Ste Marie de la Mer to Fontvielle: Into a Mistral

June 7, 2017

Today is my penultimate ride and it was memorable mostly because of the wind. I rode 72km on a mostly flat route but I battled the Mistral blowing at 50kph/30mph all day. I also encountered the worst roads of my entire trip including 17km of Canadian pavé (dirt roads and trails). Pavé are cobblestones but during the Tour of Alberta they rode some dirt roads so the pro riders coined this phase. The most famous race on the pavé is the Paris-Roubaix pro race. The route took me on the dyke between the protected area and the sea. It was a beautiful ride except for the surface, it would be much better on a mtn bike. There were a few sections where I had to walk because the Mistral had blown sand so deep on the trail a road bike would never get through it. Just part of the adventure. I did see more flamingos, egrets and herons among other things. Just before my final destination of Fontvielle I stopped to see a famous olive wind mill. Fontvieille is situated in the heart of the "Provence des Alpilles". It is the village where Alphonse Daudet wrote his famous "Lettres de Mon Moulin". This is the mill in the photos.

My starting point for today's ride a lovely bronze tribute to the cowboy, his horse and the bull.

By being patient I finally caught a flamingo doing whatever but it's wings are open so you can see the colours.

Sand in the trail that I could not ride through.

A salt deposit. Camargue is also famous for its sea salt.

A view of the trail with some on coming riders.

Before starting today I took a little tour around town including down to the beach area. The Mistral had blown all of this sand onto the footpath so I carved a 17 into it for 2017.

The hotel is a modernized farm house however it has kept much of it's past era charm. There is a lovely garden and pool area as well.

Côtés du Rhône wine for 2.5€, how bad can it be, not. My water at dinner was 5€.

This gentleman and his dog Luna stayed at my hotel and also just happened to go to the same restaurant. He told me in French that he rescued the dog abandoned on the side of the road so she is very attached to him and not that sociable,

Walking back to the hotel after dinner I could hear English music so I followed the sound. What I found was this dance group having fun in the open air city square.

Today's ride: 72 km (45 miles)
Total: 875 km (543 miles)

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