July 12, 2012
Day 32: Hot and Cold
Today I toured Provence, or at least the part of it from Viole to Avignon. I wasn’t going to go out of my way to add extra miles, that's for sure. The plan was simple—easy riding and flat roads whenever possible. It seemed the sensible thing to do after yesterday’s leg breaker. And it pretty much worked out that way.
My route was based on a combination of my Garmin and those little cartoon maps they have at the tourist office. It seemed to work out okay, I’m not lost anyway. The goal, as I said, was Avignon, were I plan to stay a couple of days, until it’s time to hop on another train to Toulouse.
I found a nice campsite on the river. Or, I should say at the least the setting is nice, right across from the town. The area assigned to riders and people in tents without a reservation is a bit crowded. Even then, there were some unexpected instructions.
“If you camp in this area here,” the campground host said, as she pointed to the campground map close to the river, “You will have to move your tent at 8:00am on Saturday because of the fireworks, and you can’t return until midnight. It’s a safety zone.”
You see, Saturday is the 14th, Bastille Day, which is like the 4th of July in France. Still, I didn’t have any choice. My only option was the “safety zone.” I may have to move my tent in two days, if I decided to stay.
After setting up I explored the town a bit. There is a cool thing near the campground. A pedestrian ferry that continually crosses the river to take us, and our money, to the city to spend it. It's kind of cool, actually, and it's free. Here, I'll show you...
So The Trucker and I took the little ferry and checked out the train station and possible tickets to Toulouse. Then I hunted for the TGV (high speed rail) station, to see if that's a possibility. But it's different from the city station, somehow. I rode all over the place but never did find it.
The weather today was hot. Which I like, and that's fine, but it doesn't change the fact that I think I’m catching a cold. I don’t feel right. I’m hoping a good night’s sleep will nip it in the bud. My fingers are crossed.
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Today's ride: 80 km (50 miles)
Total: 3,057 km (1,898 miles)
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