A final spin

Although we managed a couple of smaller rides before we left Lyon for a week's non-cycling holiday in Italy (Rome, Naples, Herculaneum, Pompeii, Amalfi Coast etc) the challenge of making it from Lyon to the Mediterranean proved too strong. And so, with only a few days remaining before our departure, we repacked our panniers and saddled up...

Day 1 - Lyon to Romans sur Isere (137km/85 miles, 3737 feet of climbing)

It would have seemed much easier to simply follow the Rhone valley south, but there are not any decent cycling routes through the flat, fairly industrial centre - so we headed to the hills. All of our previous complaints about rain and cold were forgotten - in the hot and sunny weather, we enjoyed whatever shade we could find.

We stopped for lunch fairly early in Villefontaine - an ugly, modern working-class town by the side of the A43 (i.e. a big auto-route). We found a reasonable restaurant by the side a shopping complex and ordered a "plat de jour".

After lunch, in the hottest part of the day, we began the first of three major climbs. Our bodies were just getting used to being back on the bike, and we really felt as though we had thrown ourselves in the deep end. The only respite was a wonderful "Glacier" at Hauterives - Brittany was missing the sorbet after the gelatarias in Italy.

By the time we eventually reached Romans, we were truly pooped. At the local tourist information centre, we managed to find a hotel with air-conditioning and a swimming pool - needless to say, we were in our swimmers and in the water within minutes of our arrival.

Day 2 - Romans to Orange (i.e. obviously named after Orange, NSW) (136km/85 miles, 3884 feet of climbing)

We left Romans fairly early, knowing that it was going to be just as hot and hilly today as it was yesterday. There were more and more fruit stalls by the sides of roads, and we managed to pick up ingredients for a picnic lunch as we went. Traffic was clearly getting busier, and the Belgian and Swiss drivers weren't as a good as the French in terms of giving us plenty of room by the side of the road.

Our lunch spot was near the top of the second major climb for the day, in a picnic area crammed with families traveling towards the Med. A french family invited us to share a picnic table with great views of the valley below.

Just like yesterday, we left the hardest climb to the hottest part of the day... a straight climb of over 1000 feet. Luckily, once we reached the top, it was downhill all the way to our final destination. This did not stop Simon reaching an angry point of starved exhaustion with about 6km left to go ("where the f%&k is the bl*&dy information centre" etc)..

We eventually found the tourist information centre and booked us into a very cheap chain hotel ("Etap"). After a quick shower, we found ourselves dinner (Simon had moules cooked in their own weight of garlic) and spent the evening exploring some of Orange's Roman antiquities (would have been more impressive if we had not just come from Pompeii etc).

Day 3 - Orange to Aigues-Mortes (128km/80miles - nearly all flat or downhill)
Knowing the day's max temperature was going to be in the high 30s (100 degrees farenheight), we decided to get out early. We stopped for breakfast inside the walls of Avignon, before heading down the long, flat valley towards the med. Simon was pushing fairly hard, and we averaged 20mph for nearly three hours.

We had reached the marshy "Camargue" region by lunch, and struggled to find a nice place for a picnic lunch (the first time in France that we couldn't find a picnic table). We ended up sitting on the mosquito-ridden bank of a small river, having dragged the tandem onto the top of the steep levy.

We found a much better spot to stop about 15 minutes later (always the way...) where we found a fruit stall with shaded picnic tables. We both felt a lot better having eaten half a refrigerated honey-dew melon washed down with icy-cold Evian.

Back on the bike, we soon discovered that we were cycling the Tour de France route that would be raced the following day. We pretty much followed the route all the way into our final destination - although probably at a lesser speed than the pros will be doing.

Sue and John had thankfully reached Aigues-Mortes several hours earlier than planned - they greeted us with cold water and a car in which to store all of our stuff while walking around the pretty, walled city. Although we had reached the marshes of the Mediterranean, we really wanted to wade in the sea, so Sue and John took us to a beach (via a ferry). We snapped the necessary photos before starting the long drive back to Lyon.