Tag Archives: France

Day 37 – Villeneuve les-Maguelone to Montpellier

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18km of 2483km so far…

Nice eh?
Nice eh?

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.

Playground at Montpellier
Playground at Montpellier
The world is big
The world is big
Crazy youths
Crazy youths
One of the churches
One of the churches
One of the numberous alleys
One of the numberous alleys
The old water system
The old water system

DSC05732

A random art exhibition inside a church
A random art exhibition inside a church
Hubert
Hubert
Painted buildings
Painted buildings

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.

Hubert, Artur and me
Hubert, Artur and me
That's a lot of bear

That's a lot of bear

Day 36 – Narbonne Plage to Villeneuve-les-Maguelone

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99km of 2466km so far…

The Mediterranean was still there in the morning

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

Once again, at the Canal Du Midi

and the tarmac cyclepath next to it

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

Adge

...and its streets

...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 town at the background

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

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

For a moment I thought about celotaping it

Flamingos and many other birds

Flamingos and many other birds

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

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…