Hilary and Stan in Europe 2011 - Day 7 - A ride near Les Tuillières, to Le Poet Laval

Le Poet Laval

 ... or, Day Three of Hilary and Stan's "Tour de France!!"

Today was a 'rest day', set aside by Cyclomundo with a potential 37 km circle ride that would return us to Les Tuillières again in the afternoon.  On Susan's very helpful advice (the wife and co-owner of  Les Tuillières), we elected, instead, to do a shorter ride, to what she said is one of the most beautiful villages in all of France... Le Poet Laval .  Built in the 13th century by the Knights Hospitallers of the Soverign Order of Saint John (now known as the Knights of Malta), this small castle, church ad fortified village was used until the early 19th century.  At that time, it fell into disrepair when most of the inhabitants moved into the valley.  Recently, however, it has been restored, with vacation homes and artist studios.  Situated only 10 km away from our hotel, it seemed like a nice, short ride.

Endless fields of Lavender

The only trouble is, we managed to get lost!  And then, having left later in the day, it got hot.  By the time we finally figured out how to get there (thanks to Hilary's fractured French and some very helpful motorists), we were really feeling the summer afternoon heat.

The village is situated at the end of a steep hill, which made it an especially hot journey to the top.  Once there, however, we were rewarded with magnificent views, and a truly beautiful village.

 

 

We made it back just in time for a personal cooking class, hosted by Susan's husband and gourmet chef, Hermann.  We had such fun putting together dinner for Hermann's guests that night - seven of us - which ended up with delightful conversation, going late into the night.

Tomorrow is a new day.  We'll be leaving especially early to avoid the heat in order to travel to Saint-Paul-Trois-Châteaux, our last town in the Drome region of France.