The normal routine...

There's more 'canicule' forecast now for a few days – I've lost count of how many episodes we've officially had here now, but the designation feels somewhat academic, as the daytimes have been hot (mid-high 30s) and the early mornings fresher (high teens) since I've been here. The result is that I do stuff in the mornings (cooking, watering, riding) having and cool the house down, then shut everything up and hide in the cool, maybe with a bit of siesta after my salad lunch. It's quite a nice routine, I must admit!

Anyway, this morning was just some garden watering, to chivvy along the blackcurrant and gooseberry bushes that have suffered in the drought, and then a ride to Sainte Croix and then via the track around to Vachères-en-Quint. And very lovely it was too!

A little loop

With it being a summer Saturday, Die market will be absolutely heaving with tourists (and I don't blame them... it's one of the attractions of Die!), so with the morning being cool again (it was 15C at 7am), I did a little local loop to Craponne and almost-Châtillon, with the return via St Roman and Laval d'Aix. I chose the route not just because I know it's pretty, but because the D93 main road gets quite busy with holiday traffic on August Saturdays, so as I'm in pootling mode, I wanted to avoid it. A happy choice on a day like today, hence how many photos I took.

Bread ride

 Any excuse will do... so after the standard house cooling operation this morning, and feeling full of energy, I headed steadily along a favourite Quint Valley ride (getting there via the track from Ponet to avoid the holiday traffic on the main road). The Moustache e-bike did what it needed to to get me over the Col de Marignac, and now I'm back home with plenty of bread!