Day 25, 15 6 2013, Arles to Le Grau-du-Rei
We asked our hosts in the lovely little two-star hotel in Orange about the star system for hotels, as we thought theirs was decidedly good. They explained that they considered asking for a three-star rating, but decided that they prefer the two-star sort of client. We were touched. Of course, it may be complete bullshit, but it won us over.
We have seen a lot of snakes on the road, some having better days than this one.
We left Arles late today as we needed to do a bit of planning, and then ended up in an extended conversation with an American couple, intrigued with our form of travel, so we gave them the full spiel, as we usually do.
We rode down through the Camargue, which has to be one of the least exciting parts of France. However, that doesn’t stop a good deal of promotion. Roz was fascinated with the horses, and we saw many, but they did not look particularly happy.
For most of the day we rode in a bit more traffic that we would choose, with a billowing wind that seemed to be more against us than with us, and it was hot.
We stopped at the small resort centre of Mejanes where we met a girl with a flat tyre on her bike. The bike-hire people at the resort had refused to help her, so we fixed the tyre. We were tormented by midges while at the resort, as were the poor horses, saddled and waiting for tourists.
Best to stay clear of this place. Our hope is that the bike-hire people are also tormented by midges.
We rode on to the extraordinary town of Aigues-Mortes. This town is completely walled, and a substantial tourist attraction, and rightly so.
I made a mistake today. Saturday’s in summer can be an issue with accommodation in tourist towns. Roz suggested that Aigues-Mortes may be an OK place to stay, but I had my heart set on reaching the Mediterranean at Le Grau-du-Rei, which is shown on our Michelin maps as a little seaside town.
However, there were thousands of people in huge throngs in this large city, much of which has been built so recently that it does not show on our version of TomTom.
The tourist information people found us an apartment some distance from the beach, which is perfect for our needs. We did not come from a country with the world’s best beaches to go to beaches so we are not concerned.
76Km today, some even character building even though we have enough character after the last few days.
The GPS failed completely today, so the map is an approximation.
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