Vaucluse Dreamer

03/08/2026

This year has been a year of little adventures and the next one (after our long bike ride home in just over 2 weeks time) starts 2 months today, when we head out to walk the Fisherman’s Trail, along the coast of Portugal

Today, we took a walk out along the South West Coast Path, between East Budleigh and Sidmouth, which ch got is rather excited for the walk that is to come.

https://www.instagram.com/reel/DblT1vQoo8A/?igsh=d3M0Zmh2ZHEwZWhu

02/08/2026

The weeks are slipping past and in 3 werks time we will have started our pedal home (via a spot of rugby, and a particular cake shop, we’ve been told about)

Three weeks today we’ll be setting off from Devon on a cycle ride home to Provence. In this post I share how we’re planning the route, and the decisions behind choosing quiet roads, and the best pl…

01/08/2026

Three weeks from today, we start cycling home, from Devon back to Provence, taking a route via Toulouse to watch Provence Rugby’s first away match against Colomiers
New blog just posted, explaining where we’ll be going on this latest adventure … another 1200km of pedalling through beautiful parts of France, and rugby too
I have a feeling it will be here before we know it

17/07/2026

This cropped up as a memory today … possibly the best french lesson with Learn French In Provence with Franci Discendum in the heart of the Luberon I’ve ever had.

Pre-reading, comprehension, conversation, culture & history and we got to take our own freshly-made baguettes home with us.

Mine didn’t last long … and I got to use the ‘big oven’ too

Sometimes a french lesson just hits the spot, and the latest ‘atelier’, organised by Marina, our lovely and very patient teacher and friend was about as good as a lesson can get We were…

14/07/2026

Throwback to 10 years ago, today…
Fête Nationale 2016, and the day the Tour de France had a stage finish on Mont Ventoux.
Andy and the boys had just started their bike ride together from Dartmoor to the Med, so I decided to pop@up@and watch the stage on my own…
I was still riding Miss Daisy, with her basket on the front, wearing strappy sandals, and had pedalled up a couple of days before to find somewhere to stand…
But on the day, it was so windy that the race finished at Chalet Reynard. It’s fair to say that it didn’t dampen the atmosphere and its a day that will stay long in my memory, as it turned out to be the day Chris Froome ran up the mountain with his bike on his shoulder too!
I cant believe it was 10 years ago already

09/07/2026

It appears we now have the start of a plan for the cycle home to Provence, after a busy few weeks of events …. Thanks to the rugby fixtures announced today, it looks as if we’ll be pedalling back via Colomiers

Not even 2 weeks have passed since we landed in Plymouth, after cycling back from Provence. And today, we’ve started getting excited about our return trip. Last year, our cycle back from the UK was…