April 15, 2017
Stage Three: Arles to St. Jean Pied-de-Port: The Voie d'Arles on the Canal du Midi
We start off here with the Camargue, the area where the Rhone gets ready to enter the Mediterranean. This is a unique area that has a large national park, lots of ponds and birds. There is also here a sudden Spanish flavour, with bullfights and horses figuring in the local culture. The region is famous for special products too, like salt, sardines, tapenade, olive oil, wine, honey, and rice.
For us, flamingos are big, but most of all the semi-wild white horses. Last time around we came upon a herd of them in our path, and we all eyed each other for a while. Then we cycled slowly into the middle of them, and they graciously stepped slightly aside for us. They were gorgeous!
The Camargue gives way to just 100 km or so of the Mediterranean holiday portion of the tour. Too soon, we head inland and begin to cross over to Spain, along the Canal du Midi. Last time we found much of the canal path to be just a dusty track and we abandoned it to look for small roads instead. Now with its very own Bikeline guide, maybe it has been improved.
On our way to the pass through the Pyrenees at St. Jean we will take care to stop by Lourdes. That's where in 1858 Bernadette Soubirous saw an apparition of Mary, and where now is the shrine Our Lady of Lourdes. The primary product of the area seems to be Lourdes water, from the grotto where the apparition appeared.
Bernadette features in the wonderful song by our own Leonard Cohen, with the best known version sung by Jennifer Warnes:
The Guide that we were given along with our Creanciale at Notre Dame was published by the bishops of the four great "roads" in France comprising the Way of St. James. These are roads of Arles, le Puy, Vezelay, and Tours. We are starting out in this stage on the Voie d'Arles. According to the Guide, if you can make out the photo below, Toulouse (St Sernin) and Lourdes (N.D. de Lourdes) are on the way. Other sources seem to put the route further north at first. Again - no one true way. No matter, we're going for that Lourdes water.Even with a fancy bottle it might come in a little cheaper than the Voltaren cream that Dodie is currently using for her knees.
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