Hubert had already bought the essentials for a big breakfast by the time I was up. He cycles a lot as well, so the breakfast was rather complete, something that I really appreciated. I put my new tire on the bike, loaded it with all my bags and off to the road again.
The destination of the day was Nimes, which has an impressive Roman Arena. I did a big detour to get there, to avoid the motorway but also visit a nice village. I got to Sommieres just on time for lunch, so I bought a some pate from the local botcher, bread, cheese and tomatoes and had them by the river.

The rest of the way from Sommieres to Nimes was entirly on a cycle path which I rather enjoied, after spending the last couple of days on busier roads. The only problem was the head wind which made the ride slow.

I got to Nimes and after an ice cream break went straight for the big monument. The Arena is about 2000 years old and the best preserved in the world. It used to host 24000 spectators, who would go there to see the famous gladiators and other kind of bloody shows. I spend about an hour in there, wondering around the corridors and looking at the arena while listening to the audio guide which had detailed description of how the events took place. The arena is occasionally used even today for bullfights. Another cyclist I met in Carcassonne, visited the Arena to watch some. He told me they have two shows a day and on each one they kill 6 bulls.

I departed and started making my way to the south again, as I will soon be visiting Marseille. I ended up checking into a camping in Saint Giles, which was about 20km away from Nimes

.

After a heavy and good sleep in the hotel’s room, I woke up and quickly packed my stuff, anxious to see what will happen with my burst tire. The owner of the hotel did drive me to the closest shop to look for a spare. The first place had a very poor selection and couldn’t find the right one. The second one had a single tire of the correct size and even if it was’t what I liked, I just had to buy it, as the hotel guy was loosing his tempter. I returned to the hotel and fitted it and off I went again.
After all these I wasn’t up for much cycling and luckily Montpellier wasn’t far at all. On the way, I cycled over a freshly paved road and a layer of hot tarmac stuck on my front wheel. After what happened the day before, by the time I got to Montpellier, I went to a decent bike shop and replaced the front tire as well just to prevent any more surprises.
I send a text to one of the guys I met in the Carcassonne’s hostel, that he had just moved there. He invited me to stay over and we ended up spending the whole day together sightseeing the city. Hubert is from Quebec and has just started architecture in Montepellier, which happens to be a big student city, with many schools and universities.
We visited a photographic exhibition of the famous aerial photographer Yann Arthus Bertrand. Then we wondered around the old part of the city, which is rather big and consists of hunderds of small alleys. At one end of the old city, there is a big plaza from where you can see the old water system and many buildings in Roman style. In general Montpellier is fantastic and very lively, with its fantastic old city, loads of events and crazy students.

After a few hours of walking, we went back to the flat to cook and eat. As it was still early, we decided and went out again for some drinks. After more than a month living in my tent, I am very glad I had this opportunity to out again and socializing with french people.

That's a lot of bear

The Mediterranean was still there in the morning

From early in the morning it was rather warm, so I knew it would be a hard day. After a short stop at the post office to mail a few things back home, I started cycling north-east. By accident I came accross the Canal du Midi again, so I didn’t miss the opportunity to ride its last 10km, which were equally beautiful with the rest of what I’ve seen.

Once again, at the Canal Du Midi

and the tarmac cyclepath next to it

The canal took me straight to one of my destinations, to the city of Adge. The old city, like many others I’ve visited, was full of small alleys and nice squares. I stopped for a light lunch and a break to read my book.

Adge

...and its streets

Next stop was Sete for which I’ve heard good things as well. To go there, I took a 13km road which is on a very thin strip of land between the sea and a big basin.

The road to Sete and the city at the background

The city is all around the hill. On the south side, the one I was coming from, is just a resort with many big hotels and facilities. On the other side I found the older part of the city. Sete is a fishing town with a port full of big fishing boats and the distinct smell of fish.

Sete

It was getting late and I wanted to go to Villeneuve-les-Maguelone to camp, because it’s only 10km away from Montpellier and I wanted to avoid getting into the big city. As I was looking for my way out of Sete, I saw a bike shop and I thought I should fully pump the back tire after the puncture I had three days ago. When I did so, I realized that the tire had a massive split and it was the inner layer that was holding it together. Luckily I was in a bike shop with many spares, but unfortunately it didn’t have the exact size I wanted. The tire was 25mm thick and the shop had 23mm and 30mm.  Thinking about all these off tarmac routes I’ve taken, I thought it should be better to get the 30mm one. I put it on, pumped it up and off I went.

For a moment I thought about celotaping it

Flamingos and many other birds

That's not a commando training center, that's a petit dog school of acrobatics.

