Tag: France

We started the day with a loop to the north of our mooring spot. A good bike lane along the canal for 10 km and then quiet country lanes.

Morning tea was at Le Cailiere where there were signs for the bull run through the streets the next day and a bull fight in the arena. Lunch was at Saint Laurent d’Aigouze where there is a bull ring right next to the church.

Next stop is the Tour Carbonniere built as a watchtower and toll booth in medieval times. On the way we saw flocks of flamingoes in the salt marshes that are all around this area. Aigues-Mortes means Dead Waters referring to these many marshes around the town.

Back to the barge for a short stop to allow those who wanted to swim to change before heading south the short distance to Le Grau du Roi on the Mediterranean Sea.

We were surprised by the amount of development given the surrounding countryside is sparsely populated.

Some swam while we wandered around and bought an ice cream as it was a very hot afternoon.

We cycled 42km in the morning and 15km in the afternoon to give a total of 270km for this week. The cycling was flatter than our first bike & barge trip and quieter rides overall.

Route of ride Aigues-Mortes Loop North – 40km

Route of ride Aigues-Mortes Loop South – 15km

Friday night after dinner we headed into town with our new American friends to check out a bar recommended by Marco. Tac Tac Bar has hundreds of bottles of liquor all around the bar. There are separate menus for beer, wine and spirits and the barman seems to know where to find each bottle. A great way to finish this trip.

On Saturday morning, we said our goodbyes and headed into town to look at the Tour de Constance and the old city walls. These were built by Louis IX to protect the only Mediterranean port that France had at the time. Over 1600m long, they are well preserved and you can walk all around the ramparts. Unfortunately we ran out of time as we had a train to catch to Nimes and then Lyon for our final 2 nights in France.

We cycled into town and met Martine, a local guide who was taking us for a walk around the old town.

We started at a garden where Van Gogh had painted during his time here (some of which was spent in a mental hospital after he cut off his ear).

From here to the town hall where we saw a replica of the sculpture Venus d’Arles that is at The Louvre. The original was found under the Roman theatre here in Arles in the 18th century.

This was a Roman centre so boasts significant ruins of a theatre and arena. After our walk we bought a pass to visit the monuments we had seen.

We spent the next 2 hours marvelling yet again at the grandeur of the Roman constructions. The street level is now about 5 meters higher than in Roman times so we had to go down under the town hall to visit the Crypto Porticos.

These housed stalls that opened onto a large square in the centre of town. At 1pm we were on the bikes for a short 20 km cycle to Saint Gilles to meet the barge. On the way we sighted white horses and bulls, famous in this area.

They still bull fight here in the summer at the arena. They do Spanish bull fighting so the bull is killed. In other towns we had seen small arenas where French style of bull fighting occurs. The bull is not killed and the bull is smaller with the horns pointing up (instead of out).

We then boarded the barge for a 3 hour cruise to Aigues-Mortes. On the way we spotted some flamingoes but I hope to get a better photo tomorrow.

Route of ride from Arles to Saint Gilles – 24 km

Today was the longest day of the trip (56km) with a 4 km climb included. We left the barge just after 9 and had our first stop for pictures and water at the castle of Tarascon.

Morning tea was at the town of St Remy, famous as the birthplace of Nostradamus. After tea at a cafe, we wandered through the streets and markets eventually finding Nostradamus’ house.

Next was the climb of the day – 4 km in light rain which helped to cool us all down. We were offered a trip up the hill in the company van which 4 people in our group accepted. It wasn’t too bad although the low gear in this bike is not as low as mine at home.

From here it was only a kilometre to Les Baux des Provence. Bauxite was first discovered in this area and the name comes from the town. There was also limestone mined in the area and some creative people decided to turn the the old mine into the venue for a multimedia show.

It featured 2000 images based on works by Bosch, Bruegel and Arcimboldo and classical and modern music including Led Zeppelin’s Stairway to Heaven. It was amazing!

The good part of a 4 km climb is usually it is followed by a 4 km descent.

We enjoyed ours and the trip to Arles included a stop to view the remains of another Roman aqueduct, this one taking water to Arles.

Not as much left as at Pont du Gard but still interesting. Just another 10km from here to Arles, where we saw the sad remains of the Soleo.

Route of ride from Vallebregues to Arles – 56km

We started the day with another breakfast cruise, this time to Vallabrègues, a pretty Provençal village on the banks of the Rhône.

Then off on the bikes again along country roads to Barbentane situated at the confluence of the Rhone and Durance rivers. This is a lovely old village has the remains of a castle, a watchtower, narrow streets, ramparts and gates.

Our lunch stop was at the magnificent Abbey of Saint Michel de Frigulet.

Final stop was the medieval village of Boulbon where we stopped for a cold drink after another hot day.

Route of our ride – Vallabregues loop – 40km

We boarded our home for the next week at 6pm Saturday and were surprised to see Marco, our guide from 2 years ago in Italy helping people come on board.

After being shown our room, bigger than our one on Zwaantje thankfully, we went on deck for the introductory briefing. We met Skipper Peter and his wife Sheena (chef) and Dita (kitchen and serving). They had been aboard the Soleo when she hit the unmarked submerged object and sunk 3 weeks previously. In that time Girolibero had bought a new barge in Burgundy, cleaned it up, prepared it for us and got it here in 3 days. There are a few teething issues but so far nothing too serious so the company has done a good not disappointing clients looking forward to their holiday. Marco then told us a bit about the bikes which were only 4 weeks old and had an internal hub with variable gearing. For my non biking friends this makes them easy to use and no crashing of gears as you go uphill. Our group is made up of 4 other Aussies, 4 Americans, 1 Brit and 11 French speaking Belgians. As Marco does not speak French fluently it is lucky that the Belgians include a professional interpreter.

On Sunday we headed off for a 47 km loop around Avignon. Our first stop was Sorgues where there was a market. From here we rode through quiet country roads through the many vineyards. Next was Chateauneuf de Pape where we had a talk and taste of the wines from this region.

The French carefully protect their wines through the AOC (Appellation d’origine Controlle) system that stipulates what grapes can be grown and how wines are made. This region for example does not produce Rose. Lunch was at Roquemarue (where the AOC originated) and the day finished recrossing the Rhone and returning to Le Caprice.

Route of today’s ride – Avignon Loop – 48km