Last day of prep and sight seeing

September 27, 2018

Bikes ready. Garmin ready. Still working on the effects of time change. It is nice to start a tour with a few days in the same place to get ready for the ride and fix any issues. Today to test our bikes we picked a destination which is just a short ride over the bridge (a completed one) to Villeneuve-lès-Avignon. But first a stop at a local electronics store to get an adapter to connect the camera SD card to the computer. Forgetting critical pieces at home can be expensive but completely necssary to upload pictures.

Our route takes us through town and we find that the main street is quite rideable even without a bike lane. There is little traffic and it moves very slowly on the one lane streets. In fact, bikes are a much quicker way to travel around the old city. We headed out of the walled city and down to the Rhone where we saw a number of river cruise ships.

A river boat tied up to the docks in Avignon. By the number of boats, this must be a popular way to visit the area.

The bridge over the Rhone river has a great cycle lane and we continued to climb up the hill on the other bank. Happy just riding, not really certain of our route until we saw a sign that we were now leaving Villeneuve-lès-Avignon - our planned desination. A bit too far! We took the high route above the town and found ourselves right at the town's main attraction- Le Fort Saint-André sur le Mont Andaon. Continuing up to the highest point in the area (where you always build forts) we reached the fort's gates. The fort was strategically located on the France side of the Rhone River in order to protect the area from lands of the Empire and Avignon Popes.

Commissioned at the end of the 13th century and completed in the 1360s on the border with the Holy Roman Empire and near the residence of the popes in Avignon.

Entering the massive gates of the fort along a rough cobble stone road.

We decided to explore just inside the gates and then try to get to the weekly Thursday market before it closed. We continued on our way and as luck would have it, rode right into the market on the outskirts of the old town. The stalls were starting to close up but lots of delicious treats were still available for our picnic lunch.

We carried on into the centre of the old town and found a great spot in the main square for our picnic lunch. After lunch, we rode slowly around the beautiful old city, enjoying the many sights before heading back toward Rhone and on to the Ile de la Barthelasse.

The island of Barthelasse is the largest river island in Europe. But we had only ridden a short distance when we saw a small ferry crossing the river. Looking like fun, we decded to jump aboard and ride it for the ten minute crossing back to Avignon.

I kept my promise and took Pat on a river cruise. Note that Pont d'Avignon is in the background.

Even a special place for our bikes on this criuse.

Upon landing we decided to look for for a craft brew pub on Rue des Teinturiers. We found it, but it was closed at 2 o'clock so we found another place close by to quench our thirst.

A cold one on the Rue des Teinturiers in Avignon. A paddlewheel used to generate power is in the background.

A closer look at ome of the many paddlewheels that are located in a small chanel of water beside Rue des Teinturiers.

Rue des Teinturiers is a trendy street where several ancient water wheels are located on tree-lined canal. The wheels were once used to provide power for the manufacturing and dyeing of textiles as well as printing and a few other industrial applications at the beginning of the Industrial Age.

We are ready and anxious to begin our ride tomorrow to our first destination -Arles.

Today's ride: 18 km (11 miles)
Total: 18 km (11 miles)

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Steve Miller/GrampiesIf by any chance you are still in Arles on Saturday check out the market. It is really large with a wonderful selection of various local foodstuffs.
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