Provence and riding challenge overcome

Dear friends and family,

Even though I’ve done a few major bike tours, I’m still not used to:

After a couple of hours riding today, I noticed that my quads were burning today. Then I realized that I was kinda tired overall. A couple of big days in the saddle after a month was wearing me down some. I checked my navigation and computed that I had about three more hours to still ride at my present pace. Three MORE hours. Prior to these tours that would have been mind boggling as I probably only ever rode three hours at a time and that was after being well rested and on an  unloaded bike.

But I knew that I could and I would and then get to the city and navigate the busy streets when tired and I would make it and not even suffer. Much.

Then the rain came. We had our rain gear deep in our panniers as the forecast showed none today. As we looked for a bridge to hide under, the soft  dirt we had been riding on attached itself to wheels and jammed inside fenders, ultimately making it not just difficult but impossible to even push till we took a stick and made room inside the fenders, allowing the wheels to rotate.

Soon we got onto a paved road followed by another dirt road of less sticky dirt.

One might think we were disheartened but seeing hundreds of common cranes in fields next to us, making their signature noise and then noticing the great blue heron watching us, mixed in with the snowy egrets  dissolved any negatives. What a welcome for us to Provence on our way to Arles, where Vincent Van Gogh lived for a bit and painted some of his masterpieces. 

We had booked a bus trip from Montpellier to Venice for yesterday, a ten hour trip to get us over the foothills of the Italian Alps and jump start a tour down the Adriatic coast. The weather forecast for the start of that trip was cold, rainy and windy or we could head northeast and explore Provence in better weather and stay another couple of weeks in France. Turned out to be an easy decision to bail on that plan ( for now) and fruitful so far as well.

On our way we saw several of the famed white (wild?) horses of the area, but none of the wild bulls that were promised, and we were ok with that. I was wondering if they would be easier or harder to outrun than the pit bulls two years ago in Louisiana.i never got to find out and not bummed about that.

The city of Arles has a population of over 50,000 people. It is comprised of the well preserved old town with crazy growth on the outskirts. In fact, I booked us into the cheapest hotel in town, but when we rode into their parking lot in the industrial section I was thinking that maybe a motel 6 in the US would have been classier. As we wanted the room for more than an hour, we seemed the exception, so I forfeited my $57 and we booked a slightly more expensive place right in the old town.

Settlements were here since about six hundred  years BC. There’s a Roman amphitheater and Coliseum in the center of the old town. Wandering through the curvy narrow streets is a favorite activity and then coming out into Roman ruins every half mile is a little mind boggling. Maybe that is what caused Van Gogh to commit himself. This was in the days before home lobotomy kits ( a real thing), so he found it best to enter an asylum.

I try to imagine life here in Roman times and noticed the drains in the center of streets that I assume drained all sewage. And I was worried about the dog shit!

I’m interested in the real estate prices and also the pictures on listings of apartments inside the old city with weathered ancient doors to open into modern dwellings. Since the streets are so narrow, there’s no place in front of the apartment to park and lots are scattered throughout to accommodate vehicles. I’ll talk more about costs here in a later post.

Arles is a major tourist attraction with over two million tourists per year. They don’t come mid December like us and most of the shops and restaurants are shut. In fact, it’s been a challenge to find decent restaurants open. A few times we’ve eaten some French version of fast food for sustenance as nearby restaurants were all closed. Often we dine at our hotel restaurants and mostly meals were good.typically a price fix meal with two choices of entree ( appetizer), main course and dessert.Prices  varied, but ranged from 19 euros to 28 euros each.

We stayed here for two non-riding days to explore and wander. And we waited out the 30 knot winds from the north ( our intended direction) as we wouldn’t make much progress anyways.

Tomorrow heading deeper into Provence along the Rhône River. Sure am enjoying Provence so far.

Sending love,

Charley