To Avignon, France

June 21, 2025

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We had another short day today, the better to start seeing the sights of Avignon. However, the Hotel Palace of the Popes is firm on their check in time, and temperatures are still at record highs. 96 degrees for today. We slept in and departed leisurely. I even took the time to clean both chains before we left. That's one day off chore finished. I don't usually clean Jacinto's chain, but I figured I owed him for carrying my computer this trip.

Breakfast was 17E each. It was another case of being a captive audience. They did have a hot section of scrambled eggs, with bacon or sausage. I think the eggs were real eggs someone scrambled. There's that. No fresh juice today. Small, subpar croissants. So far the best croissants have been at the Hotel El Patio in Ales. We both agree on that. They were huge, and flaky.

We left at 10:30. That's late for such a warm day. I was anticipating that we would keep up a good enough speed to create a breeze. We took Komoot's route, which did not take us through Tarascon. That means we miss some of the very nice paved river path. We looked at the routing quite a while last night, trying to figure out how to ride the river path, and skip Tarascon. In the end, we went with the original Komoot route. The better to avoid dirt road surprises. We saw several other loaded cyclists. I imagine they also used Komoot? One pair was a couple a fair amount older than us, on heavily loaded E bikes. I wonder if they carry extra batteries? Many of my friends in Tucson ride E trikes. Almost all of them carry a second battery, just in case. One trike riding friend, who is also a tourist, took a tour after going to an E trike. Sylvia took four batteries and three chargers! Then she needed a trailer to haul everything in. That's a side story, but I thought perhaps of interest here.

Today's route was excellent. I pointed out to Jacinto that Provence is a known good touring area, especially nice for loop tours from a base. He was most excited that he can now see foothills. Mountains are in the future!

We stopped five miles from town at a grocery. That killed some time. We ended up rolling into Avignon at almost 2 PM. It's interesting how I think navigating big towns isn't a problem - as long as I'm following Jacinto!

Avignon is another town that allows only select automobiles in the old town. Score another one for cyclists! Sauf velos (bicycles exempt). Look at me learn French.

We had to walk the bikes around to the back of the hotel and leave them in a tiny courtyard. I think it's also part of the breakfast room. We sat there and had a snack, and got organized. Then it was almost 3 PM. Check in is at 3:30. Perhaps that's good enough? No, no go. We changed clothes in the hall bathroom, and went to eat. One advantage of a tourist area is plenty of choices in the plaza. We had a 24 E Menu du jour, plus Jacinto's 10 E beer! I continue to love the salads. I had a third Taureau in a row. We ordered the exact three items. The waitress said if we changed things up, we could sample more dishes. She obviously doesn't know I don't share. She convinced Jacinto to change salads and mains. We ended up with the same dessert, a filled creme puff with a scoop of ice cream. It was good.

Finally we got into our room. Tell me why I was in a hurry? The AC is totally non existent. Nothing but warm air blowing. We are on the top (5th) floor. This is our day off spot. We were really looking forward to lounging all day out of the heat. Jacinto went down and asked for a fan. The desk clerk came back with him, flipped a switch in the hallway, saying that would hopefully do the job. A side note is the clerk wasn't allowed to take the elevator, but had to walk up all five flights. Then he walked back a second time, with a fan for us. It's a good thing he's a young man. I wonder if he counts his steps?

Even with the fan, our room is miserable with the afternoon sun beating on the windows. We discussed skipping our day off tomorrow and leaving early. Our next town we know we don't have AC. But the lodging says the air is fresh. I hope that's the truth.

In the meanwhile, Jacinto has made himself a route for tomorrow, to escape the room. It should have been a clue when the reception area was not cool. I might be sad to be roasting in the room tomorrow, but I'm ready for a day off after 13 days riding. We did check out different areas of the hotel, but there doesn't seem to be any cool spots. Let me ask a second time - why is no one mentioning this on booking.com? I dug through the reviews. Out of 2,500 reviews, there were 5-6 mentioning AC. Sorry to go on about this, but it's a real disappointment.

