To conquer the beast…a cyclist’s mission. Fortitude, courage, persistence, these are the qualities necessary. Bedoin village is crowded with cyclists aiming at climbing the famed mountain. We set out at 5:30. As we climbed the temperature dropped and the moonscape unfolded. The tower appeared briefly before being swallowed by a drifting cloud. We had done it. Our timing was excellent. Mont Ventoux, usually crowded with cyclists was bereft of them. The drive was perfect!

The previous day we arrived in Bedoin right on 15:00 to be greeted by Sylvie who showed us to our Gite des Pape, home for the next seven nights. Nestled into the folds of the Bedoin vineyards and olive groves, overlooked by the grandeur of the famous mountain nicknamed the Beast of Provence where winds have been recorded at 320 km/h our little mas was a haven, removed from the village and tumult of the everyday. 

Our first venture into the village was for lunch and we settled on Le Flandrien, a delightful rustic café run by a Belgian family with a passion for cycling. I had the most delicious salad of halloumi, prosciutto and fruits sprinkled with crushed pistachios. It was amazing! John was just as surprised when he saw an empty crate of Westvletern and cheekily enquired if they had the 12…they did!!! He indulged. Apparently, it helps being Belgian when sourcing the rare Trappist beverage. 

Parking is always problematic. Market day and ‘Je ne peux pas le faire, c’est impossible!’- I can’t do it, it’s impossible. (My Google is improving!) Well unless you go early and by Australian standards – still morning. We arrived around eight as the vendors were setting up. John found some croissants and we settled into the nearest bar and ordered a cappuccino and a café grand crème. The little village of Bedoin comes alive. The markets stretch along the streets and into the two main squares. We easily filled in a few hours. Unfortunately, we made some poor decisions. The poulet and roast potatoes were dry, and the avocados were inedible. Oh well…buyer beware!!! We deserved our spa when we arrived at the gite.

Vaison-la-Romaine is famous for its rich Roman ruins and mediaeval town and cathedral. Basically, we missed the lot. It was market day!! We were thrown. Firstly, where to park. Then walk forever uphill not knowing where we are going, stumbling into the Cité Médiéval then being mesmerised by the art of Leon Zanella. We settled on a gallette and decided to head for Seguret which is smaller and more manageable village. We decided to sit, take in the view, sup on une boule de glace and just enjoy. 

Bedoin to Orange is around 25 minutes. I had a hair-brained idea of going to a huge fle-market (brocante in French) which was just outside town. The internet said it was open, It wasn’t! So next. According to Google- the “City of Princes” is home to two UNESCO World Monument: the Roman Theatre and the Triumphal Arch. The Roman Theatre of Orange is the world’s best preserved ancient theatre. It is the only theatre in Europe to have preserved its stage wall. 

Google maps directed us to the closest underground park, and we headed to the Theatre. The place was crawling with gorgeous young men in uniform. Low and behold when we got to the theatre we discovered the French Legionnaires practicing for a special ceremony celebrating their years in Orange and they deployment to another city the name of which escapes me.

We sat and enjoyed the pomp and ceremony and as well as the faux pas of the young soldier whose magazine somehow dropped from his assault rifle and clattered loudly on the concrete seats, momentarily casting a less serious light over him and the formalities. Sniggering from the peanut gallery was kept to a minimum. 

The ticket included the Antique Theatre, Museum and audio guide. As I indicated previously, I was distracted and immediately ventured the wrong way up the incredible number of stairs straight to the auditorium to view the sea of beautiful young men. Sorry..no…that ..is not really what happened. I just made a mistake. We sat, along with the other tourists and watched. It was fascinating. Eventually we moved on and explored starting at Audio 10…working backwards and forwards and reorienting ourselves. 

We learnt so much. The back walls of the theatre are 34m tall. The notion of a curtain was invented by the Romans. The theatre held over 9000 patrons. They were separated into their classes -the slaves and foreigners up in the nose-bleed section. Some of the entertainment lasted the entire day!!! Comedy was popular. Kiosks were cut into the walls behind the audience selling food and drink. Patrons entered via a vomitoria designed to provide rapid egress for large crowds. The Romans were so clever!