Day Twenty Seven: Best Bathroom Stop Ever.

Well today was another travel day. Another boring ride right. But then again you know me. we started out early and on the expressway. GPS saying Aix en Provence is about 3 hours South. Piece of cake.We are going along making time when I decide to turn East and take the route less traveled. No complaints from my riders. We are not more than 20 minutes off the expressway when we run into a small towns Farmers Market. Not being able to help ourselves we buy cheese, salami, fruit and bread. what a great time.

 The Market.

 People lining up for Chicken.

 How nice to have a choice of so many mushrooms.

 Say "Cheese"

 Bread

 Salami

Full of samples and the real stuff, we move on down the small country road, and begin seeing signs for Clairette de Die. Well we know about Claret but what the heck is this stuff. We soon learn that it comes from a small town up ahead called Die. And of course all the jokes start coming like "We're going to Die!!' and the "To Die for" jokes. In case you are wondering it is pronounced DEE. Well bathroom stops are quite common among our age group and after stopping at several gas stations that were closed, we see the place pictured below.

You guessed it. A place that not only had bathrooms, but had a place to taste wine. Go figure. This town produces a sparkling wine (don't call it Champaigne). One of the tastings is exactly like Kir Royal. So we relieve ourselves and leave with wine and nouget and cookies.
And now the fun begins. The GPS tells me to take one route but the map indicates another. We go with the map. And what a deal. instead of going around the mountain, we go over it. What a great ride.

 Part way up.

 What great rock formations.

 Curved roads.

 If you look closely, you can see rock climbers.

 On top of the Col de Cabre.

These are Alps Apples that are covered for some reason.We had to pull off the road to discover what they were.

 So we get to Aix about 4 hours later than planned, but with a nice adventuresome day,For me better than 130 KPH on concrete with over fast cars. We check into our apartment for the next three days and go for drinks. Another beautiful day. The ladies head back to rest and I go to explore Aix. I run into a street with a beer cave and live music. What a great time.

When I first got there.

I liked the music and the Madonna.

Our meal of the day. Mary Ann and I had duck breast and scalloped potatoes.
Rhen back to the apartment and sleep.