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21: August 17th, 2001 Valreal, France to Orange, France Distance of the day: 40 km / 24.8 mi Total distance traveled: 1186.3 km / 735.5 mi |
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At 11:30 we reached the campsite. The place wasn't most luxurious…but the cost, almost 130FF…we decided it wasn't worth it. For a little more we could have a bed, shower and toilet without having to set up the tent! After consulting my trusty Lonely Planet guide we found a cute family run place in the center of town called the Hotel St. Florent, literally steps from the Theatre des Antiquites, the old Roman Theatre. The room was cute. Ours was purple with a floral border near the ceiling and we had an old wooden bed with velvet headboard and a pink bathroom. After unpacking and showering we headed out to find food. We had a huge lunch in one of the café's in the center, then wandered around the city. We went to the Roman theater, the Museum, which had some of the items excavated from the theatre, as well as an extensive program from performances there over the years. The we walked up the hill behind the theatre to find the 'House of Orange' a castle where the Dutch royal ancestors came from.
The realization of the loss (and the stupidity of the loss) really depressed us and we spent the rest of the evening wallowing in self pity. |
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22: August 18th, 2001 Orange, France to St. Gilles, France Distance of the day: 90 km / 55.8 mi Total distance traveled: 1276.3 km / 791.3 mi |
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Instead of taking the planned rest day, we got out of Orange as soon as possible. The 41km ride was easy enough and after the camera incident we wanted to move on. We spent the morning trying to find a place to report the theft- then rode out by 10:30/11am. We had a total of 130km/80.7mi to go before reaching our destination of Saintes-Maries-de-la-Mer.
The ride was relatively easy, since it was flat. We passed through Avignon, where we would be leaving from in 1 week, and stopped in a small village for a drink. While we were sitting on the terrace, several young men in biking gear showed up. Some bike race was being held in the village today and we were sitting at the bar that was the registration point. We continued on towards Arles through flat country side with field after field of dead sunflowers. If they were alive I can only imagine what an incredible site it would be- literally millions of yellow flowers stretching into the horizon and the blue sky. I can see what inspired van Gogh. We rolled into Arles around 17h. We decided it would be a good idea to stay there for one night, so we had a drink then went to find a hotel. No luck. Arles on a Saturday in August was completely full. It was a charming town, one we would be stopping in for a night on our way back to Avignon. We were tired, but had no choice but to carry on to St. Gilles, the next town. We were really in the Camargue now. Flat marshlands where rice was grown and bulls and horses grazed alongside flamingos and alligators in some parts. Within and hour we were at St. Gilles and saw a campsite with a pool. It sounded good to us. We signed in , set up our tent and went to the pool. very relaxing. We moved on to the terrace to have a few drinks before dinner, then dinner. The campsite is family owned, so we were helped throughout dinner by various family members. It was great service and very friendly. That evening the activity was the 'enfant disco' the kids disco, so we hung around to watch the little kids and their parents, dance to French 70s and 80s disco. Tired after out 90k
run, we went to the bathroom, where we were watched by 1000's of mosquitos
and dozens of frogs, then went to bed. Around 1am we were awoken by several
flashes of light. I could hear a few drops so I rushed out to bring in
some laundry, the chairs and the bike bags. I got back into the tent just
as all hell broke loose outside. Lens was able to seal up the tent just
as it started POURING
rain, complete with Thunder and Lightning every few seconds. A few
minutes later it sounded like someone was throwing rocks at the tent.
All we heard between rounds of thunder was 'Thump Thump Thump'. We found
out the next morning (since we really didn't feel like sticking our heads
out to investigate) that it had been hailing…with hail the size of
a golf ball coming down. It was an interesting experience. |
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23: August 19th, 2001 St. Gilles, France to Saintes-Maries-de-la-Mer, France Distance of the day: 40 km / 24.8 mi Total distance traveled: 1316.3 km / 816.1 mi |
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We headed out of the campsite around 9:30 to cover the last 40km/24.8mi to our destination, the Mediterranean. What a boring ride. We were on one road almost 20km/12.4mi, it was flat scenery and there were no buildings of any sort, just marshes. And of course we were riding against the wind the whole way. The last 15km/9.3mi was against an even stronger wind on a busy road. It was a tough ride, but at 12:30/13h is we rolled into Stes marie de la mer. We made it. We went to the tourist office to find a hotel. Saintes-Maries-de-la-Mer is a cute little town, very touristy, that runs along the sea. We found a room at the Blue dolphin hotel, we got a room with a bathtub, yay! And an ocean view, not to mention a tv with 10 french channels. Our vacation has started…the easy party anyway.. Before going to bed we had dinner at a restaurant with a view of the ocean, for some reason that was import that night.
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24: August 20th, 2001 Saintes-Maries-de-la-Mer, France Rest day Total distance traveled: 1316.3 km / 816.1 mi |
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We woke up , went to the window and saw the Mediterranean sea. We made it. After breakfast and some lounging around we headed across the street to the beach. The beachmat we had been using and the two chairs we bought along the way were perfect for a day at the beach. We stopped at the grocery store and bought some water and beach towels, then set up camp near some rocks so we would have some shelter from the wind. It was hot and we sat there baking in the sun. I was reading 'Toujours Provence' by Peter Mayle while Lens was reading a Tom Clancy Net Force book. Occasionally he would get up and go play in the water. The water was cold at first, but refreshing and as you get used to it it warms up a bit. After a few hours on the beach we were tired so we went back to the room for a siesta. We woke up and walked around the town a bit, looking at the shops, the people and the ocean. At dinner we sat in one of the many terraces drinking rose, people watching and listing to the gypsy guitarists that walk from restaurant to restaurant to play. |
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25: August 21st, 2001 Saintes-Maries-de-la-Mer, France Rest day Total distance traveled: 1316.3 km / 816.1 mi |
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Our second full day in Saintes Marie and we were quickly getting used to the slower pace of this touristy fishing village. We woke up, had breakfast and went into town to do a little souvenir shopping before it got really hot and crowded. The afternoon was
spent on the beach, relaxing by reading, swimming or just being. For dinner we picked a courtyard restraunt with live music. More rose, great ambiance, good food. It was another great evening.
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Copyright 2001-2002 Maarten
& Lori Lens-FitzGerald
It
was nearing dinner time, so we decided to head to the Mac. That was our
Biggest mistake. We left my 
