To Aigues-Mortes, France

June 19, 2025

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Jacinto didn't protest much when I suggested a 7 AM breakfast. It was a typical spread. I started with yogurt and fruit. There were only two hard boiled eggs. I asked for more. The attendant replied in English that the eggs are too hot, and that's why she hadn't put them out. That made sense. I went on to the meat and cheese with croissants. When I went back, there were hard boiled eggs, already peeled. Good! Those were the oddest, yuckiest, hard boiled eggs I've ever eaten. Jacinto thinks she misspoke and meant to say the eggs were still cold (frozen). I did eat one, but I sure didn't eat the second egg. It was too firm, and very rubbery, a most unpleasant texture.

This lady was also on duty last night and speaks English. I think she'd had enough of giving us ice. I asked for ice for our bottles, but she said to bring the bottles down. I went up to the third floor, and back down. Tedious, but I wanted ice. It took her some time to fill Jacinto's camelbak and my one bottle. Then when we went to leave, she asked for our key. It was the credit card style that you have to insert in the slot to make the room lights work. We had left it there. She literally rolled her eyes at us. Yep. Not a fan of this hotel. Last night the AC was non working to the degree that Jacinto went downstairs and asked for a fan. Which they did have. We ended up with a tolerable, but not necessarily pleasant night's sleep. We were okay with leaving town!

It was already warm to hot in the sunshine. Today had little shade, but we were clipping right along at 12-14 mph with very little effort. That's the sort of riding that makes me think I'm a cyclist! Best of all was more extended bike path riding. We saw ALL SORTS of touring cyclists. I've never seen so many panniers in one day. It seems most were couples. I gave everyone a hearty, "bon jour" - and got hardly any replies. I had just announced that I was going to quit greeting people when they started greeting me first. How do you like that?

We saw a line of bright yellow shirts in front of us. It was a group of middle school age kids on a day ride with adults. We passed them while they were resting, and then when we stopped at the water fountain, they caught us, so we had to hurry to get down the street first.

We were to town before noon. Jacinto was skeptical we could leave our bikes at the hotel, but we could! We changed clothes in the closed garage. I had a small spit bath before putting on my street clothes. Jacinto laughed at me and said all I was doing was stirring the stink around. We agreed to eat lunch, and then do the ramparts. Hopefully that would take long enough we could check into our room. The Hotel St Louis seems firm on 4 PM. There was an older than us couple trying to check in also. It appeared they were going to sit and wait on the lounge sofa. It might have been a long wait.

There were a dozen places to eat on the plaza near the hotel. We picked one with a daily menu special that looked good. I ordered fish with a cream sauce. It was good, but I would have eaten more. Jacinto got a large serving of beef steak, which he politely shared. I went with the safe choice of ice cream for dessert!

Now we were fortified for the ramparts. It was 8E each to enter. That's why we were going in the middle of the day. They close the gates at 6 PM. I was hoping to go in the evening when it cooled off. One advantage to the heat is that there were few people out and about. I told Jacinto I had one more rampart I wanted to walk (Avignon), that would make three ramparts. Three is a good number.

We stopped at a little grocery and bought a giant water, which we finished off while sitting in the shady plaza. I could have sat and people watched a bit more, but a tour group came up. Some people wanted to sit and listen. It was almost 4 PM, so we went to the hotel. We got into the room. Jacinto's first thing was to check the AC. It seemed weak to start, but is no acceptable. Our room tonight is the very first one at the top of the first stairs. That's much better than hiking to the third floor. My knee is mostly happy. I can climb stairs fine, but going down stairs is still a cautious move. I've been taking the elevator down when there is an elevator. I don't know if Jacinto takes the stairs racing or not, but he's always waiting for me at the bottom.

We had a real shower. No spit bath now! We made a serious dent in our snacks, and still went to eat at 7 PM. It was nice to have so many choices nearby on the plaza. We went to a different place, and ordered a smaller special that didn't have a starter. We both got the beef, and the dessert. Jacinto said he'd rather trade the salad for the dessert, but that isn't how the special works.

We bought a new jar of pickles at the little grocery. We are combating all of that sweating.

Tomorrow we swing south to Saintes Maries. We have to take a ferry. It is a two minute crossing, but only runs every half hour. Then we head north to Arles. I hope we see some flamingos, cattle, and horses.

I found this creature disturbing, but I couldn’t quit looking either!

Seeing snails still gives me the creeps. I couldn’t live somewhere that humid.

We saw many touring cyclists today. That was inspiring. We speculated what might be in this giant red bag.

We were going to fill our water bottles at this city water source, but it said non potable.

Something is wrong with a Disney type train at a 12th century fort.

This bicycle parking is discretely located. The bag of leaves makes a great cover.

We finally saw grapes up close. We’ve seen vineyards almost daily for the entire trip.

The tour boat Constance motors up the canal next to the bike path.

Our bedroom was modest, but the price was 157E. Bicycle parking is 12E. I missed that information in the original email.

The salt flats as seen from the ramparts.

It was a one mile walk around the ramparts. A tired man who spoke English told us once we started up the stairs, we were committed, there’s no other out spot.

There was a nice breeze blowing my to take some of the heat out of our 3 PM circumvention.

Then we ate lunch. Our starter was a tasty salad. It had some sort of pastry wrapped deep fried cheese as the center piece.

After last night’s dessert fiasco, Jacinto went with the apple tart. He said it wasn’t as good as homemade American apple pie.

Artwork featuring cattle is all over town.

For dinner we both ordered a local specialty. I would describe it as pot roast with olives. It’s a local specialty. gardiane de taureau. Google tells me that taureau is an intact bull of 24 months or more. That’s specific and interesting. I would order this again, but if it’s a regional specialty, I probably won’t have a chance.

My dinner dessert was fine, not special. I would describe it as a gelatin with a cake base. They are fond of chantilly in France. Whipped cream

Today's ride: 32 miles (51 km)
Total: 509 miles (819 km)

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Scott AndersonWow, you're there! I can't believe you're over halfway through France already. Enjoy the flats, here come the Alps!
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