Ajaccio to Aix en Provence

October 20, 2018

Back to the mainland

A very early start today to catch our 7am flight with Air Corsica to Marseilles. It was a good thing that Pat set her phone alarm as the hotel alarm did not seem to work. It was a short, relatively sleepless night but the taxi was spot on time at 5:15 am.

At just after 5 am, there is only a dog walker left on our party street.

The streets were, of course, empty so the driver took full advantage with speeds up to 120km per hour! We were in the airport by 5:30am, 30 minutes before Air Corsica even permits flight checkin. We like to be at airports early but this was a bit too early! Ajaccio Napoleon Bonaparte airport is quite small and not very busy at this hour.

Our Air Corsica A320 departed on time from Napolean Bonaparte airport.

Our 45 minute flight to Marseilles is fast compared to the overnight Corsica Linea ferry that would have taken 12 hours. We retrieved our baggage and found a quiet area to rebuild the bikes. We are always a bit nervous about flying with the bikes mid-trip as they are travelling with just minimal protection - nylon carry bags! But all is good except for a couple of missing rack connecting bolts that must have been left behind. Fortunately we had a few spares.

Just before 10 am we were rolling out of the airport doors enroute to Aix en Provence. We laughed because this was our normal riding start time but today we had already been up for hours.

We found our way through the airport parking area to a dirt road built as a dyke around a nature reserve right near the airport. It was a completely unexpected lovely ride away from the mass of roads serving the airport. Very calming as the local morning joggers and dog walkers passed by but we knew we would need to join a highway soon.

Although the airport is 20kms from Marseilles, this is a busy French city and we were trying our best to find a fairly quiet way to Aix en Pr. as it is shown on the road signs.

We certainly had our share of busier roads but there was always a bike lane and many road riders to wave to on this Saturday morning. We stopped at a nearby market for a snack and organized a hotel for the next couple of nights. (The store had wifi in the parking lot for the bike watcher 😀). Soon we were off the secondary highway and onto the D63 which was a shared but quieter road.

The only picture I have from today's ride. It was impressive when we turned a corner and there was this amazing aquaduct. It is the Aqueduc de Roquefavour built in the mid 1800's.

We made our way to our planned hotel and asked to see the room before accepting. After our last stay in a larger space we thought this one too small and they did not have storage for our bikes. We were sitting in the corridor looking at our options when the hotel owner asked us if we were interested in seeing another room. Somewhat reluctantly, we followed him to a much larger room with a great courtyard view. And he had solved the bike storage issue. Done deal! Now it was time for a serious nap.

This is the same view we have from a small window in the shower!

The bells ringing from a nearby church tower brought us back to the land of the living and we headed out to see the town.

We had no idea what Madeleines were but people were lining up for them. We bought one from a different shop on the way home. They were a muffin like thing that would have delicious hot out of the oven. The line up for fresh ones makes sense now.

Clock tower in one of the town squares. It was a very busy night on Saturday night in Aix-en-Provence. It is a university town so there were lots of young people out. The weather is still nice.

We had dinner here. The couple beside us met in Vancouver and had a son there. They now live in Germany and were very interesting to talk with.

This is a building on Cours Mirabeau the main street in Aix. I laughed as it looks like these strong men holding up the concrete veranda above are getting headaches from the weight.

We had a fun night out but by 9pm we were dragging. Looking forward to a more in depth tour tomorrow.

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Rachael AndersonI’m glad to have the cliffhanger resolved about which mainland you were headed for. You made an excellent choice. That’s a wonderful area. Hope you get good weather.
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5 years ago

Today's ride: 34 km (21 miles)
Total: 840 km (522 miles)

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