athletic ladies in Lycra are very thin on the ground...the field is thus left to men whose obvious affinity with beer is in inverse proportion to their sense and sensibilities in the fashion department. Aerodynamic shape is not easily acquired.
In any case, the options for cycling are myriad in Provence, with Mont Ventoux dominating the skyline wherever one looks as reminder of its Tour de France history.
Le Déjeuner The sun moves towards its place at midday and soon the shops will be closing for their two-hour lunch break. The timing is not exact, it may start at 1230 or 1300 such are the vagaries of the French shopkeeper and artisan. The unwary traveller or arriviste from Paris and London will need to learn quickly that Provençal time, as it is in many other regions, runs to different clocks. To the Anglo Saxon, used to the application of the Protestant work ethic and the efficiency of tyrannical hours and minutes of quartz driven timepieces, this is ineffable.
In 1936 John Maynard Keynes wrote an essay in which he argued that capitalism had already produced enough wealth and material resources that we could all look forward to working for only 15 hours per week. He was right. The world is awash with wealth and assets to ensure every person on the planet could eat decently and have a roof over their head. Working 40 hours over week? Why? But the Provençal had got there first in respect of lunch at least. Mad dogs and Englishmen go out in the midday sun, while the French eat. Wage slaves in London grab a sandwich, dropping their crumbs, saliva and assorted bacteria into
A DAY IN PROVINCE - BENNY GOODMAN
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