Thursday 5th April (Day 18)
As I said on the video I decided not to go over the pass in Andorra at 2400m due to a shead load of snow.
So I took what I thought was the easier option of a pass at 1345m. I was a litlle mistaken because there was a fold in my map and in actual fact there was another pass along my route that is 1582m which I did not see till I got there. So off I went, I left my hostel in Andorra at 8:30 and crossed the boarder back into Spain at 9:00, I only spent 5 hours in Spain this time befor I got to the French Boarder.
It would of been less time but I had to do a bit of work on the bike. I changed the rear brake pads, thought it would be for the best considering I was about to descend off the Pyrenees. When I started climbing up to the pass and got to about 1400m it started to snow and get quite cold, I was battling against a bitter head wind as well so spirits were low. The pass is like an open moorland so there was no place to shelter so I just had to keep going on. If I stopped for any amount of time I got very cold. Finially got to the top at about 4ish then the fun started. The next 20km was an amazing bit of down hill, lots of hair pins. It was a good job that I had fresh brake pads because it was wet as well so I could not go as fast as I would of liked. I was actually alot colder on the descent than at the top of the pass. In that first 20km I dropped from over 1500m to 650m. I did not have to peddle at all. That is why I was so cold because the snow turnrd back to rain and I was wet down hill into the wind not generating any heat. Still fun though. Did more cycling than expected which was a good thing because i found a nice camp site about 30km from the coast so it was only at 300m high. The first night since I started my ride that I was not cold in my tent.
Friday, Saturday & Sunday (Days 19, 20 & 21)
These days all seemed to be the same. I got down to the coast on friday afternoon which I was overjoyed at to see the sea. So I went for a little swim, there is no problem trying to find a camp site in the south of France as you can see.
But I did not really bond with this coastline. It just reminded me of Eastbourne or Minehead, I wanted cliffs and little coves but there was none. The one saving grace is that since this area is so flat. I think that in the 3 days I spent cycling along this bit of the coast towards Marseille I only climbed above 10m twice and that was only for a couple of minutes each time. Because of the topography this area has got lots of salt marshes and I raelly liked these.
The smell remined me of home and I thought about days out on the Avon estuary so I had a big smile on my face. There were some nice little towns as well thay seemed to have modelled them selfs on venice.
But if it is one thing I really love about the French, they sure know how to make a good cycle route. Some of these days I was hardly on any roads.
Monday 9th April (Day 22)
This was a good day, due to all the cycling though the salt marshes I really wanted to go kayaking. I found out that there was a kayak hire centre on my route on the Petit Rhone. I was thinking that I would have a couple hours paddle and then cycle on. The deal at the place is that you kayak down 10km of the river then he comes and picks you up and the kayak, or in my case (which was his suggestion) he brought my bike down to me. So in actual fact guys I will not of peddled all the way, 10km will of been paddled. Justification there is only one letter different between the two words (the way I spell them any way) and I would of burnt alot more energy in 10km of kayaking than 10km of cycling. So I hope I have not voided this whole trip of mine. Any way graet river,
I do find the name confussing though. Doesn't Petit mean small, it is larger than any river I have seen in the uk. The other great thing about this day is that when I finished the paddle and got my bike back, I just happened to hear a couple of people talking English. I went over and started to talk to them and infact they are from England. I probably seemed to excited at first but these guys were the first English people I have seen since I left. It was all cool though, we had a bit of a chat and they gave me lots of red wine which incidently made the rest of the days cycle ride rather interesting. They also told me that is was Easter Monday, I woundered why it was so busy in the past couple of days.
Tuesday 10th April (Day 23)
Again another good day, the first bit was along a cycle track which lasted for 28km going thought the salt marshes of the Rhone delta.
Fantastic area and I never new that you would find these in france.
I also saw this that remined me of Slapton.
At the end of the day I finially found what I was looking for in a coast and found a camp site overlooking this small bay.
Wednesday 11th April (Rest dat)
Since it was such a cool little spot and not full of tourists I thought I would have a day off and walk along the coast path for a bit. Great little area and such a nice day, all I pretty much did was go for a swim and read my book. It remined me of Porth Clais on the Pembrokshire coast.
Thursay 12th April (Day 24)
Not much to say really, the aim was to get to Marseille and find a youth hostel which hopefully has a bit of social life. Found this place about 3km for the city centre and before I even checked in I got talking to this cool dutch guy who is down for the weekend and we went out for a few beers last night. Fantastic.
The plan now, have a little look around the town today. Maybe stay tomorrow as well. I have not made up my mind yet. So I will either get back on the bike tomorrow or Sunday. I will then head up along the Rhone to Valence and then head north east towards Switzerland. Depending on the conditions I reckon it could be around 6 days of cycling from here so I could cross the boarder some time next weekend. Any way guys that is all, I hope you are all well back home, I'll see ya when I see ya.
