Day 6, 09 June, Wednesday
As usual, we took our time with our morning routine and shortly before noon got on the road for our relatively short (30km) bike ride in the area around Chateauneuf-du-Pape.
The landscape around here is fairly flat right next to the river but then increasingly hilly as one gets farther away. And nearly every available non-urban inch is covered with vineyards. A landscape I particularly love!
Our circuit first took us south towards the town of Sorgues, which is going to be a starting point for one of this year’s Tour de France stages. In honor of the fact, the town decorated the fountain in the spirit of the Tour and colored the water yellow (like the winning rider’s jersey). A definite picture stop for us Tour fans. Since it was lunchtime, we picked up sandwiches and found a lovely city park where we could enjoy the wildlife in the large pond as we ate.
From Sorgues the circuit headed east and north, passing through vineyard after vineyard with occasional oak tree lined stretches giving us a break from the beating sun.
By the time we arrived back at camp we could not wait to jump in the pool. I’m not such a huge swimmer as Werner, but it’s the perfect end to a hot bike ride.
After our fun events of the day it was time to get down to work and switch out that defective water pump. With relatively few major disagreements, we worked together for roughly an hour, improvising on the tool-front (even the Swiss Army knife got used) and got the new pump built in. Boy, were we ever relieved when it actually worked!
As a reward for our good team efforts, we took ourselves out to dinner at the campground’s restaurant. Pizza and beer, yeah!
Mittwoch, 9.6.
Diesmal Müsli Frühstück. Pumpe muss warten, wir wollen uns nicht den ganzen Tag versauen.
Bisschen spät los über die Felder nach Sorgues, dort einen Brunnen fotografiert mit Blechradlerfiguren und gelben Wasserspielen (wie die Trikotfarben der Gewinner) da die Tour de France Etappe dort am 7.7. startet. Sara hatte inzw. in Boulangerie Toast gekauft und wir machten eine kleine Rast im Papstgarten mit kleinem Schloss und großem Biotop (mit Entenfamilie, Koi u Goldfischen und einem lauten Frosch). Weiter nach Bedarrides, vorbei an Courthezon durch Chateauneuf du Pape zurück zum Campingplatz. Pool und cool und ein Magnum Eis.
Aber: der Pumpeneinbau steht an. Geeignetes Werkzeug nicht vorhanden. S-Sturkopf geht nicht zur Rezeption um nach zu fragen. Also mit Zängelchem versucht vernietete Schelle zu lösen. Ich will euch nicht langweilen mit den Diskussionen. Die elektrischen Anschlüsse trotz heftiger Gegenwehr bezwungen und Pumpe läuft 1A. Dann grosse Pizzen verspeist und Seelenfrieden wieder eingekehrt, auch das bierre de pression mundet. BETT.