The last days of France...

After a much needed day off exploring Aix in Provence we took to the road once again. We decided since we are running a bit behind schedule to skip Avignon and simply go straight across to Arles. Shortly into the ride to Arles we felt the benefit of our day off...stronger legs and we enjoyed a nice ride to Arles. Arles itself is a beautiful old city with a Roman Coliseum which is in various stages of preservation and restoration but largely intact. We actually managed to find a campsite in Arles, where we met an Italian musicologist, hitching his way across France with only his rucksack and guitar, on his way to St. Marie de la Mer to experience the music of the annual Gypsy pilgrimage to Saint Sarah the Black (the unmentioned daughter of Jesus Christ and Mary Magdalene). Allen freestyled a blues tune since named the Bicycle Blues and we were off to sleep and off to parts unknown.

Leaving Arles we took a wrong turn and ended up on the right road through the Camargue, a national wetlands area, which was flat as a pancake and reminded us somewhat of what Minnesota might look like, had either of us ever been there. The Camargue promised to be the home of flocks of Pink Flamingos, however, for a good part of the ride the only flamingo we saw was a 30 foot tall steel scuplture whcih we assumed represented the now extinct pink flamingos of the Camargue...and then we saw them, real life wild flocks of pink flamingos in their natural habitat, quite a beautiful sight. The pink flamingo is an intelligent bird that does not like to be photographed, we stopped close to a flock to take a picture and they promptly began walking away while turning their backs on us, like we haven´t had that experience before...

The ride through the Camargue was made easier by imagining that we were being chased by a mythical beast that lived inside the depths of the Camargue and was just waiting for the Gods to release it and have the two of us for lunch. Thankfully the only blood that was lost in the Camargue was from the Mosquitoes at our campsite in Vic di Gardiole just outside of Montpellier. The campsite was hot and muggy, and the conditions made it impossible to sleep. Oh Well, back on the bikes again.

The road to Narbonne took us through the last vestiges of the the flat, wind at our backs, land of the Camargue. We arrive late into Narbonne and, despite being teased with a sign promising campsites at the entrance to the city, found none, and ended up in a hotel once again. Leaving Narbonne was no easier than finding a place to stay there as we experienced our first mechanical difficulties of the trip. Allen had been complaining that his rear brake wasn´t working properly, so we decided to seek out a bicycle shop in Narbonne before leaving, they were closed, and so we sat down to figure it out ourselves when we noticed that it wasn´t the brake at all! Actually, Allen´s rear wheel had practically exploded, four broken spokes which had been blown for who knows how long had rendered the wheel, in the words of one bicycle shop that we found that was actually open, DEAD! Nothing that 250 Euros and an entirely new wheel set couldn´t fix, and by 4:30 p.m. we were finally on the road, after a brief stop at KFC! Despite our mechanical troubles and our late start we managed to make the entire trip to Perpignan, some forty five miles, thanks to a mostly downhill grade, some sunshine, and a little help from our friends the Camino Angels!

Once again, NO CAMPSITE IN PERPIGNAN, but it was our last night in france!