We went to dinner for an activity, not so much because we were hungry. We sat as close as possible to the misters. Then they were turned off! We think a family sitting right under them complained they were too wet. We certainly weren't.

Today is a national holiday for music festivals. They are all set up in the plaza, and had music all evening. We also saw two weddings at the opera house across the street. The first one had dancing in the plaza for 30-45 minutes after, with Muslim music and clothing. The second wedding, the bride had a traditional white dress, no dancing, just photos on the steps.

It's a busy place. 30 degrees less hot and we would enjoy it.

A third photographed cross, but we saw more.

Our morning depart photo. This hotel had a hanging sign in addition to the discrete sign next to the front door. That was appreciated.

Notice the post to Jacinto’s left. This is in the part of Arles with limited automobile access. An Uber had picked up at our hotel, and was waiting behind us. We were waiting for the light to change. He honked at us, we went, and then the post retracted into the ground. That’s too fancy.

This is a road. We met a car coming the other way. We pulled onto the grass. I don’t know what happens if two cars meet.

In general, we haven’t seen as many churches as Spain. Only the larger towns have churches, and they are big stone churches. What we do see is random crosses at random locations. I like the shadow on this one.

Is this net for the sun or to keep birds out?

Here's a second random cross. I took a spill while photographing this. I had one foot on the pedal, and one on the ground. Both hands were holding the phone. The front wheel of the bicycle turned and slid to the right. Down I went. It's not far on a recumbent. My back was a little raw from the seat of my recumbent sliding along it. I had just cleaned the chain this morning, and should have wiped it off a little better. I have a chain tattoo. Jacinto was alarmed to catch up with me and see me on the ground. I was fine. I have plenty of padding!

I think this is espalier style pruning on apple trees. It’s hard to tell with the netting. Why is there netting on apple trees? Birds don’t eat apples?

We stopped five miles from town. I requested cold and wet. Here’s what Jacinto bought. We had about five ice cubes left. Jacinto helpfully suggested I continue the 2023 tradition of putting ice cubes in my bra. I did!

The bike lanes in Avignon are well marked.

Bicycle parking in the inner courtyard at Palace of the Popes.

These are not bedbug bites, these are not bedbug bites!

Our room at the Palace of the Popes was underwhelming. The worst, worst part is the AC is non existent. They did bring us a small desk top fan. I am sweating here on the bed. It’s miserable. This is our day off splurge? There are 2,500 reviews on booking.com. Why is no one talking about the AC?

We do have a good view from our window. I would trade for working AC.

Today's ride: 25 miles (40 km)
Total: 577 miles (929 km)

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Jeff LeeLack of ice, and now lack of air conditioning. I don't think I'll be journeying to these strange, distant lands.
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1 week ago

Kelly IniguezTo Jeff LeeYou know what I think bothers me the most is not being able to communicate in a casual conversation. My bike draws lots of attention. I can tell people are saying positive things, from their facial and body cues. But I don't know what they are saying. The best I can do is smile largely and nod my head.
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1 week ago

John McTo Kelly IniguezKelly
You are a good communicator in English. I recall working on French yacht in Cannes back in the day and having young French guests aboard with whom I couldn't communicate, it was frustrating. Still there's no time like the present to learn a few key words.

The humidity & the heat = L'humidité et la chaleur . Everyone talks about the weather!
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1 week ago

Kelly IniguezTo John McJohn,

Thanks for finding me here. I had suggested to Jacinto we should starting learning some French over the winter. He was sure Spanish and English would get us by. It has, but life would have been easier if we had taken your suggestion earlier. Maybe he will be more receptive this winter!
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1 week ago

John McTo Kelly IniguezKelly
You are an inspiration to us all to keep active. Have a great tour. I'm sorry it's so warm and I'm sorry you're having issues with hotel rooms with flaky A/C.
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1 week ago