We woke up rested and ready to go. We weren't sure how far we would ride today, we were passing right by Grenoble, and both Roy and Gwen had heard great things about Grenoble. Might be a city worth visiting and spending some quality tourist time. We started out through some flat countryside, and viewed our first vineyards in some time. We also passed by wheat and cornfields. The villages were close together, most of them seemed alive with activity. We were having a "suburban" ride, similar to riding through Redmond and Kirland, having to watch for cars, lights, intersections. We weren't able to get up much speed, but we were enjoying the sights.
As we climbed the occasional hill, we came to accept that we really didn't want to tackle the big Class 1 hill on today's stage. We decided to ride into Grenable - about 50 miles - meet up with Gwen and just visit Grenoble. We met outside town, had a wonderful lunch of bread, cheese, meats (and, of course, chocolate milk), pears, strawberries, changed into our tourist clothing and headed for Grenoble.
What can I say about Grenoble. Well....Hagen Dazs comes to mind. Oh, yeah!!!! We sat at a little ice cream shop in the main square and enjoyed our first real treat of the trip. We walked through the streets and enjoyed the bustling activity of this very active city. Lots of mid-week and mid-day shoppers. The architecture of Grenoble is interesting, mostly 19th century. The mountain backdrop is fantastic. This would be a great place to come to for a ski vacation as well as a summer outing.
We suffered through afternoon commuter traffic, finally got out of town and took the toll freeway to Sisteron, the start of our next Stage. By the time we reached Sisteron, it was again 7pm. As we passed Sisteron on our way to our hotel 10 miles south, we were fascinated by this city which is inside a large stone fortress wall on a hillside. Sisteron is one of the few really old French cities, and we decided to delay our morning Stage start and spend a couple of hours exploring this absolutely delightful and intriguing looking town. Can't wait.
As we climbed the occasional hill, we came to accept that we really didn't want to tackle the big Class 1 hill on today's stage. We decided to ride into Grenable - about 50 miles - meet up with Gwen and just visit Grenoble. We met outside town, had a wonderful lunch of bread, cheese, meats (and, of course, chocolate milk), pears, strawberries, changed into our tourist clothing and headed for Grenoble.
What can I say about Grenoble. Well....Hagen Dazs comes to mind. Oh, yeah!!!! We sat at a little ice cream shop in the main square and enjoyed our first real treat of the trip. We walked through the streets and enjoyed the bustling activity of this very active city. Lots of mid-week and mid-day shoppers. The architecture of Grenoble is interesting, mostly 19th century. The mountain backdrop is fantastic. This would be a great place to come to for a ski vacation as well as a summer outing.
We suffered through afternoon commuter traffic, finally got out of town and took the toll freeway to Sisteron, the start of our next Stage. By the time we reached Sisteron, it was again 7pm. As we passed Sisteron on our way to our hotel 10 miles south, we were fascinated by this city which is inside a large stone fortress wall on a hillside. Sisteron is one of the few really old French cities, and we decided to delay our morning Stage start and spend a couple of hours exploring this absolutely delightful and intriguing looking town. Can't wait.
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