Provence
Tandems & Single Bikes
June 15-30, 2003
15 days, 16 nights
Moderate climbs/descents, rolling terrain
30-60 miles per day
Start/Finish: Nice, France
$2650 per person based on double
$500 single supplement
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Provence, a distinct region in
the southeast corner of France, offers an infinite variety of
sensory experience, and may quite simply be the best spot on the
planet to see by bicycle or tandem. Actually, one does not
‘visit’ Provence; one is seduced, taken in, and absorbed by her
warm luxurious light-bathed towns and landscapes. Hillsides
pulsing with the scent of wild thyme and rosemary; fields of
purple lavender juxtaposed with seas of graceful sunflowers
undulating with the uninhibited caress of the wind; or vast
barren rock outcroppings of the most amazing shades of rose and
terra-cotta; these are just some of the natural visual riches of
the countryside behind France’s Côte d’Azur.
We’ll be drawn toward ancient
hilltop villages situated in perfect composition, defying
definition of where the village begins and the rock ends. Roman
ruins and aqueducts, some of which remain in use, remind us that
the Romans, too, luxuriated in this “Province” of Caesar’s Our
picnic sites will take us to the very edge of dizzyingly sheer
cliffs, where we’ll be joined by colorful parapenters overhead
or tenacious rock climbers below.
Of course, reveries
of Provence
inevitably turn to food and wine; bikes tucked away for the
evening, we’ll spend a
good portion of time at the
table delighting in dishes made from local produce prepared in age-old
country ways. Narrow, sun-dappled streets may lead us to a
village marketplace where we’ll feast our eyes on brightly
colored fruits and vegetables, tables of tawny honeys,
glistening olives of every shade, pots brimming with tapenades
and pepper pastes of the richest colors, textures, and aromas. Here is where the
simple headiness of biting into a perfectly ripened nectarine or
tomato becomes an unforgettable feast.
And this is perhaps the
essence of Provence; what is ordinary seems extraordinary - a
flowerpot on a crumbling stone windowsill becomes a work of art.
It is no wonder that the abundant palette of Provence’s wild and
natural beauty has attracted and inspired the great artists of
past and present. It is nearly impossible to escape a
transformation of heart.
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