We found more yellow roads on the Michelin map that were practically bike paths, with so few cars and splendid views for dozens of miles on end. We call them Hors Categorie, or beyond classification for their bikable perfection.

Getting around in France is the easiest of any country we’ve traveled this summer. You get at least the same respect from motorists, with periodic signs that remind them to pass cyclists no closer than 1.5m, and the road signs are crystal clear — the roads even have numbers that correspond with the numbers on the map — what a novelty! And arriving in small towns without motorscooters buzzing about, there is just less chaos in France, and we like that for the time being since we’re constantly out of breath from the mountain we just climbed.

The French care more about aesthetics, too, with the roadsides tidy and even the fields mowed in an aesthetically-pleasing way. We rolled our eyes on one empty mountain road that had no more than one vehicle every 15 minutes where even the hedges were trimmed, one kilometer after the next.

The landscapes have gone from high alpine meadows and forests to drier scrub as we’ve descended to the Rhone River valley. We averaged well over 1,000 meters of climbing our first eight days in France, but today had only 80. Yesterday we saw our first vineyard; today we spent the entire day among the grapes. And we have the heat to go with it — this year’s harvest should be very sweet.

There have also been enormous fields of lavander, and when they’re harvesting the flowers the smell is so overwhelmingly pleasant, like riding through a bubble bath (since we’re already soaking wet anyway).

Today we stopped in Orange to see the best-preserved Roman theater in Europe, with a stage wall 36m high. Louis #14 called it the finest wall in his kingdom. I enjoyed some Roquefort pizza and Susana some Creme Brulee before we split for Avignon. We’re now settled in a four-star campground (only the finest dirt patch for my wife and I), have sampled the local wine (Côtes du Rhone is one of my favorites), had more Roquefort to drown out the smell of sweaty cycling clothes, and just heard the good news that Floyd Landis completed his comeback and is poised to win the Tour de France.