As I was getting in to Villeneuve-les-Maguelone, disaster happened. I hit a light bump, then I heard a strange sound, then my back tire burst and then the back rim was grinding on the tarmac! Both the inner tube and the brand new tire were split and I was stuck in the middle of nowhere and too far away from the shop I bought it. I was probable my mistake, because I used the same inner tube which was probable to thin for a bigger tire. I took the inner tube out and put the destroyed tire back on, so at least I can push the bike without further destroying the rim. I asked some kids where the camping is and I started a long walk to get there. Half an hour later I got to the camp site and saw that it was closed because of the season. Great! It was already dark and I needed to find somewhere to sleep. I had a pizza from a little van opposite the street and the lade told me there is a hotel in the village. Having no other option I walked there and begged for a discount. Thankfuly I got it and the owner promised he will drive me to Montpellier to find a bike shop and fix the bike. So let’s see…

I left the nice hostel and the fantastic old city of Carcassonne through its gates and continued my way to the east. I didn’t have a specific destination, all I wanted was to reach the Mediterranean sea and pass to the next stage of my trip.
The ride was very easy, as it was flat and most of all I had a tail wind that pushes me to the right direction all day long. What I noticed today was that as I was going further away from Carcassonne, the scenery was slowly been transformed to the more familiar landscapes I am used to see in Greece. For the last 50km, all I could see was small rocky hills, with low and dry vegetation and many pine trees. On top of that, just after midday the sky cleared and the temperature rose above 30 Celsius. Of course there were many vineyards in between to remind me I am still in France.

Thanks to the wind, by 1pm I was 50km away in the city of Narbonne. Initially, as I was approaching, I wasn’t that impressed. But by the time I reached the center, I saw the good part of the city, with the canal du Robin running by the main plaza and going under the commercial center. In the plaza there is a big cathedral and some other old building, surrounded my many cafes and restaurants, where people enjoy their lives.

After a short break and a crepe, I started cycling again to the sea. It was only 15km, with a final climb on a 150 meters hill. After many turns, the Mediterranean sea appeared and the enjoyable downhill started.

I got to the Narbonne plage and I was thinking to continue further north, but then I saw a camp site in a good location and I thought I should call it a day and enjoy the rest of my day.

]]> http://blog.ch3.gr/day-35/feed/ 1 http://blog.ch3.gr/day-34/ http://blog.ch3.gr/day-34/#comments Mon, 21 Sep 2009 19:14:32 +0000 Georgios http://blog.ch3.gr/?p=670 0km of 2285km so far…

Being in the city of Carcassonne I had to take another day off and explore it. I stayed in a hostel again mainly because of its superb location within La Cite.

The castle seen from the hostel

It’s been a long time since I haven’t ridden the bike for a whole day and today I decided not to cycle at all. I left the bike locked in the hostel, as there were plenty to see at la Cite, where I was and the newer part was within walking distance.
My first destination was the castle of the old city, which was just around the corner from the hostel. The site is  very old, dating from the early Roman times. The first part of the castle was built around the 14th century and then it got extended several times over the years to how it looks today. There are two or three layers of walls in some parts and pleanty of watchtowers. The rest of the old city has a big church and many houses, which most of them now are restaurant and little tourist shops.

The entrance of the castel at la Cite

The castle's courtyard

Walking along the walls

The view of the city

Within the church

At midday I headed down to the other part of the city for some more walking and food. Despite all these restaurants serving cassoulet, I bought supplies from a shop and cooked something to eat in the hostel and had plenty of wine with some other travelers I met there.

Carcassonne's speciality and how to make it

The city of Carcassonne

La cite from the old bridge

Going up to the castle again

Going through one of the many entrances of La Cite

Alleys within la Cite

After a whole baguette with nutella for breakfast, I packed my bike and joined the Canal du Midi from within the city. I was hearing a lot about this canal for a long time during my trip, so I was very enthusiastic about cycling it this morning.
Canal du Midi connects the Atlantic with the Mediterranean, going through many cities and villages. Along the canal for the majority of its length, there is a path for bicycles and pedestrians, so for about 20km from Toulouse, I was seeing many people cycling, jogging, walking and having picnics.

The canal within the city

One of the many locks

The path by the canal

Since I woke up, there was a complete overcast and I hardly saw the sun during the day. Todays surprise was my first puncture of the trip. After 2200 km, a piece of glass managed to go through the tire and its inner protective layer. I stopped at the side of one of the canal’s lock to have a look and of course half way the repair it started raining. It rained a lot and I had to put my water proofs and ironically the rain stopped just as I started riding again.

The place I had the puncture

pat pat pat.... for pate

One of the small ports

Canal crouse

In total I cycled 50km by the canal, but unfortunately after that distance the tarmac finished, so I had to abandoned it. Cycling on the road and with a nice tail wind I was going faster and I knew I could make it to Carcassonne. On the way I passed through the nice city of Castelnaudary, full of old houses and churches.

Castelnaudary

Luckily I made it to Carcassonne the minute before the tourist information was closing, so I managed to get the information I wanted. As it was wet all day, I was considering the option to stay in a hostel again and after I realized where the hostel is located I decided to stay there and also take the next day off to visit the city.

The old city of Carcassonne

The view from the hostel