Cycle across France 2008
Home of the Pay and Hibberd clans
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Liz says...Day looks promising and we continue towards Seté anticipating views of the sea along each poppy-lined vinyard that we pass. Stock up with food at Gignac and take a minor detour to avoid roadworks. Mel has map. We begin our last big climb - 150m - and I hear Mal and Nixter laughing and joking. Maybe this is the hill that they'll win as we leap frog eachother twice. They do it and on the descent the hills open up and reveal the Med for the first time. It's a wonderful sight with slopes sliding downward and red towns visible in the distance. Unsure which hill on the horizon is Seté. Whizz down excellent new road, pass through Villeryac to moans and groans from Nixter and Mal who discover we've 22km to go. Another short climb and then down a beautiful road with poplars??, poppies and vines to Roussan. Cycle into Balarac-les-Bains. The holiday-town-for-the-almost-dead that time forgot. Bizarre, odd, unsettling. Leave on cycle path to Seté along very busy road and get to a scary flyover. We bail out down a dead-end side road and follow an old dear along a secret path under 2 bridges and back up the other side meaning we miss the road and can safely cycle into Seté's centre. Find L'Orque Bleue, park up, unpack and check-in. We've done it. St Malo to Seté, coast to coast across France, and I feel very little. Some sadness because now all I want to do is ride, some anti-climax, but then 10 minutes later some small feeling of warmth and joy. Yes we've done it. Spend time exploring Seté which is a hustle, bustle, boat, car and bike life. Nixter describes it as a melange and I like it just for that.
bread at Aniane
We stayed at:
10 Quai Aspirant Herber
34200 Sète
Tel: 04 67 74 72 13
Web: http://www.hotel-orquebleue-sete.com
Email: lorque-bleue@wanadoo.fr
looking north towards our route
Sete has many quays
Day 15 St Jean de Fos to Seté: 58 kilometres/36 miles, 0830h-1430h, m up m down, 10km/h (with breaks)
Suggested changes: You could chop out the detour to Balaruc-les-Bains. When you approach the flyover into Sete, turn right onto the Allee de Jeux des Boules and then follow the stepped footpath under 2 bridges and then take the footpath over the second bridge onto the Quai de Bosc. This will take you into the central quays.
View Larger Map
Suggested changes: You could chop out the detour to Balaruc-les-Bains. When you approach the flyover into Sete, turn right onto the Allee de Jeux des Boules and then follow the stepped footpath under 2 bridges and then take the footpath over the second bridge onto the Quai de Bosc. This will take you into the central quays.
View Larger Map
