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Caromb to Fontaine de Vaucluse, return by bus, via L’Isle sur la Sorgue
This itinerary takes you across the plains and up on the Vaucluse, then down into the cool, mysterious closed valley of the Fontaine. You will encounter several short but tough climbs on roads carved through the native limestone. This is 40 km/25 miles of moderate to hard cycling. Bus service is available from L’Isle sur la Sorgue to Carpentras. If you leave Carpentras by 8:30 am you should arrive in Fontaine de Vaucluse in time for lunch.
- Leave Carpentras, going east on the D942 to Mazan.
- At Mazan, go right on the ring road, then right onto the D1 toward Pernes les Fontaines. At the next traffic circle (about .5 km/.33 mile) go half-way around and exit onto the D1 toward Pernes les Fontaines.
- After 4.4 km/2¾ miles, you will come to another traffic circle. Exit onto the D4A toward St. Didier.
- Three-quarters of a mile further (1.2 km), you will come to a T-junction. Turn left onto the D39 into St. Didier. If you are bushed, St. Didier is a good place to stop for a bit of refreshment because the short, sharp climb starts here. The town has a pleasant bar/tabac with sidewalk tables and a Monday morning market in the center of the village.
- If you go into the town center, you will have to backtrack. Look for a sign toward Pernes. This will be a right turn coming into St. Didier or a left turn if you have visited the village center. It’s a small sign and easy to miss, so look sharp. Almost immediately, turn left toward Saumanes and, again immediately, turn right, uphill onto the D210 toward La Roque sur Pernes.
- Climb La Roque sur Pernes (2.4 km/1½ miles). After four miles (6.4 km), veer right onto the D57 toward Isle sur la Sorgue – watch your signs here, because this one is easy to miss.
- After a mile (1.62 km), turn left onto the D57 toward Fontaine de Vaucluse.
- Two-thirds of a mile later (one km), turn left at the stop sign onto the D25 to Fontaine de Vaucluse. Continue to the center of the village, park your bike and look around. Ask a local for directions to the Fontaine itself.
- To return, retrace your route out of the village along the D25 and continue west (past the D57) to L’Isle sur la Sorgue. In town, ask someone for directions to the Gare Routière (bus station) and take a local bus back to Carpentras.
The Mont Ventoux Circuit
A difficult, 56-km/34.8-mile circuit, with a steep 20-km/12½-mile climb, followed by an equally steep, and slightly longer, descent. This legendary mountain circuit is not for the faint-hearted. It is a notorious dasher of athletes’ hopes when it forms part of the Tour de France. Don’t attempt Mont Ventoux unless you are very fit and a speed freak. Carry a fleece and waterproofs – it may be snowing at the top. The average time for the circuit is six to seven hours.
Mont Ventoux is shaped something like a child’s drawing of a mountain: straight up and straight down! Start climbing to the east at Malaucène and pray the wind isn’t against you. You’ll be on the D974 most of the way. The circuit is a wide, paved road that you share with a few cars and lots of other would be iron men and iron women. You’ll climb 1,600 m/5,250 feet in 20 km/12½ miles. If you can look around, particularly on the hairpin turns and switchbacks, the views are sensational.
Stop at the Mont Ventoux observatory, at the summit (you will probably have to!) and enjoy the scenery. You can see all the way across the Vaucluse and south to the Mediterranean. The descent, beginning at the Col des Tempêtes (Tempest Pass), is slightly longer than the ascent but equally steep. It features a chain of about 15 dizzying switchbacks. Be careful to take the hard right on the hairpin turn at le Chalet Reynard or you may end up on the wrong road.
Stay with the D974, now heading west. Once you reach Bédouin, at about the 40-km/25-mile mark, the route levels out. At Bédouin, look for the limestone bluffs, popular for climbing, on your right. From the center of Bédouin, join the D19, a winding but level road, back to Malaucène.
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