Provence Classic Tour Story

We love hearing the stories of our travelers. Adam and Jessie had such a wonderful time on their Provence Classic 7 Night Tour last year. I hope their anniversary was just as great this year.

Tell us about your trip and you could be on our blog, until then read about Adam and Jessie’s adventures:

“Day four (also our four year anniversary) was the best day so far. After the super fast (and super smelly) train ride, we took a taxi to our hotel across the river from Avignon. This place is literally like something out of our imaginations. The cobblestoned streets twist and turn, and there isn’t a cloud in the sky. The temperature is perfect, but the wind may blow even Adam off his bike.

Once we unloaded at the hotel we found a beautiful square to eat lunch. The waiter was extremely friendly and humored Adam as he attempted to converse in French. We spent a good two hours eating our salads and a crafe of wine (only 4.50 euros!) before we hiked up to this abbey that overlooks the town. It was built in 999, and the gardens were awesome.
We then had to head back to the hotel for bike orientation. A guy named Tom gave us our bikes and spent a good deal of time reviewing our information packets (if we get lost on this bike trip we’re complete idiots).

After chatting with Tom we spent some time reading in the courtyard. Then my very thoughtful husband surprised me with an anniversary cake like we get every year from Whole Foods. This cake was one of the best cakes ever.

After cake we headed to dinner (this was one of the dinners included in the bike tour). All we had to do was show up and eat. The first course was squid with veggies. I’m not a big squid fan, but I gave it a good try. I then had the tuna and Adam had the beef. Dessert was strawberries with a little strawberry sorbet. Again our meal lasted more than two hours.

After dinner we hit the sack to prepare for our first day on bikes. The wind doesn’t look as wild today so it should be a fun ride.
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By now we’ve been on vacation for a few days and I can’t remember exactly how many.

This morning we woke up to a construction crew working outside of our window. Not too much of a problem since we had to eat and then get our bags packed for our first day on les velos.

My concern was that we would go through nice countryside but it wouldn’t be that different from where we ride in Chapel Hill. After seeing our third chapel that was built in the 900’s, our second middle ages city and the 2000 year old Roman aqueducts (Pont du Gard) my fears were quashed. There was a strong wind the entire day but we took our time and wondered through the countryside. The tour company has us on small roads for most of the time, so small that I thought they were bike paths…until cars rolled through. Riding bikes was the way to go.

This afternoon we arrived in Uzes which is a small town with a ring road surrounding a cobbled town. The streets almost have a Disney World feel to them but this is the real thing that Disney is trying to emulate. We walked around a bit, grabbed some gelatto and few drinks on the town square after we checked in. Eventually we made it back to our room and headed to dinner at our hotel. The entire dining room was 7 tables, the innkeeper was our waiter and there was one chef. Four courses plus a few other goodies later we’re feeling fairly satisfied. The French know how to put together a good dining experience. Now it’s time for a walk and then bed.

A couple of thoughts on France thus far…

The roads are really small. I mean REALLY small.

The wind in Provence is strong.

We need a change purse for all of the 1 and 2 euro coins.

Jessie and I can burn through euros faster than I ever thought.

Bread and baked goods are really cheap. Bagettes are 0.90 euros and the cake I got jessie that would have been at least $20 at Whole Foods was 3 euros.

Vin de pays is also cheap.”

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