It turns out that the Romans ruled this area (the word Provence actually traces back to the Roman empire where this area was just that – a provence of Rome). The Romans were here building and engineering at the time of Christ.
Today, we saw some of that. First, breakfast, then assembling bikes, then off to a ride through the vineyards of the Rhone Valley (crossing the Rhone to the left).
In 1300AD, Rome wasn’t safe for the Popes, so they moved to Avignon and oversaw the church from here. We are staying in Cheateauneuf de Papes (new home of the Popes). When they came, they brought vines from Italy for winemaking and Olive trees for oil production. As such they transformed this area into one of the premier wine producers in the world.
The riding today was unbelievable – visiting a Roman aqueduct at Pont du Gard that was built by 1,000 men during the time of Christ (AD30) to bring water from the mountains to the seat of government. That was followed by the medieval village of Uzes.
The ride wasn’t shabby either. Kent and David don’t mess around. We cruised through vineyards and by castles at 22mph for two hours. That helped get the airplane out of the legs.
Jay and Jean arrived tonight from the Midwest (Jay, thanks for being gracious enough with my tired brain trying to re-name you as Jeff several times during dinner). Repeat on the same 5 course meal. Two glasses of Rose (I started drinking Rose during the summer a couple of years back and this is the world headquarters of the stuff) and I’m off to bed after 5 wonderful courses. Means a long ride tomorrow, but I ride to eat, so all good.
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