Day 29 Raissac to Raissac

Thank you

A BIG thank you to everyone who has read and followed this blog. It is heart warming to know that folks are following your progress. THANK YOU for all of your e mails and texts and comments on this blog and for all of your inquiries to Pauline. I do appreciate the interest and the encouragement.

Thank you to to my long suffering wife for her unfailing support and her constant positivity (when mine might have been flagging) She kept most of her worries to herself which allowed me to proceed thinking only of mine.

 I will add some photos to the text and correct the typos just as soon as I can raise the energy so watch this space.

Some random thoughts.

Saturday July 8th

I have been incredibly lucky to have avoided any falls, crashes, mechanical failures (apart from the spokes at the end) pulls, strains, knee pain, back pain, bum pain. The puncture fairy made just the one visit which was amazing.
If I ever undertake another bike -  ride weight does matter! I should have used the postal service to halve my load.
It is really nice to have your own bathroom and toilet especially. What a luxury toilet paper is.

My fabled sense of direction has deserted me on so many occasions that it appears that it really was a fable. Without the intervention of a man out with his two sons for a Saturday morning walk I would have headed down the Rhone rather than up it.

A quiet sense of satisfaction

My body seems to realise that it can stop now. My legs are sorer and heavier than ever this morning.I am glad that they don't have to take me any further than the car ( which started first turn last evening)

It is so much easier to type on a proper keyboard!!!!!

It feels so strange to be driving a car after a month on a bike. It first I was going quite slowly. It took me a while to get up to speed. Judging from the car I   reckon that I went down some of the hills at 80 kms/hr. Frightening when you analyse it but thrilling at the time and usually after a lot of effort to get up there!

Although I have got the t-shirt (two actually)  I haven't worn it. It seems a bit naff and self-congratulating.

A feeling of quiet satisfaction is beginning to overtake all others now. Let's hope it is enough until the Hebridean Way!

Day 28 Aigues Mortes to Raissac D'Aude

Friday July 7th

As I set off from camping a la  ferme des insectes  I had half an idea to try to  have a big day and get "home". It all depended on there being no wind and none of my usual mis- navigations. (euphemism for getting hopelessly lost)

La Grande Motte in the distance

I had checked out the start of the via Rhona last evening when I was buying provisions for what turned out to be my "last supper" on the road.

If I was going to make good time I would need to abandon the via Rhona (which practically didn't exist anyway) and follow a road route. As it turned out the via seemed to be on the route more than off piste.

I can't believe there is a canal in the etang

It was a very hot day but I had filled both water bottles (3 litres) with a mixture of apple juice and water. I made good time and got to La Grande Motte in no time. I visited the Tourist Information where the unusually helpful girl drew a route on the map for me. Unfortunately it looked like I would not be able to follow the Canal de Rhone a Sete all the way to Sete as I had planned all those months ago. However two local cyclists told me to ignore the signs and the "helpful tourist advice" and just "go for it"

It is like cycling on water

Sete is wonderful but too many people in a small space

So go for it I went and without too many incidents (other than a few more broken spokes - could be getting critical) got to Frontignan which is next door to Sete by midday. "I'll just go on a bit to Marseillan or Agde," I thought which will make tomorrow easier. Everything went smoothly. I kept buying water and gulping it down and the faster I went the more comfortable it was.

After Agde I started looking for campsites but no signs were forthcoming and  the thought of pitching the tent and taking it down one more time was enough to encourage thoughts of trying for Raissac tonight. I decided to head for Beziers and see. (It took me three and a half hours the last time I cycled from Beziers) "Beziers at 15.00. I'll just go for it". No girls offering their services this time but it was one hot afternoon. It is still 30 degs in the shade as I write this at 21.00.

As I got ever closer to Raissac, my goal, the end, it began to feel a bit anti-climactic. But as I took a selfie of me arriving in the village I have to admit to a certain sense of satisfaction.

Yes the legs are tired. I can hardly climb the stairs but they have taken me through eight countries for a total that has to be more than 2500 kms in 28 days.

8 countries in 28 days. Not bad.

