82km of 2367km so far…

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.