September 24, 2021
Day 7 - Avignon to Arles
Last day of riding!
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Our last day of riding! Boohoo!
The Hotel de l’Horloge put on an above-average breakfast. There were scrambled eggs, but they were a little weird-tasting. Some decent sausage, too. Not up to yesterday’s standards, but we made do. :)
We rolled out onto the Place de l’Horloge and scooted down the hill toward the town walls. A bit of challenging route-finding ensued, but we eventually figured out where we were. The Avignon walls are pretty impressive and you’re not really aware of them when you’re in the town.
We crossed the Rhône on a dedicated cycle lane with a bike counter (we were the 319th bike of the day). We stopped mid-span for a photo of the famous (to French people) Pont d’Avignon. In the old days, this was the passage between the kingdom of France and the Holy Roman Empire. I think I have that right…
Of course, borders require securing. So we took a short detour to checkout the tower of Philippe the Fair. This tower sat on the Kingdom of France side of the bridge. It’s an impressive piece of military architecture, making a statement of power while serving a purpose. Did they have passports back then? What happened in 1550 when you crossed into France?
As a side note, how cool would it be to go down in history for being good-looking. We call him Philippe the Fair, but the French word for him is “Bel”, like handsome. He must have paid off the biographers.
After our dalliance with 15th century kings, we headed south out of town on roads. But really nice ones - tree-shaded and quiet. I don’t think a car passed us during the first 5k. Eventually we were routed onto crushed limestone paths that paralleled a pretty busy road. Easy riding though. We were struck with this TGV bridge. Why build 2 separate bridges? Because you can?
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2 years ago
The limestone path dumped us onto some farm roads - again very quiet, and we made our way to Aramon. A nice little country town with a cafe, which contained some other bike tourists that we’ve been meeting along the way. A nice Dutch couple, who we joined for a cup of coffee while discussing the route and future plans.
Back out into the countryside, we eventually wound up on a rails-to-trails conversion with impeccable paving. What a great ride! It even included a tunnel. We made appropriate train noises.
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And then we were in Beaucaire. We ate our apple and almond lunch sitting at a picnic table in the middle of an immense grove of plane trees.
Beaucaire and Tarascon are on opposite sides of the Rhone, separated by a bridge. Each one has a castle. The castle in Beaucaire is up on a hill, and the castle in Tarascon is down by the river. Guess which one we visited?
We crossed the river to the castle at Tarascon. Another amazing piece of military architecture. It’s massive!
Unfortunately there were a couple of guys working on the bridge and their truck was blocking the access to the castle. We could squeeze by but we couldn’t get the bike past them. So we walked in one at a time to inspect the innards of the castle.
While Robin was inspecting, Rich took a picture of the bike in front of a typical Provençal street.
Military inspections finished, we braved the traffic of Beaucaire and were soon back out in the countryside. The Provençal sun made itself felt, so we decided a cookie break was in order. As we were chomping our cookies, our Dutch friends flew by with a wave.
We were getting close. Next up was crossing an old, old bridge that’s been reserved for bikes and pedestrians.
And then the city limit sign. We stopped a hapless jogger and he happily took our picture. Another tour complete!
Some more interesting route-finding, and we were in Arles. It was busy! Tons of cars, people milling around…we ended up dismounting and walking the bike into the center of town to find the Hotel du Forum, our digs for the night. We had arrived!
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The hotel had a sweet bike garage for the tandem, so we stowed it, cleaned up, and took off to explore. We’ve been to Arles a few times, so we mainly enjoyed walking around the city.
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One thing we hadn’t seen before was the Alyschamps. This is an area of old tombs just outside the center of town. It dates originally from Roman times, when they used to bury people on the roads out of town. In the midst of the traffic-snarled city, this area is a real haven of peace and quiet.
We walked back to our hotel the long way as the sun went down. The arena is always worth a look. I’m always amazed when I see Roman stuff still standing.
For dinner, we went to Cuit Cuit, which promised rotisserie chicken and associated dishes. Rich’s chicken burger was good, but Robin’s rotisserie chicken was dry. It was great to sit out on another lovely summer evening, though. Our Dutch friends walked by during dinner with a hearty “Bon appétit”.
We had a drink in the hotel bar to celebrate the end of the ride. It was a really fantastic experience and we’re looking forward to the next one.
The hotel agreed to hold our bike until tomorrow evening, so tomorrow’s job is to take the train back to Vienne, pick up our car, and drive back to Arles to get the bike. Rich bought train tickets online tonight. Let’s see how it goes!
Today's ride: 63 km (39 miles)
Total: 391 km (243 miles)
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2 years ago