I am sure I will feel less deflated and more upbeat tomorrow after a good night's sleep in a bed for the first time in a month. One thing is for sure I won't miss not having to take the tent down in the morning.

After I arrived and had a shower I summoned up the strength to do the gardening.

30 minutes later the weeds were consigned to the trailer and the table and chairs were in their allotted spots the car started first turn and I was ready for a well earned celebration drink.

Day 27 Avignon to Aigues Mortes

Thursday July 6th

I set off at 7.30 intending to buy apple juice at the camp shop and breakfast on the way. 3.20 euros for  a litre of apple juice offended my Scottish outlook but needs must. I fill my water bottles with 1/3 apple juice and use the rest instead of  milk for my porridge.

The Via Rhona at this point is just a concept. It mostly doesn't exist except on paper. So I set off on the D3 alongside the Rhone. It would have been fine but for the constant "whoosh" of heavy lorries passing too close. It was a pleasant surprise when I found a brand new section of the Via opened only a few weeks ago. However my joy was short lived because it had way too much gravel on top which made it treacherous.

After the new section gave out after a few kms I stopped to have breakfast by the side of the road. What a tramp! Sitting on a step with my porridge and apple juice and yoghurt laid out around me.

iconic white horses of the Camargue

Rhone to Sete canal

I stuck to the D roads and by 13.00 I had covered about 65 kms to St Gilles despite an unplanned tour of Beacaire which looked worthy of a more extensive visit.  I enjoyed a very good entree + plat du jour and unexpected desert  for the princely sum of 12 euros. I took the opportunity to get yet another litre of water into me.

Alongside  me were  Swiss grandparents treating their grandchildren  to lunch. I was struck by how well behaved the children were - polite and seen but not heard. Ruby. Attention!

L:a Tour Carbonniere

The day  was warm and it was difficult to drink enough to replace the lost fluids.

After lunch it  SHOULD have been a leisurely 25 kms to Aigues Mortes. But the seemingly straightfoward sections  never seem to work out. Suffice to say at 16.00 I passed a sign Aigues Mortes 22 kms. I finally got here just before 19.00. A mixture of Via Rhona circles and my woeful navigation was responsible.

I was lucky because I went into a tourist information about 10kms short of Aigues Mortes to ask about camping.The lady was very helpful. She didn't exactly laugh but she told me that NONE of the sites in Aigues Mortes accept tents. Well there was one - Camping a la ferme - Mas de Plaisance in the middle of nowhere. "Would you like me to phone for you to see if there is a space?" she asked. Fortunately there was - (in fact the place was almost empty.. The instructions for getting there ran to double figures. I remembered the first three or four.

Aigues Mortes

After 2km I came to a Camping and Caravan Club site and decided to test her theory about no tents. I gave it my best charm offensive and included tales of light headedness and fatigue but I was not putting my tent up there! However the receptionist gave me a map with Camping a la Ferme Mas de Plaisance clearly marked. I followed the map and  found it easily and it is only 3 kms away from Aigues Mortes by way of a quiet farm road. Maybe I should try following the map more often!

I did wonder what kind of farm it is. No sign of animals.

Now that night is falling I am starting to think it is an insect farm. I am being bombarded by all manner of insect life and I have taken to my tent before dark for the first time.

Canal at Aigues M<ortes

A quick visit to Aigues Mortes tomorrow morning then on to Sete tomorrow evening and "home" on Saturday is the current plan.

But things are starting to fail.

I had repaired one of my tent poles two or three days ago but last night it gave way and broke. I have made another running repair bracing the break with a tent peg (all I could find)

It seems to be holding but I am not sure it would survive another big storm.

I  had been hearing a noise from a spoke for a day or two but couldn't identify where it was coming from.

Tonight I can see that I have two broken spokes on the back wheel.

Will I get there?

On vira.

06/07/17 Thursday       Camping a la Ferme         Aigues Mortes                   €11                      3

3 kms from AM spacious pitches good toilets very buggy

Day 26 Chateauneuf du Rhone to Avignon

Wednesday July 5th

Sur le pont D'Avignon 

It was forecast to be hotter today so I was up and on the road by 07.30. There were two young couples on the site last evening - Adam and Caitlin the Americans previously described and an English couple, Joe and Kimmy who work in a power station and were able to tell me which of the stations I had passed were nuclear.

