The Blayleys: Pont du Gard

A few years ago, Eddie and Chisato, friends of John's from Ireland (and Japan), bought and refurbished a lovely home in the south of France, in the center of the medieval village of Vézénobres. Chisa now spends 6 months of the year there, running it as a La Maison Yoshimi B&B. Eddie is still gainfully employed in Ireland, and until he can properly retire, doesn't get to spend quite so much time there. We've had a longstanding invitation to come visit, and this year took advantage at a time when Eddie would be around and able to cycle with us.

We flew into Paris and took the TGV to Nimes, where Eddie picked us up and drove us to the village. Despite a bit of sleep deprivation, we reassembled our bikes, and then enjoyed one of Chisa's fabulous Japanese meals, before collapsing into bed.

There is a bike in there - some assembly requitred

After my fourth trip with my S&S Seven, I'm getting pretty good and getting the puzzle pieces to fit in the box!

The most scenic bike assembly area ever!

A view of the boules court next door

The next morning, after a good night of sleep and hearty breakfast, Eddie guided us down the steep hill, out of town and along a series of fabulous roads to take in the sights at Pont du Gard.

We did not initially reinstall our fenders, but noticed that we probably should, after finding several roads covered in crushed grapes. It seems they overload the trailers with grapes and some spill out onto the road, as they roar around the corners. I may need to consult some of my cyclo-cross racing friends for tips on how to get grape stains of of my white jersey! We passed acres and acres of vines. The Languedoc-Roussillon region has a massive amount of vineyards and is the source of a lot of cheap bulk table wine. We enjoyed quite a bit of the local drink while there!

This grape harvesting machine makes short order of collecting grapes from the vines (along with bird's nests and mice, which presumably get filtered out before becoming wine).