Châteauneuf-du-Pape

Christmas vacation is finally here! Laura abandoned us last week and is spending Christmas in England with her family. Leslie's family gets in tomorrow night. We have been anxiously awaiting their arrival by making grocery lists, putting together French welcome baskets and lists of games we can play. However, there is only so much preparing you can do before driving yourself crazy. In order to escape boredom in Avignon, we planned a day trip to another surrounding town. Châteauneuf-du-Pape is a renowned wine producing region that is located only 17km away from us. We tried to go there last week, but it turns out there is not a train station and the bus runs at very odd times during the day. Good thing we invested in bikes, problem solved! We took the train to Sorgues and biked 7km to Châteauneuf-du-Pape. Great decision. The bike ride to the village was lined with beautiful vineyards and countryside. Once we got there, we parked our bikes and walked around for a few hours. We climbed to the top of the town where the château is located then ventured back down to the center of town. Since it is widely known for its wine, we knew we had to buy some before leaving. We tasted a white and a red, and after much debate, Leslie bought a white for Peter, another great decision. After walking around for a while longer, we hopped back on our bikes and biked the 17km back to Avignon. Before reaching the city walls, we made one last pit stop at a boulangerie for some yummy treats to celebrate our proactiveness and our 24km bike ride.