Well that came up quick. I’ve decided to follow the Rhône up to Lake Geneva starting from Séte (via Rhona). It’s a bit bittersweet to leave the Mediterranean but I’d love to start in Séte or Marseille and make my way through the rest of Eurovelo 8. I was considering continuing onward across Italy, eventually making my way to the beaches of Croatia, but perhaps another time.
I started in Vías today with the intention of spending a fair amount of time in Agde’s old town and Séte but was beset by a late start and a couple little maladies that made me chug on and not luxuriate. That’s a bit of a departure (ha!) from my themes for this tour (namely sustainability) but alas.
I got a late start and had a not great breakfast which set the tone. I made my way to Agde along the canals. To my regret I found myself frustrated with some required detours and didn’t explore as I intended.
I continued along to Séte with the intention of stopping for lunch but was a bit overwhelmed as it was the largest city since Spain. Cycling along the waterfront, dodging the bustle, with fish being unloaded was quite memorable.
It was at this point I decided I’d cycle to Saint Gilles with the intention of lingering in Avignon tomorrow or perhaps taking a rest day in a hostel or hotel. I order to do this I need to cover a lot of ground. I stopped at a Lidl, a supermarket, to grab some food for a quick bite only to be stuck in line for in excess of thirty minutes. Luckily, some nice people allowed me to skip them. Lesson learned on Lidl lines.
Instead of stopping for lunch I made a choice that I knew was bad in the moment: I stuffed a large handful of gummy bears in my mouth and continued on with the intention of stopping at a campground another forty miles in the distance in Camargues.
I put on lesson 1 of Pimsleur French in one ear and locked in with a mild crosswind.
. Some time after that I saw Flamingos and then crashed under a tree, lunched, napped, and talked to a fellow touring cyclist using the French I’d learned, poorly, not an hour ago.
Unfortunately the French cyclist saw me in his car when he left and thought I was going the wrong way. He led me through a faster but more traffic heavy area but 🤷♂️. Thank you unknown guy.
I passed through a couple cities with lots of construction and just wanted out. I eventually made it out.
The path was nice after this and I had the wind behind me for several miles. I then found myself taking a “shortcut” which was a bad equestrian trail for about five miles that followed the Le Petite Rhône.
I got to the campground which was €16. While the pool was closed already they let me get a swim in which washed all of the miles away. I showered and setup camp.
I ate dinner which consisted of a beer, an entire pizza, and a bowl of ice cream. I’m in my sleeping bag with the sound of frogs loudly around me.
Not sure what tomorrow holds. I should probably take a rest but don’t especially want to. I’m going to do some route planning and call it a night.