October 16, 2021
Pont-Saint-Esprit to Avignon
We were reminded today why we are better cyclists than tourists. We decided to check in to our hotel in Avignon early, then head straight for the Palais des Papes. It all worked out according to plan, yet somehow we ended up less satisfied than if we'd put in a long day of riding. That having been said, I do love the idea of finding ways to ride and sightsee off the bike within the same day. It's just a logistical hassle. If we really want to be tourists, we'll do like we did in Spain and spend two or three days in every city of interest.
Anyway, on with the show. The weather is certainly improving as we ride south. The wind is back, again in our favor, so no complaints there. No Rhône crossings except at Pont-Saint-Esprit. Flawless tarmac. Only the anti-vehicle barriers in Avignon slowed us down. I mean, just look at these brand-spanking-new trails!
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Lunch was outside the strangely-walled town of Caderousse. The wall is not very tall, and not very vertical. I could only speculate that they sealed off the gates during floods. And... it turns out that I'm right! After lunch, we meandered aimlessly within the walls on bike, partially out of curiosity, partially to kill time. It's a neat place.
If you stick to the ViaRhôna, you won't go through any towns at all between Pont-Saint-Esprit and Sorgues, near Avignon. However, besides Caderousse, you can also make side trips to Mondragon, Orange, and Châteauneuf-du-Pape.
Once we took care of locking up the bikes and dragging our bags up two flights of stairs, we walked briskly to the palace in order to get in before they closed the door. Apparently they don't sell tickets online for the last hour, so you have to wait in line for them. It wasn't a long wait, but everything was kind of chaotic. Touring during the off-season made us forget what a circus it can be:
I should be thankful that it was only this busy on a Saturday afternoon. We got our tickets, they gave us some silly tablet/audioguide thing, and we were expected to figure all this stuff out on our own. That alone took about 15 minutes. The audio stuff was good. The visuals were interesting only because most rooms were so sparsely populated with furniture. It helped you imagine where benches, tables, etc. might be placed, considering the function and history of each room. I feel like they should have recreated some of it physically, not just digitally. But then I suppose you wouldn't be able to squeeze as many visitors in. That's some pre-COVID thinking for you there! We took lots of pictures except in the painted rooms, where they forbid photography. I'm sure they only care about flash photography, but I've read The Count of Monte Cristo and I wasn't about to spend the next 14 years rotting in a French jail cell (and the fact that Caderousse is a character in the novel is not lost on me). Of course the painted rooms were the most photographable. Forbidden fruit.
I think that an hour was enough time for the rooms that were open during our visit. We both agreed that a traditional audioguide is superior to this tablet-guide nonsense. The teenage visitors, however, were lapping it up. So it's probably just a generation-gap thing.
At this point we were tired and hungry, and even though there were plenty of options for us to eat out along our return stroll, we had a kitchenette, and by George we were going to use it.
Our plan is to try camping again for the next couple of days. I've identified places that are open in October. It might be our last hurrah!
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Today's ride: 62 km (39 miles)
Total: 2,403 km (1,492 miles)
| Rate this entry's writing | Heart | 7 |
| Comment on this entry | Comment | 1 |
I’m enjoying your journal ! You two are far tougher than we are.
2 years ago