By the law of incredible coincidence we are neighbours again here in Avignon. It is a huge site of more than 200 pitches and we are next door neighbours. I passed them en route and we cycled together for a few kms until Kimmy wanted to take a picture of a field of lavender  (or to get rid of me)
I overheard the receptionist say that they will be full here by 17.00.

L'arch de Triomphe Orange

It has been a funny day. I made Orange by 10.30 and enjoyed a cafe allonge in the Hotel de Ville square. I abandoned the Via after I had crossed the Rhone for the fifth time. The N7 with its lorries thundering along suddenly seemed quite attractive.

After Orange I followed the equally busy D970 until close to Avignon when  it turned into a motorway and I had to get off.

The less busy (relatively) road that I took led me straight to the Rhone where I was lucky enough to find the bac (ferry) waiting to take me straight to the campsite.

The site is in the trees across the Rhone

It is the municipal site for Avignon where Pauline and I stayed on our way to Italy. It was so warm this afternoon that I was glad of the swimming pool to cool down.

Avignon is magnificent. It was crawling with tourists but it is July in the south of France!

Tomorrow I hope to reach Aigue Mortes which I have never visited.

On vira.

05/07/17   Wednesday    Pont D' Avignon    Avignon                             €15.50                              3.5

lots of facilities pool tennis shop restaurant huge site with dirt pitches free boat to centre

Day 25 Chateauneuf sur Isere to Chateauneuf du Rhone

 Tuesday July 4th

Instead of staying for a rest day I had a lie in until nearly 08.00.

This part of the Via is over the Rhone

It is a beautiful sunny day with a slight tail wind and all is well in my little world. I am feeling so much better now that I am not chasing my tail to complete some fantasy dreamed up on a winter's night in a centrally heated room. I hadn't realized that I was putting pressure on myself until it was lifted. I can enjoy the rest of the trip.


I stopped for a leisurely plat du jour at 12.30. I alternated  between staying on the Via Rhona and staying on the quieter west bank of the Rhone. I must have crossed the Rhone more than a hundred times now. However it is remarkable  from how little of the Via Rhona  you can actually see the river.

Almost on the railway

It is very hot this afternoon - I have just passed a pharmacie sign which showed 38 deg. I have stopped "early " at about four. Chateauneuf is a fine size - big enough to have some facilities but small enough to walk to them. The municipal site is just off the main street - perfect. Small but nice toilets and friendly people.

The only incident of  note apart from how close the lorries were passing me as if to say " Get back to the piste cyclable - it cost us enough!" I was stung  by a wasp while replying to an encouraging text from Ron and Avril. It was and has become nothing and had certainly not dented my bonhomie.

Maybe I'll try for Chateauneuf du Pape tomorrow just for the symmetry of it but it is only 64 kms away. Avignon seems a better target. On vira!

I  have been stung twice today I have just been charged 6.20 euros for the night! I have also just met a young couple from America who started at Arles and are going  beyond Geneve to Budapest. They have just told me that they are from Boston and that they are on their honeymoon ( which explains all the hugging and kissing ) but they are American!

It looks like I am well set to get to Raissac by Sunday the 30th day of Brian's Biggest Bike Ride Yet (and fairly certainly last) apart from a short one I have promised Ruby when she is in P7.

04/07/17 Tuesday       Municipal                  Chateauneuf du Rhone                 €6.20                    4

excellent toilet facilities in town centre supermarket  at 100m lovely small site

Day 24 Seyssel to Geneve then Chateauneuf sur Isere

Monday July 3rd

My Grenoble friend

Last evening as I was checking in at the campsite reception a French randoneur arrived on a racing bike  pulling a trailer. He was a land surveyor from Grenoble. We chatted and exchanged stories and we ended up pitched together.

