cycling in the Alpilles

 Getting paid to cycle all day in the Provençal countryside isn't a bad deal really, and a welcome change from all the time I've been spending in the office lately.

Yesterday's reconnaissance took me some 80km through a countryside of olive groves windswept fields, while a moderate Mistral wind -- about 30km/h or so -- which was helpful at the start, but had me cycling directly into a headwind for the last two hours or so.

Below is the Oustau de Baumanière 5* hotel, nestled under the village of Les Baux de Provence. I was here to put together a new cycling itinerary staying in luxury accommodation:   Cycling in Luxury 

Below Les Baux to the south I cycled along tracks and back roads under a beautiful winter sky, in close to 15°C weather.

Someone should inform the Spanish broom that it isn't quite yet springtime:

But the mimosa is right on time:

At the end of my ride, climbing atop the pass and above the village of Les Baux de Provence, with the setting sun highlighting the 1000 year-old medieval buildings.