In which Sid and Doris make a bit of a meal of a simple day’s ride.
The day is essentially riding along the D999 which heads east, through Nimes and on, and on. It will be a theme.
We are pleased to see that the rubbish dump, crem and cemetery are together (all the more fun given they are off the D999) [sorry American friends, just pretend we are on the D911 – D]. And yet one person seemingly couldn’t wait to get to any of them – this small tribute is right by the all-purpose signpost.
In the spirit of holiday riding we stopped to see St Laurent’s little chapel at Jonquieres. Built in the 12th century, according to the sign celebrating its restoration, it is firmly locked so we know nothing else and pass on down the D999 which becomes dual and busy on the way into Nimes, one of the region’s bigger cities. It was the capital of the province in Roman times.
The amphitheatre is still used, the Maison Carre is one of the best preserved temples from the period. PICS We spend a bit of time debating whether to go into their Pompei exhibition but we are only 25 kms into the day so go via the horloge and leave. [There is a moral here, which is probably the Second Rule Of Tourism. Make sure you allow time to see interesting places, even if it means deliberately planning a short day – D.] If you have ever seen any tower with a clock you need not see this one. Il ne vaut pas aucun voyage, and we didn’t take a picture of it.
The French love their bandes dessinees (strip cartoons, think Asterix/Tintin books) and Doris spends a while in front of a specialist shop choosing between some very attractive candidates for today’s #virtualsouvenir.
As we thread our way past cafes selling crepes etc Sid makes the mistake of not calling for food at this stage in the day. Doris is very resistant to eating lunch early and Sid ducks the issue. We had in mind to eat at 50k but food becomes more urgent. Flogging along the long, hot, dry D999 again we drop off the road following a sign to a pizzeria that claims loudly that it is open every day. It is closed and has been for some time.
We ask for directions to food and hear there is a relais (a travellers’ food stop) at the next roundabout. There is – hooray! – but if you’ve not booked we have no room for you. Doris gets very angry because she is hot, tired and hungry. We buy some fruit from a nearby stall and bash on to Quissac, the original plan.
Where two places have already stopped serving lunch but in town we find that there is a feria with the local bull taunting, which all seems pretty blameless given that we sit down to eat steak and chips amid a cheerful crowd.
One square meal is all it takes to return us to civilisation. We ride out with cafe legs and cafe stomachs. The D999 in Gard and Herault runs in the same valley as the railway, which last ran in 1991. Part of it has been paved to make a Route Verte which we enjoy alone, spinning happily down gently graded slopes and bends. We pick it up again on the way into Ganges (pronounced approximately: Gunge).
We are staying at the Hotel de la Poste, it may have one star. It is the last room left in town and for miles around. The shower and loo are separately down the corridor. The walls have been put up by an expert in origami.
Ganges has a rather good temple like church with a really nice panel to tell its history.
Recognising today’s mistake we have spotted where we will be buying our rations for the steep day ahead. Our town recce also involved a bit of Bike Envy and we break our #nopicturesoffood rule by leaving you with pictures of our yummy salad supper [and I’m sorry but more than one duck was involved in the making of this supper – D.]
