After yesterday’s lovely ride out, along quiet roads around Sommières, we felt rested and were looking forward to today’s cycle, which would take us across country, to the village of Montpeyroux, in the Herault.
We were awake early again, and after breakfast of porridge and strawberry jam (which is a rather delicious combination), loaded everything into the panniers.
Over the last couple of days, Andy had become rather good at carrying the bikes down the steep stairs that led up to the apartment, we had rented. So he carried them down for the final time, we clipped the bags in place and pushed the bikes out of the narrow cobbled streets to start the day’s ride.
It was a grey start to the day, and markedly cooler than the last few days have been; rain was being predicted too, so we made sure we knew which pannier had the waterproof coats in it. And then immediately forgot.
Very quickly, we left Sommières behind, and found ourselves on quiet roads, pedalling through pretty countryside. We said hello to a field full of rather beautiful black bulls..
And some white horses too..
It was a delightful start to the ride, and we rode along freshly-laid, ribbon-smooth tarmac, that made the kilometres slip easily past.
The vineyards were bright with new growth and we passed pretty villages, all on top of little hills (having to climb into several). It was easy to see why they were built where they were, as every time we approached a bridge over a stream, there were barriers that can be closed, preventing people from driving through in times of flooding.
We have watched footage of the dramatic ‘Cevenol’ rains that can turn the roads into rivers, and wash cars away, in a very short period of time, so understand why the roads need to be closed, during times of heavy rain.
Today though, it was dry as we pottered out, and we simply enjoyed the ride. The verges filled with colour from wildflowers, and the air was filled with different blocks of scent, with tones of honeysuckle, thyme and curry-plant filling the air.
I had checked the route, to make sure we avoided the main roads that lead towards Montpellier, and had built in a little loop, which proved to be a wonderful road, which took us past the incredible Castries Aqueduct.
As we approached, it reminded us of the Pont Julien, near us in the Luberon, so we wondered if it was Roman. Stopping to read more though, we found that it had been built in the mid 1600s, and runs for over 6km.
It was very strange, simply stumbling across it, at the side of a small back-road, but it was rather lovely to have seen it.
From there, we carried on and found a boulangerie in a small village, where we bought a second-breakfast. Andy pronounced that the ‘pain au raisin’ was the best that he had ever had, and we enjoyed it, sitting on a bench under a tree, whilst Andy made a coffee too. The Jetboil and aeropress will certainly be packed for all future cycling adventures.
We followed a route that took us through the outskirts of Montpellier, enjoying the safe, detached cycle paths that ran alongside the busier main roads. Clearly a lot of thought has been put into developing safe and usable cycling infrastucture here. After our experiences with the rat-runs around Nimes, this was a joy to ride.
Once we were clear of Montpellier, the hills started… and just kept going. At this point I started to fall out with the Garmin that I have started to use for navigation, as the band of colour tracked across the bottom of the screen. Starting with green, which was fine, it then seemed to get stuck in a pattern of orange and red blocks, kindly telling me that the gradient was 8-9-10-11% in places, leaving me curising it.
It’s been great for the navigation, saving the battery on my phone, but I can see that there is a hill ahead; my legs know when it is getting steeper, and I really don’t need to know how brutal it is going to be either, especially when we are on bikes loaded with full panniers. Honestly, I’m fine, just leave me alone and let me get on with it!
But, in between me cursing it under my breath, we kept turning the pedals and eventually crested the hill, and started to head down the other side, targeting the next village as a spot to stop for lunch.
After another climb to the village (of course), we found a bus shelter to tuck ourselves away from the heavy rain that had just started, and enjoyed our sandwich, watching the raindrops fall, soaking the road.
It seemed to ease, so we set off again, only for it to step up a gear, leaving us scrabbling to find our rain jackets, which had been so carefully packed, where we knew we would be able to find them quickly. Of course, we had both forgotten!
With our coats on and our hoods pulled up, we carried on, pedalling through deep puddles that had formed incredibly quickly, with water soaking our socks and filling our shoes.
That said, it was still incredibly beautiful. The rain concentrated the scent from the wildflowers and herbs, which sat close to the ground, and the poppies added a warm blaze of colour against the sodden grey skies.
We stopped at the Pont Du Diable, just outside Saint Jean de Fos. The last time we had cycled here, it was a gloriously hot day and people were swimming in the lake, enjoying the water. Today was the opposite, with people scurrying along the path, hiding under umbrellas to take a photo, before dashing off again.
It is an amazing site, with a steep-sided rocky gorge opening into a calm lake. The river seemed to be higher than I have seen it before, but having seen videos of it, this winter, when it was in full spate, today it was still rather calm.
By now we were really wet, but didn’t have far to go to get to tonight’s stop in Montpeyroux. We took the opportunity to dry off a bit, under the awnings of a bar in the village of Saint Jean de Fos, sipping hot chocolate to warm ourselves up again.
You can Watch a video from today’s fun, but soggy ride, here
The village is renowned for its potteries, and I took a moment to do a bit of window-shopping, leaving empty-handed, as the chance of me getting a piece of pottery home on the bike, in one piece, is pretty much nil!
Then it was short ride to the pretty village of Montpeyroux, which will be our home for tonight. It’s a gentle place, with everything we need for a comfortable and quiet evening.
Sometimes we visit places and they capture a little bit of our heart, and this is a very beautiful little village.
As I type this, we are listening to the gentle burble of voices from people in the square outside, catching up on their days, sharing a drink together and looking forward to a long weekend.
In many ways, we already wish we were here for more than 1 night. At least we will have an excuse to return!
On again tomorrow to Pezenas, but after today, I have a feeling we’ll be early to bed and will sleep like a log.
Postcards from Provence and beyond 