View from the plane – somewhere over Europe;

It was long. 12 and a bit hours seems very long. Everyone has their own way of dealing with it. Closing my eyes and doing my chant over in my head when there is turbulence.

The worst part was over the Bay of Bengal. Okay not as bad as others have described to me, but bad enough for me. Plus the movies on this plane where not ones that you could easily choose, as the previous flight (no Bollywood!!!).

Food was okay – but the breakfast was better. The plane went over Paris, so we had a lovely view of the Eiffel Tower as we came in to land….. ah that was worth it alone.

After proceding through a strangely designed 1970`s building we collected our luggage, hopped on a bus to the next terminal where we sat around and generally wasted time until the 10am TGV train (15 mins late) arrived to Avignon. The train was great – comfortable, so much so we fell asleep. Thankfully we woke up in tme and we bought sandwiches on board before we got off. The scenery was lovely, rolling fields, mountains….. ah France

I am typing this while I upload some more photos. I hope you enjoy them.

This cycling trip is occuring during the pleasant temperature range of 30 (in the morning) to 35 (in the afternoon). To test us, our first part of the trip involved a hill climb to see the Abby of Frigolet.

From there it has been reasonably flat especially in the Camarague.

The food has been everything we expected – very tasty and breakfast fulfilling in a very French way.

I thought coming to France again would break some of the stereotypes Australians have about the French. But it is true that there have been many French people cycling with baguettes. For that matter there have been many French people walking with baguettes.

The one shop that you can guarantee will be open at any time in provence is the Boulangerie.

But I understand why!

Any way off to send some photos.

Barbentane is a gorgeous small town on the side of a small hill. Very few tourists here.

Some of my colleagues wanted proof that we were actually cycling. I hope this is sufficient.

It is damn hot.

Helen took this great photograph. But I think that we will need to remove the bridge.

Church in Tarascon: To get this shot I reckon there was a few hundred steps up the castles tower.

We would like to tqke this opportunity to thank Amy. Without her we wouldn`t be where we are currently!!

Thanks!

On the cycle from Stes Maries de la Mer, we were instructed to go along the forshore – which although bumpy with stones it eventually (when we worked out which path we should follow) turned into sand. While this may look great from your computer it was about 35°+ this day and we had been cycling in the heat for over an hour. Don’t forget the mozzies. We may have trained for cycling – but not these conditions. Thankfully it did not last long.

Part of our longest cycle (60 km’s) involved cycling up a 400 meter climb (according to the lonely planet), to les Baux de Provence. The day started off bad, as we had intended to set out early – however the re-occuring puncture returned and we waited for the guy to turn up with a new tyre- by &&ish we were back on the road again. 3.5 hours later and a lot of cycling behind us… the hill climb started after Paradou… and just kept going… and going. We stopped twice only to have a drink of water, as it was 35°( and take some photos)! But at no time did we walk the bikes up that hill. Goal achieved! After we parked our bikes we also walked up a number of stairs to the town (those lunges came in use after all). The town itself has lovely buildings (bought some great biscuits which we have eaten), but very touristy. Worth the hill climb!