Bikepacking - Cavaillon to Saint-Gilles

Day #

33

State of Legs

:-)

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	Distance (miles)	Distance (km)	Ascent (feet)	Ascent (metres)	Punctures
Today	52 miles	km	463 feet	metres	0
Trip Totals	1509 miles	km	62909 feet	metres	0

Today's Route

Route So Far

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Travelogue

Today was mixed once again in terms of the type and quality of cycling. It started in shady countryside, moved on to somewhat dull cycle paths, then farmland and finally a town called Saint-Gilles and its outskirts.

It was warm from the start and by the afternoon, the temperature in the shade was 37 degrees Celsius. Out of the shade on a bike? I shudder to think. But hot, no doubt.

There was sometimes a breeze but all too often today, that breeze turned into a determined headwind so that cycling on the flat, which it generally was today, felt more like cycling up a 5% incline. In the hot sun.

I stopped and bought some bananas and biscuits at a little shop in the village of Mollégès, and ate one of the bananas and a few biscuits for breakfast #1. A cold drink was inserted under my phone.

A bit later I stopped for coffee, a pain au chocolat and a cold drink in Saint-Remy-de-Provence.

From there, I cycled onwards, enjoying the flat and at one point when the evil headwind subsided, getting The Mule up to a full gallop through the farmland, unassisted by gravity! That was fun.

I passed through Beaucaire with its leisure boats moored on the river, crossed the mighty river Rhone and its little brother, Le Petit Rhone, which is not so small, I can tell you!

On arriving in Saint-Gilles, I made the most of it

a) not being Sunday and

b) not being between the hours of 1pm and 4pm

and cycled across town to the nearest Aldi supermarket. I keep getting Aldi and Lidl mixed up but now have a way of telling them apart. Aldi is the crap one with no apparent system to stacking their shelves, empty boxes strewn everywhere and without the items I want to buy usually! Ahem. But I managed to buy food for lunch and dinner, so should not complain.

The Rhone

Same bridge over the Rhone

I got off to a rocky start at the campsite. I arrived. There was a big sign bidding me welcome. That's nice, I thought. But reception was closed and there was no way indicated to contact anyone, which there usually is. I hunted round the place for a member of staff. Any member of staff. Eventually, by chance a staff member came out of the locked restaurant by the busy pool area. I spoke with him. He spoke no English but with my pitiful but effective French he was led to understand that I had arrived, wanted to check-in, get my tent up and have a shower. And that it was hot, I'd cycled a long way and that I was tired! He told me to wait two and a half hours until reception opened again at 4 p.m.

Que?

It was at this point that I discovered that I have the ability to insist without being able to speak the same language as the other person. My insistence was in fact very clear. Insistence that I be admitted now and that I not have to wait two and a half hours. 

I was told again I'd have to wait. "Je ne pens pas" I may or may not have said. I told him to make a call. He made a call and after speaking with the other person for some time, handed me the phone. The lady from reception whose 3 hour lunch break I was presumably interrupting agreed to let me in and told me where I could camp. I could use the showers and come to reception to check in later. Result. It pays to insist sometimes!

My spot is shady and beneath large trees. After setting up my tent the very person I'd spoken to on the phone came over with her dog. She was just walking it I think. I don't believe she had any other plans for me and the dog! And she was very nice indeed and asked me if the spot was OK. After a friendly chat she continued on her way, I had a shower, then a tasty lunch of couscous, tomatoes and sardines and then..... well, here I am, updating the blog once again.

Saint-Gilles is in the Camargue region of Provence and famous, amongst other things for its wild horses. Perhaps I shall see some. Perhaps not.

This is week #5 and I've now cycled over one and a half thousand miles! That's a whole lot of kilometres!

Update - Bats!

I was all set to read my book and then settle down to go to sleep when flying things started diving down past the tent from the surrounding trees. I thought they were birds at first but was wrong. They were bats. Lots of them! Presumably it was prime time for insect hunting and that's what they were doing. Hoovering up flying insects that I like to think included lots of mosquitoes! Go bats!