Because of the fete that was on in Seyssel for Sunday July 2nd there was a special menu in the camp restaurant  of" ribbs and frites" and a band playing. We ate together and had ONE beer and put the world to rights. But discussing world affairs in French with an 8 piece band in your face and knackered from a long day and only ONE beer eventually became too much and I excused myself to phone Pauline.

big sky

This morning he offered to guide me on an easier (than the Via Rhona) route to Geneva which was on his way to a tour of northern Switzerland.  With some misgivings I agreed and we set off . He  was 35 on a racing bike! We left the site and it was straight up a hill. After a brief respite  we turned off the Via Rhona onto the D14 which proceeded to go up and up  and up and up. If this was the easy way .....
Eventually to save my face and  my legs I had to advise him to go on as I couldn't keep up.

Rhone is getting smaller

Just then Pauline phoned and she could hear my heavy breathing. The route did eventually get flatter but it was the hilliest stage since the Ardennes. However what goes up must come down so there were some fine descents.

The iconic fountain on the Lac Leman

I eventually rolled into Geneva about 13.00 and visited the tourist information and took the obligatory photo in front of the fountain. (I FORGOT TO PUT ON MY T-SHIRT which  had looked out last night.)

The lady in the tourist information showed me a relief map of my proposed route to Valence and added to the info from my French friend from Grenoble and the fact that my legs are aching I have done a "wild thing" and I am on the train to Valence.

It was a spur of the moment decision. My celebratory bike ride  was in danger of turning into an endurance test. Valence to Raissac in 7 or 8 days should be much more comfortable.



I have after all cycled in 8 countries. The short cycle in Geneva was more than enough. Switzerland is supposedly  cycle friendly - Geneva certainly wasn't. In two hours I was honked at several times had buses with four or five coaches brush past my panniers and I was "cut up" by a police motorcycle!

YES!

The fact that I had no idea how to get back out also helped my decision to get on the train

The train reached Valence at 18.30 and the temperature was immediately different - much warmer. However the tourist information office (which had moved twice since I was last here) was closed so I was on my own with only  Google by my side. It appeared  the  nearest campsite was 10 km north against a stiff Mistral which I hope for tomorrow  (not against obviously )

busy central Geneva

Duly installed in a lovely 4 star ACSI site with pool and lots of facilities that I don't need. However there is a tariff randoneur of 10 euros.

I was tempted to stay for the day but there is no shop so I would end up in the restaurant and the bar. How awful.

03/07/17    Monday        Le Soleil Fruite                    Chateauneuf sur Isere             €12.60             4.5

large family site with pool excellent restaurant bar toilet facilities 10kms to Valence

Day 23 Morestel to Seyssel

Sunday July 2nd

I should have studied it more closely!

I had to take the tent down wet after another wet night. However apart from the odd spit it has been dry all day for the first time in a week. It has also been cold. I was so cold yesterday that I was prepared to commit the cardinal sin of socks and sandals. I started the day with four layers including my waterproof jacket. This is supposed to be summer in the southern half of France.

The route was much as yesterday on beautifully signed and surfaced "piste cyclable" alongside the Rhone. The route criss- crossed the river following first one bank and then the other until I came to the bridge at Groslee which was closed for repairs. The previous bridge was 8kms back. The next bridge was 7 kms on - reached by a route VTT (mountain bike ) It wasn't bad at first but it got gradually rougher and rougher. I thought my bike or me or both were going to be shaken apart.But I reached the bridge intact and appreciated the smooth tarmac all the more.

At  one point I passed a sign to Belley on the Via Rhona saying 29 kms. On the nearby D 991 road was a sign Belley 17kms. Guess which one I took! I  had misgivings that there might be some big ups but nothing too terrible was encountered.

Changing landscape

I was hoping for a really big day to get to Geneva but by 17.00 having whittled the distance to Geneva down to 44kms my legs said it was time to stop at Seyssel where there was a fete on. Tourist information sent me to the municipal site on the banks of the Rhone where as part of the fete an 8 piece band were (still are at 22.25) playing in the bar restaurant.

The plan is to reach Geneva for lunch time then head for Annecy. But plans are made to be broken. It depends on the weather the hills and whether the legs have recovered.

02/07/17   Sunday      Le Nant Matraz                            Seyssel                 €14                               4

fete, band playing,  special menu, good site, supermarket near,  walk to town, on Rhone