Nines to Le Grau du Roi

September 30, 2024

Keeping a Keen Eye Out for Fresh Bull Sh$&

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The subtitle today was Keith’s idea. For the record, we didn’t see any, but we did see bulls, horses, flamingoes and so much more. Today was one of the best of the trip, just a stunner of a day. We are so happy we came this way.

Everything went smoothly from the start. Even the cappuccino machine was purring this morning. We left our ideally located hotel, rolled out in front of the amphitheatre one last time to take it all in and away we went.

I loved the juxtaposition of the modern Musée de la Romanité with the ancient amphitheatre. You can only see a corner of the Musée because of the tree. It is a beautiful building. Our hotel is between, and the crane behind is part of the construction of a Palais de Congress.

A better look at the Musée, with me staring at the amphitheatre.

We were immediately in a bus/tram/bike lane. It feels so safe. So very wide, no cars and few buses. We had bike lanes all the way out of the city. When we got to the outskirts, the bus/tram/bike lane was down the middle again, with traffic on either side. It was really cool.

Right down the middle. Once we understood how it works it was seamless.

Another example of us in the middle with the cars relegated to either side. Public transit seemed well used in Nimes.

Then we were out of the traffic completely and rode along quiet country byways. So quiet I can count on my thumbs how many cars we saw in an hour. We followed the rail line for a long way, and the route was flat, paved, superb. It must be there to service the railway. I couldn’t see any other reason, and certainly there weren’t any cars. We rode through vineyards, farms and fields. All of it gorgeous. We saw our bull, fenced in a field with horses and not looking the least bit inclined to interact. He was behaving more like Ferdinand, if you are familiar with the children’s book. The Camarague horses are gorgeous.

Lots and lots of vineyards. Most had already been harvested.

I’ll just stand here and look magnificent.

Views always. Looking back at Nimes in the distance.

We had it all to ourselves except for the occasional cyclist.

At Vauvert we nipped into an Aldi to supplement our picnic lunch. It was right off the bike lane. As soon as we turned left out of the Aldi we were in magical bike touring land. A paved separated track that was serviced with benches, picnic tables, places to lean your bike. It was beautiful and easy riding and we enjoyed it in one version or another for the rest of the day. We enjoyed our lunch canal side in the shade and just looked around amazed.

Eventually we had canal on the left and abandoned railway on the right. The rail tracks were still there. We were in a valley with vines climbing the hills. It just kept getting better. We arrived at the Via Rhona and I insisted the chief photographer take a picture of the first flamingoes we saw.

Vines climbing the hill across the canal.

I had a lovely chat with these bike tourers enjoying a snack.

This still astonishes me. He just smiled and waved me through while handling that deadly looking stake with large machinery.

They were shoring up the side of the canal.

There were so many things to look at. Beautiful boats, and not so beautiful ones. Lots and lots of cyclists enjoying the sunshine and the bike lane. Lots of flamingoes. Salt mountains. We felt like the luckiest people ever.

Our arrival at Aigues-Mortes was hilarious. We were entering the walled city at the precise moment a large bus tour group was walking in and the tacky tourist train was trying to come out. It was tourist chaos and I was in stitches. Everything sorted itself out and Keith and I dove for the first gelato stand we saw. Aigues-Mortes is tourist central, but like so many places, it is because it is really worth seeing. We rode (and walked the bikes) around the town. They were setting up for a bullfight behind the walls. That is if I interpreted the signs and the sign language of the man I was talking to correctly.

Keith had to fight his way through to try and get a picture.

Where they were setting up for a bull fight. Love that the sign was in two languages. No bulls yet though, much to my disappointment. They arrive later.

Salt. Enough to raise anyone’s blood pressure.

One paced me down the bike path for a long way. It was special.

Then the final few km to Le Grau du Roi. A beautiful spot right on the Mediterranean. We sat with cold beer watching the world go by and then had tapas for dinner.

We did a walk about before settling to beer and tapas.

We sat outside in the sunshine and enjoyed this.

A fun chat with Gunnar and Magdalena from Berlin. They were loaded since they are camping. It means more gear.

Mother and daughter watching for the fishing fleet to come in.

It has been a wonderful, wonderful day.

Today's ride: 61 km (38 miles)
Total: 1,152 km (715 miles)

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Peter HoffmannHi Kathleen and Keith,

I'm new to Blaze - but love bike touring of course. I am very impressed with your journal - it is amazing...
I am curious how you do this - do you carry a small laptop with you? How long do you spend journaling daily? Looks like a lot of work but obviously passion project... photos all with phone?
not sure how you answer to me... peter@sportsjunkies.com
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1 month ago

Kathleen ClassenTo Peter HoffmannWe are delighted to hear from you. It is such a great way to travel and we are so fortunate that we both love it.

Writing the journal, I used to bring my iPad with me and write the journal on that. I liked the size of the photos on the iPad, and I am a pretty fast two finger typist. However, one year I cracked my iPad screen in my pannier. I almost wept. It has had the spiderweb app ever since. It is also long past its best before date. So this year I brought Keith’s mini, but have discovered I am just as fast typing with my thumbs on my phone so this year I have been using it exclusively. In the future I don’t think I will bring the shiny new iPad I plan to buy when we get home. No worries about cracking the screen and saves weight too.

Keith takes the majority of the photos with his iPhone then transfers them to a shared album and away I go. I would say it takes about an hour for me to get it done. The pictures are an excellent reminder of what we saw. I enjoy doing it, so that really helps, and am beyond glad I have. We would forget where we have been if we didn’t have the journals! I always kept a hand written journal in the past…this is easier and the photos are in the same place.
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1 month ago