AubrysInFrance: 2018 Bike Trip

The next day, Friday, we headed out towards Manosque, the biggest town in the Department – about 25,000 people.

Lots of hills, several downs. Hot 75-80- little shade. After 24 km, we stopped for sandwiches. After lunch, Gérard suggested that Tom and I stay on main road to Manosque while he and Roger took marked cycle route on smaller, more hilly roads. 16km vs 28km so we had a shorter route also. Our route had several nice descents, and relatively easy ups. Tom and I arrived in Manosque about 3:10PM and went to a small square for a well-earned beer. Gérard and Roger appeared at the square about 4:55PM after getting a bit lost. Roger and Gérard were definitely ready for a beer – it had been a long day, and Tom and I were starting to get concerned but figured they would call if there had been a real problem.

Manosque just outside the old wall

Old Church in Manosque on the square where we had beers

We went a short distance to our hotel where we were met by our charming hostess, stored our bikes, and checked in to the hotel. Our hostess had recommended some restaurants in the area. We all went to our rooms to clean up, change, and planned to meet in the lobby and go look at restaurants. I, of course, went out to walk around as soon as possible and noticed that one of the recommended restaurants was located on a square that was completely torn up for renovation – not an attractive setting for dinner as we always ate outside when we could. At seven when the others appeared, we decided to look at the other restaurant that had been recommended. It was a distance away, but thanks to the wonders of cell phones and GPS, we soon found it.

The restaurant was called the L’Antidote, which we hoped we would not need after the meal! It turned out to be an interesting place, almost next door to the local Communist Party headquarters. The proprietor is a woman who talked to us a great deal about her history-she had worked at a number of different jobs- and who had other small businesses going beside the restaurant.

L'Antidote in Manosque

The Crew at dinner in Manosque

Our Dinner View - Party Headquarters

We had a good meal, but the bottle of Bandol Rosé we had turned out to have different flavors than I was used to. I did not detect off-flavors that one might get from a corked or oxidized wine. Roger took a photo of the label, and after we returned to Lyon I researched the wine online thinking maybe there was an unfamiliar grape in the blend. My research did not indicate a different grape so I have to conclude that it was a bad bottle or a bad wine.

After dinner we did a short walk around part of Manosque.