May 3, 2025
Sault to Gordes
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Last night after Dave’s epic adventure we rode into Sault for dinner at Restaurant Louvre, the restaurant attached to the Logis Hotel Louvre right in Sault. He was tired but rallied enough to make the ride (5 km) and the stiff climb up to the center of Sault.
We like our B and B La Bastide Bourguets but it has a serious drawback. It is located midpoint between Monieux (4 km away) and Sault (5 km away) and there is no sustenance to be had at the inn except a few bags of chips and chocolate bars. We managed fine but both nights we rode home from dinner in the dark and, as Dave noted, it would have really sucked if it had been raining. Our host Kevin was very nice and when we checked out he showed us a brand new 3 bedroom villa they had just completed on the grounds and it was lovely. Besides the 4 b and b bedrooms they also rent out a number of gites. He and his brother, who own and run the place, take pride in many small features, an example being the breakfast ware with its stylized La Bastides design:
The other downside of La Bastide is the shower in our room was useable but the overhead shower was broken requiring us to use the hand wand which would have been fine except there was no way to secure it; you had to hold it in a hand otherwise which was awkward.
The day turned out unexpectedly fun. Our plan was to ride to Gordes to connect up with friends from my former office (three other women and their significant others/spouses ) where we had rented a house for a week. I hadn’t put much focus on the ride itself because I was distracted by the details of the group meet-up, but it turned out to be a nice day and a wonderful ride. There was a low-grade climb out of Sault for 12 km and then a glorious descent on low-trafficked roads into Saint-Saturnin-lès-Apt where we took an extended break to look at the display about the old mill and the former town. The ruins of Saint-Saturnin are perched scenically on the edge of a cliff and consist of a castle and Romanesque church from the 11th century along with the mill.
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We had to comprehensively recon on foot the route that Komoot had directed us to take through the ruins of Saint-Saturnin into the modern town (which didn’t look very modern). As you know, Komoot has a funny sense of humor at times and this was one of them. After an evaluation we decided we COULD pick our way down the steps and cobbles and did so.
We had planned to stop for lunch later in the ride at Roussillon but as we exited the cobbled walkway into the town, we walked right by a small restaurant in modern Saint-Saturnin and decided it was time to eat. That day we had a choice of Salad of Calleinte (which is salad of forced meat encased in stomach, a speciality of the region) but I declined this more interesting choice for a safer salade of chèvre bricks. (I did have Salad of Stomach the following day in Gordes and it was good without being nearly as interesting as the description sounds. It was like a country paté). Without asking me, Dave ordered a half bottle of rosé so I knew we were settling down to a leisurely and very French Saturday lunch in sunny Provence.
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Many of you know from your own trips to Europe that they eat local, ALL THE TIME. While that is wonderful for many reasons it does result in some monotony on the food front. While on the Via Rhona we ate jambon blanc every morning for a week - and every once in awhile we got Jambon cru as a variant. And we ate the same two cheese varieties every day (probably from the same cows down the road). It was a relief therefore to enter Provence with a different food scene and more vegetables on offer, including salads.
We enjoyed our leisurely lunch including communing with this dog who looked like he owned the place.
After lunch we still had 23 km to ride and it was delightful to cycle past Rousillon on small roads. We arrived in Gordes around 4 pm and had fun meeting up with our friends- all of whom had come in from different places in Europe. The ride into Gordes itself was a bit on the hairy side. It is very touristy with a lot of people enjoying this fairytale looking town and clogging up the very narrow bike trail. The cobbles and pitch down to our place required a concentrated maneuver of our bikes, perched as it is on the edge of a cliff.
Along the way we came across an abandoned washhouse. These facilities were used by the women of the villages during the 18th century and up to the mid 20th who did the villages' laundry as well as being a place for them to socialize and occasionally bathe. Jill teased me that I would have been their token male launderer.
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So, we are stashing our bikes on the balcony for the week with no scheduled riding - so I will report back in a week when we get on the road next Saturday - but in the meantime here we all are dining the first night.
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Aurevoir until then.
Today's ride: 50 km (31 miles)
Total: 465 km (289 miles)
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