Bike Tour #3:
Vaison - Mirabel-aux-Baronnies - Les Pilles - Sainte-Jalle - Rochebrune - Buis-les-Baronnies - Vaison

This is a day-long trip of moderate difficulty, including some long hills. Most of the trip is in the Drome-Provencale on small roads with only local traffic and with beautiful rugged scenery.

      · Start from Vaison to Mirabel-les-Baronnies on D938/D538 (careful--lots of traffic.) Continue past Mirabel direction Nyons for 700m and turn right on a small road D185 towards Chateauneuf-de-Bordette. The road climbs for about 5 km in a beautiful narrow valley along the "Rieu Sec" before reaching a pass with an interesting chapel; then there is a long downhill passing through the village of Chateauneuf-de-Bordette before reaching Les Piles. Do not cross the Eygues river, but continue on its left side to the small town of Curnier.
      · Turn right on D54, a good road to the village of Sainte-Jalle which is about 4km away from Curnier. Sainte-Jalle has a few places for an indoor or outdoor lunch, a little bit past half-way on this trip.
      · Just outside the village turn right on small road (which gets smaller as you progress) which climb towards Rochebrune, a very scenic village with an interesting church and beautiful views.
      · Take the only good road out of Rochebrune which climbs gently towards the D108. Turn right and climb for another good km toward the Col d'Y and continue on a long downhill on D108 till you reach D546. Turn right and proceed to the town of Buis-les-Baronnies. The town has a lot of places for a snack and is nice to wander around.
      · Continue on the well traveled road D5 for about 7km to Pierrelongue and enter the village on the left of the main road.
      · At Pierrelongue find the small road which cross the Ouvèze river, turn right towards Mollans and thus avoid the busy traffic on the D5. This small road is flat and unpaved part of the way but you can negotiate it at low speed.
      · Optional: Stop in the center of Mollans on the terrace of the Café du Pont for refreshments.
      · Then cross D13 and proceed on a very narrow road towards Vaison. The road sort of follows the Ouvèze river, but check the map for general direction.