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squiz
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Member#: 106 Location: Midlands Registered: 21-01-2003 Diary Entries: 5
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10th October 2014
Mt. Biking: Les Baux de Provence – Fontvieille Roman Aquaduct. Wind Direction: Wind Stength: Surf / Sea State: Air Temperature: Sea Temperature: Weather: sunny periods Max Speed: Distance Covered: 20 (Nautical Miles - unless stated otherwise)
Friday 10th October – bike ***** Les Baux de Provence – Fontvieille
Roman Aquaduct. 20 n.miles – sunny periods
We had more of that strange lightning in the night – no thunder just
lighting up the whole sky. It was doing it when we went to bed, in the
night and this morning! It was cloudy to start with but we did our
exercises outside because it is still over 20 degrees! The old boy on a
road bike who has been biking up the hill and down several times every
morning we have been here was here again but today he went up and down for
at least 2 hours!!! Bonkers or what! After breakfast we set out on the
bike ride we were keen to do before leaving the area. We went along the up
and down GR6 track again then turned down the track which we hiked to Les
Baux on last Sunday. It was very steep and rocky with loose stones in
places but great fun:) We even saw the same lady walking her dogs that we
saw last week but she takes the even steeper path down so our paths
didn’t cross. When we reached the bottom we carried on on the road
through olive groves and vines and across the Domaine de Manville golf
course. How they keep it so green when there doesn’t seem to be any
water about is a miracle. It only opened this year and it has taken them 4
years to make it! On to Mausanne des Alpilles and a short distance on the
main road to the village of Paradou where we went onto a back road and
suddenly there was lots of water running at the side of the road in a rill.
A field of brown sheep made us stop as not only did they have the most
beautiful tiny lambs but 5 of them also had cattle egrets standing on their
backs!! As we approached the egrets flew off and we spent the next half an
hour waiting for them to get back on for a photo! A Magpie had fun landing
on one sheep and jumping over to the next but the egrets were otherwise
engaged being butted out of the way by the sheep while standing in the
field. It was great fun to watch and we also had a chat with a couple of
blokes on bikes who were staying in Avignon and had come to Arles on the
train for a days cycling. When an egret finally did us proud by jumping
back onto a sheep we took the photo and set off towards the roman aqueduct.
No fanfare but suddenly the road went between two ruined walls and there
it was. Although a ruin it is amazing and you can see how it worked. It
ran to a mill (also ruined) and the view from above the mill across the
agricultural land below was terrific:) We had our lunch sitting on the
rocks above the aquaduct, watching a man with a model glider flying it and
trying to retrieve it from the rocky shrubbery and having a marvellous
display from a peregrine – swooping and seeing off a buzzard and also
looking like it was going to dive down on my head at one point!! Back on
the bikes and on to Fontvieille where we visited the Moulin de Daudet which
was quaint and although it had its sails on they are never going to move
again. Biked along the footpath to the Chateau Montaubin and had a look at
that. Quick shop then a cycle round the town and visit to the tourist
information. Then it was a big push back to the van! The first bit was on
the busy D17 road then we turned off towards Les Baux and the steady
incline was hard work especially at the end of the day and it was very hot
too! We were out for 5 ½ hours and did about 23 miles. This definitely
warranted getting the solar shower out (filled by boiling the kettle and
topping up with cold to make it the right temperature so nothing to do with
solar!) Attached to the roof rack and bliss even if a lady in a van did
pull into ‘our’ spot to park and walk down the road just as I was about
to dive underneath!! I had a bloomin puncture in my new bike which I
managed to sort out before the bike ride but went flat again this afternoon
when we got back, so I had to repair that (don’t think the bike shop put
the slime in as they were supposed to and I paid them for!!).
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