Narbonne to Collioure by trainHotel FrigateThis is an extraordinary town! I wouldn't want to come within a mile of here in the summer because even now it is just crawling with tourists, but for good reason. Mom you would love it and want to stay for months! It is far more Catalan than French here and we are getting very close to the border. Right ...
Beziers to Narbone 30kmWe left too early today. It was a cold but beautiful ride along the Canal de Midi. My hands, even in gloves, took most of the ride to warm up. It was poor timing because by afternoon it was sunny and 18 degrees.Just out of Beziers we passed a section of nine locks on the Canal raising the water level up a ...
Avignon to Agde by trainAgde to Beziers by bike 25kmIt feels like we have come back into summer or spring weather again. It was starting to get pretty cool in Provence. The midi canal was beautiful in the late day light. Location:Allée Paul Riquet,Béziers,France
Our plans change daily, but we are not even going to try to use our Ryanair flights from Marseille to Madrid. We were stupid and bought tickets for November 6 which is scheduled as a general strike day in France. Poorly chosen also because the Marseille airport is one of the most active unionized groups in France. I am not going to rant about the ...
Les Baux to Avignon 40kmHotel MignonToday we began with a beautiful ride through the Alpilles with a long descent into St. Remy. Everyone has likely seen an image of St. Remy without realizing it. The town is immortalized in perhaps Van Gogh's best known painting "Starry Night". Van Gogh committed himself to a convent hospital for a year in St. Remy where he painted at ...
Arles-les Baux de Provence 20kmHostellerie de la Reine Jeanne, les Baum de ProvenceWe are staying in les Baux de Provence a village just clinging to the limestone cliff side. It's is well worthy of being on the list as one of the prettiest towns in France. Our hotel boasts that Winston Churchill stayed here when he came to town. It is also a town well ...
Saints-Maries-de-la-Mer to Arles 36km in a galeHotel AcaciaIs it wrong to love your husband more when he's sick? I do, and I am ready to admit it. No really, it's ok if we just stay put for a while sipping hot drinks, cuddling and watching the BBC. Gord has a man cold and I am just delighted- well maybe that's a bit strong, but I ...
October 17, 2010Saint-Maries-de-la-Mer 31kmWe keep stumbling into towns that are in the middle of big events. Today is a big pilgrimage day for the town. Apparently Roma come from all around the world to visit the remains of two St. Maries and their dark skinned servant Sarah. Sarah is the patron saint of the Roma. Just after arriving we were able to join and watch ...
Montpellier - Aigues-Mortes 36km all on flat beautiful bike paths with a pain free back!!It's 5:18 and we are sitting on a bench on the road where they are running the bulls at 5:30. Hopefully things run late because everyone is on the wrong side of the barricades. Ok security is making us move and I am following their orders. See mom I'm always careful! ...
Montpellier - to the Mediterranean, Maguelone Cathedral, and then back 30kmFantastic day today!I was feeling good this morning so we headed out on the cycle path to the sea. We rolled along the canal until we reached several estuaries full of flamingos. I've never seen them in the wild before, it was wonderful. Then a kilometer or two further and we were at the beach! ...