Most of RDGA and a bit more

[leedude03]

well just got back from 3 weeks of heaven and thought a few words and pics were in order.
first pics outside paris gar de lyon taken while waiting for train to avignon, and the tgv would be our trusty steed to take us down there until the bike got there the next day.

 

[leedude03]

First place we visited next day once the bike was picked up had to be pont du gar

 

[leedude03]

Next stop would be Nimes to visit the arena, today it would be doubling as a concert venue for some chap named johny halliday think thats how it was spelt, anyway a very well preserved piece of roman architecture, well worth a look if thats your thing.

 

[(RIP) andrewgsadv]

Leedude,
Looks good,they knew how to build them Romans. Blessed with the Sun too, keep it coming Dude

 

[leedude03]

The romans sure new how to build things thats for sure, we moved on to orange and avignon itself next, the weather now was getting hot 30c and it would stay like this until we got home, apart from one big electrical storm in the alps that i will talk about later. the first pics are of the ampitheatre in orange the next of the bridge at avignon and the popes palace and square.

 

[leedude03]

Another day of heat and more sites to see, today we went to visit les baux and the surrounding areas, this place is must to visit if you are out this way, its a medieval hilltop fortification and is stunning.

 

[leedude03]

pics of les baux

 

[walrus]

Good stuff. Brings back fond memories of many happy summers spent in Provence. When the kids were little we used to camp there for a month every August. Got pictures somewhere of us walking across the top of the Pont du Gard.

 

[leedude03]

today we decided to try a run up to the top of mont ventoux, we had a nice clear day and some stunning scenery

 

[leedude03]

from ventoux we moved onto the nice little village of gordes.

 

[(RIP) Kaister]

oh dear....MOTORAIL !!!!!


( its an in-joke )...

 

[leedude03]

Kaister the only reason i used the motorrail was to gain an extra 2 days of actual holiday for the big gal,

 

[leedude03]

this would be our last day in and around around the avignon area, so we took a ride to the Gorges de l'Ardèche that was well worth the 120 mile round trip, some really good roads perfect weather and a very picturesque setting. the next day we were due to move on to castallane.

 

[paul08]

Kaister the only reason i used the motorrail was to gain an extra 2 days of actual holiday for the big gal,

You do not have to justify yourself. There are elements here that see the need for a hair shirt approach which includes 'enjoying' a long blat to get where you actually want to be. Seems sensible to me to use Motorrail (if you can afford it)

 

[leedude03]

paul08 it really was a no brainer for us, it actually worked out cheaper than riding down to the south on bike, by the time you have factored in fuel, tolls and digs and the fact it gave us more time to be where we wanted to be.

 

[leedude03]

today we moved from avignon to castellane taking a wonderfull road past gordes and roussillon and onto apt then manosque and riez and stopping for dinner at moustiers saint marie which is a stunning hilltop village just north of the lake of saint croix. we then traveled through the gorges of verdon and did the loop of the route de cretes, this road was a little rough due to re surfacing taking place in parts along its length.
first pics are of moustiers saint marie.

 

[leedude03]

pics from around the verdon gorge

 

[leedude03]

arrivig at castellane we would stay at a very nice B&B called mas du verdon its run by a biker who also does organized tours,we did not partake of these, but did have a look at his planned routes which looked good. his wife is a very good cook and i would recommend an evening meal there as well, very nice people.
Next day we headed out for a little place called entrevaux this is one of vaubans fortified towns, on the way we would go through the gorge at saint auban and over the small col de feline. from entrevaux we went to the gorge de cian and onto the dulais gorge both very good runs. the picture of the dam you see is just around the corner from mas du verdon.

 

[leedude03]

the fortified town

 

[Yodagoat]

great stuff, keep it coming.