route yesterday had a horribly long day confirming my decision to abandon, but bravo to them. Meanwhile I had a beer with lovely Dylan from Ride and Seek who lives nearby. 
The hotel is bike themed and in a lovely location but unfortunately dinner was very slow and rather disappointing. I did have a delicious glass of local wine (my wine consumption on this trip is shockingly low!)



Two of the riders and Luc the guide had an urge to climb Mont Ventoux so left in the dark at 5am. This urge was fortunately not infectious and this was as close as I came!

Meanwhile back at the hotel, I’m still struggling to eat a big enough breakfast at 6.30am but today’s croissants were delicious.

I really haven’t eaten enough for the past couple of days so this lasted less than a minute at the coffee stop.

Today’s ride was gorgeous, very much Provençal with the scents of lavender, thyme and fennel. Sadly my photos can’t offer smellovision.





The ride was long and hilly but less of a furnace and we even had a sprinkle of delightful rain - I can’t believe that I am now ‘comfortable’ climbing at 32c!

The last 10km are still a mental challenge, no matter how long the ride is or how hot it is. This is the perfect solution…

I’m not entirely sure that much ice cream was a great idea on the final climb but I made it to the beautiful village of Moustiers-Sainte-Marie, tourist dodging and weaving to the hotel with the essential final biking necessity.



Chris has been taking fantastic photos on this trip so here is some more Provençal fabulousness.







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