Vaucluse Dreamer

It’s hard to believe that today was effectively the last day of the ride, even though we still have to pedal home from the train station in Avignon,  tomorrow.

Finishing a ride is always sad and it tends to affect our mood and if we’re honest, we really aren’t that keen on the piece of coast we were riding today, so it wasn’t the best of ways to start.

But Peyriac de Mer had got under our skin as soon as we arrived, yesterday afternoon. It is a very pretty little village, with a lovely community feel and such beautiful surroundings too. So we decided to make the most of being there, before we left.

We are really early-risers and had already found out that the boulangerie opened at 6.30, along with the bar in the square. So we planned a nice breakfast before we started.

If we’re honest, this was the thing we missed most whilst we were cycling in Spain. We really are morning people, and to have to wait for places to open was a little frustrating, as there’s nothing we like more than breakfast and then a second breakfast, when we’re on a long ride.

So we packed up the bikes and headed into the village by 7.30, just as the sky was turning flamingo pink, with the rising sun. Rather apt for a village renowned for its flamingo population.

We bought croissants & sat in the friendly bar, with a coffee. It’s always lovely first thing in the morning, when people pop in for a chat over coffee to start the day. Bars like this are such important community hubs in France and it felt so comforting to be back.

By 8am though, we were ready to head off and took the road out of the village, past the old salt-works starting our last full day’s ride to Sète.

It really was a stunning start to the ride, on a peaceful road that ran through the etangs, with the grumpy chatter of flamingos breaking through the birdsong.

I do adore these bright, characterful, quirky birds and I am regularly heard just shouting ‘Mingos!’ and pointing, as we ride. Today was just a joy, with the birds close to the road and happy for us to Stop and watch them for a while

We simply enjoyed this peaceful part of the ride, knowing that before too long we’d be passing through the unattractive, homogeneous modern holiday resorts along the coast.

Bizarrely, it felt as if Mother Nature had finally had enough of our ride and was telling us that it was time to get back to normal life. For the last 2 weeks, she has been firmly on our side, with beautifully warm days, blue skies and (on the whole) gentle breezes.

We had one rainstorm, when we were on our day off in Zaragoza, and we spent the evening watching the rain in the lights around the cathedral..

And we had two days of fiercely strong winds. One on our ride across to Caspe from Zaragoza, when the wind chased us through the Monegros Desert

And again, when we climbed the Col de Banyuls, on our ride across the border from Girona to Collioure..

Today, she decided enough was enough, and she made sure that the wind was in our faces, with heavy cloud constantly threatening rain. For the first time in over 2 weeks, we felt chilly.

I’d planned a route that would avoid as many of the resorts as we could, but we knew that for a good part of the ride we would be on busy roads, or cycling through areas that were not that attractive.

Even on the little back roads, we passed large holiday parks, which must mean that the roads are busy in the height of the season. But thankfully they are closed now, so we had a peaceful ride through to the village of Gruissan, which was bustling with its Saturday morning market.

Cycling into Gruissan from Peyriac, we had a lovely view of the old castle that sits on a hill at the heart of the village..

A really pretty place, with a wonderful market that we walked through, when our route unexpectedly took us straight through the centre of the thriving, attractive place.

Then we started to ride through the larger resorts, following the cycle paths where we could, to keep off the roads that are still busy with traffic, even in October.

We made our way across the low-lying coastal fringe to Serignan, where we stopped for a second breakfast, before heading on again to Agde, our final stop before the ride along the coast to Sète.

We have ridden here, a number of times and decided to try a different route to Agde, which was faster but involved riding on a long, straight, fast road towards the town. It was fine, but again not a route I’d choose to do. We like our little back-roads through peaceful places too much.

Once through Agde, we hopped onto the protected cycle lane, alongside the main road towards Marseillan, where we would join the cycle path along the back of the beach, all the way to Sète.

As we cycled along, I spotted the place, where I met Andy & the boys at the end of their bike ride down to Sète from Dartmoor. It’s hard to imagine that this was already 8 years ago! It still seems like just last year .

And then we were on the final approach to Sète, which seemed impossible. Two weeks ago today, we pedalled out of Madrid, at the start of this mad adventure and here we were, almost at the end of the ride.

As we did our best to pedal forward, the wind did its best to blow us back to Spain. The sea looked more like the Atlantic coast of North Cornwall than the Mediterranean..

And the closer we got to Sète, the less we could see of it due to the spray and sand being blown off the beaches, to our right.

It felt as if October had arrived with a vengeance.

Then we were in the town, unlocking the door to tonight’s cottage, with a view down to the sea and the waves crashing over the breakwater.

We had made it. A mad adventure, which has seen us cycle just shy of 1100km so far, from the centre of Spain back to the South coast of France. You can see today’s ride here

We still have to get home tomorrow, taking the train from Sète, at 7.30am (I said we were early risers) and then cycling home from Avignon. But this was always where we had aimed for.  Madrid to Sète. We have done it!

So we had a shower and walked into town…

Then sat at a bar by the main river through the centre of the town & toasted our arrival with a beer, starting to chat, about what our next long ride could be

To be honest, a glass of mulled wine would have probably been a better option, as it was so chilly. Finally our shorts and open-toed sandals have outstayed their welcome, and we got some strange looks from passers by in winter boots and puffa-jackets.

So another quiet evening ahead, then an early start to ride to the station and to catch the train back to Provence. We haven’t cycled back this time, as we’ve ridden home from here twice before, and wanted to make the most of the time we had in Spain. Millie & Pusscat have had great fun with the house-sitters, but it’s time for us to get home.

Sorry if the tone is a bit flat today, but we’re always flat when an adventure comes to an end and this has been such fun.

We like to use these rides as an opportunity to raise funds for our local Restos Du Coeur in Apt and have set up a fundraising account Here . If you have enjoyed following our adventure over the last 2 weeks, then please consider making a donation to help this valuable support agency in our town in Provence. All money donated will be passed on to them.