November 12, 2011
Meze to Aigues-Mortes: a windy ride to an impressive walled city
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WEATHER: cloudy and windy, some headwind
We noticed the strong onshore wind right away cycling out of Mèze after breakfast--a crosswind for us. We went along a main road, the D613 for a few kilometres, before turning off onto a small road parallel to the shore and dotted with houses. That led to a new cycle path which went across a causeway through a wetland and then through the villages of Balaruc-le-Vieux and Frontignan. Outside the villages we passed more vineyards just uphill from the shoreline.
Just after noon we arrived in Villeneuve-les-Maguelone and were fortunate to find Restaurant la Chapelle (in a former chapel) on a side street, where we had an excellent lunch. For Al, sautéed fish with pasta and vegetables, and for Eva, the best duck of the trip served with mushrooms and vegetables. Since it was a long ride today, we indulged in dessert--tarte aux pommes for Al and mouille du chocolat for Eva. Yum!
After lunch we had planned to go down past the cathedral of Maguelone, but that required crossing a moveable pedestrian pontoon bridge, and we weren't sure the bridge would be open this time of year. Instead we decided to go via the cycle path parallel to the D185 all the way into the holiday resort of Palavas-les-Flots. We were right on the coast and could feel the wind again, but we were mostly sheltered by the apartment buildings between us and the sea. Every time there was a gap between buildings, we were hit with a strong crosswind. When the buildings ended we were faced with a long stretch of cycle path, fortunately protected by high sand dunes, which fronted the beach and were fenced off to prevent people trampling them. Here we could see hundreds of kites as the kite-surfers were taking advantage of the high winds. They were brightly coloured and looked like giant smiles soaring in the air--so beautiful that we stopped for awhile to watch and take photos.
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The next part of the route took us along the paths in front of La Grande Motte, a strange architectural resort confection, apparently almost deserted this time of year, even on a weekend. After a few more kilometres we crossed the canal in Le Grau-du-Roi and headed straight inland along the east side of the canal, past mountains of salt to the walled town of Aigues-Mortes. The late afternoon sun lit up the 13th century walls against the clouds to the east. A very impressive sight. We circled around to the opposite side and entered through a gate to find our chambre d'hote (Hermitage de Saint-Antoin) just inside the ramparts. The ride today had been long but pleasantly varied, almost from the proverbial sublime to the ridiculous.
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We parked our bikes in the charming inner courtyard of our chambre d'hote (more about that tomorrow). After a rest and a short walk around town, we enjoyed dinner in a restaurant on the central square.
Today's ride: 70 km (43 miles)
Total: 982 km (610 miles)
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