Vaucluse Dreamer

10/06/2026

Golden hour in Provence….
We’re kicking our heels a bit, planning our next cycle route for our second attempt at a summer cycling adventure, to start on Monday…
We’ve passed the evenings wandering through the lavender fields and along the tracks and trails around the house, enjoying the soft light and beautiful colours of the setting sun…
It’s easy to forget how glorious, this time of day is…
I wonder where we’ll see the sunsets on our trip

09/06/2026

Lavender-scented early morning and late evening walks …
The one bonus of the disruption to our cycle adventure is that we are able to enjoy the start of lavender season in the Luberon.
It’s such a beautiful time of year, with the bright splashes of purple appearing in the views. It’s especially stunning at both ends of the day, when the soft light adds even more colour, and the scent sits low to the ground. You can always smell the fields before you see them.
Just spectacular

08/06/2026

Enjoying the evening peace & gentle scent of lavender…
We weren’t expecting to see this view again for a while, but the chaos of this last few days has given us the chance to enjoy a few more evening walks, through the lavender fields.
Evenings here are really lovely, when the warm, low sun casts deep shadows across the lumps and bumps of the Luberon, and the first lavender fields are alive with the buzz of insects, and birdsong.
We were shattered by last night, but today, we’ll set to and start filling in the plan we have for the cycle back across France, which will now start this time next week.
We’ve booked a train to Clermont Ferrand, so new maps need to be bought (exciting) and new routes explored (even more exciting)
So we’ll enjoy the next weekend here and go on again

07/06/2026

The last 60 hours has been an absolute whirlwind and has left us exhausted. Friday’s cancelled train has caused us a few headaches, to say the least, but we made it to Toulouse for the rugby final. It was worth the effort.
What an incredible day, filled with passion, excitement and friendly rivalry that only rugby matches have. We may have lost, but we have another match next Sunday and now have the bones of our next cycling adventure too.

New blog just posted

http://vauclusedreamer.com/2026/06/07/from-travel-chaos-to-rugby-magic-the-prod2-final-in-toulouse/

Join us for an incredible day experiencing the ProD2 rugby final in Toulouse. There really is nothing like French rugby for its passion and atmosphere. What an amazing day!

07/06/2026

What an incredible day in Toulouse!
After Fridays crushing disappointment of the train cancellation throwing out cycle adventure plans in the air, we pulled ourselves together, set the alarm for 3am and drive to Toulouse, so we could watch the rugby.
We may have been exhausted after very little sleep, but it was worth the effort, as we had the best of days.
We spent the morning at the brocante I had visited, when I was a contestant on a TV show, several years ago, a real@trip down memory lane…
Then it was time to grab a couple of city bikes and pedal out to the stadium. We finally got there by bike, although not quite the way we had hoped!
The atmosphere was like nothing I have ever experienced before. The city was filled with fans, and it was passionate, loud, friendly and almost overwhelmingly vibrant, it was just such a joy to be part of it…
The match was everything a Final should be, and although we lost, it was an experience we wouldn’t have missed for the world.
It’s a shame we can’t cycle out of Toulouse, this morning. We had planned a route to take us back towards Aix for the play-off final next Sunday, but that has all changed now.
But all being well, we’ll spend the next couple of days sorting out a new plan and be pedalling off, after next week’s match ..
For now though, we’ll just enjoy the glow from yesterday, and see where life takes us next

06/06/2026

It was all going so well, until ….. New Blog post
Our summer cycling adventure started yesterday, and didn’t quite go as planned. We’re starting to feel that the ‘Cycling Gods’ have something against us, or the Vannes fans (Rugby opposition for tonight’s final) are trying to stop us getting to Toulouse!
It all started well, the ride through the valley to Avignon was perfect, the bikes went in the train to Marseille well too. But then the train to Toulouse was cancelled, after an accident on a level crossing, near Carcassonne..
No other trains with bike space available to get us to Toulouse in time. So a quick rethink and a long ride home.
Over 100km pedalled, with fully loaded bikes to go absolutely nowhere …
A few hours sleep, and we’re on our way to Toulouse for the rugby, by car. You can read the full story on today’s blog -link in bio
We’re so disappointed, frustrated and sad, but once we’re back in Provence tomorrow, we’ll put our thinking heads on, and rejig our plans.
Today though, the rugby calls!
Allez les Noirs

06/06/2026

We’re starting to feel that the ‘Cycling Gods’ have got something against us. Yesterday turned into a log day, when we pedalled nearly 110km on fully loaded bikes, and went absolutely nowhere. 😩
Not quite what we had planned at all

As I begin to type this post, we’re on a train. Unfortunately not the train heading to Toulouse that we should be on, but a train heading back to Cavaillon so we can cycle home. Writing this will s…

05/06/2026

Time to go croissant-chasing on the bikes again…
Over the next 3 and a bit weeks, we’ll be pedalling and croissant-stopping our way through France, needing to be in Roscoff by the end of the month…
The only certainty is that we will be in Toulouse on Saturday for the Rugby Final, cheering
After that, well that all depends on the result .
It should be a fun 3 weeks

04/06/2026

A few more days and Provence will look like this 💜
Over the last week, the sunshine and warmth has really brought the flowers on, and the fields are shimmering with a soft purple haze …
It really won’t be long until the scent is heady and the views are filled with vibrant purple stripes…