Through Provence to the Mediterranean Sea
Days 28-29. October 10-11, 2025.
Day 28. October 10. Avignon to Aix-En-Provence, France.
We had a great day off in Avignon and were glad to have done so. The mistral wind was blowing very hard from the north and yet swirling everywhere. The day was bright blue and sunny but not warm at all. The wind made the day feel like a nippy fall day where a sweater adn a down jacket were the required clothing items.
We spent the day fixing Andy's tire, walking around the beautiful old walled city, and resting up for our push to the Mediterranean.
Our day began cold and clear but soon warmed as the sun climbed higher. We were moving more southeasterly now, away from the Rhone, which continued south to where it empties into the Mediterranean west of Marseille. We were riding through a green landscape of orchards and vineyards sloping slowly uphill. It was amazing how easy riding uphill all day is when you have a good tailwind. We made the 54 miles from Avignon to Aix-En-Provence in record time!
Day 29. October 11. Aix-En-Provence to Hyères, France.
Aix-En-Provence is a great town. Neither of us really knew anything about it, but it surprised us with it's fantastic old town that is basically a walking town teeming with people sitting in cafes and outdoor restaurants or shopping in the myriads of boutique stores. We really enjoyed our evening there and would definitely go back someday.
Our last ride to the Mediterranean coast was a doozy. 63 miles, with the first 40 being uphill. Somewhere along the way, I hit the milestone of 13,000 miles on my Niner bike. After a morning of some not-so-fun road riding due to traffic, we turned off into a tiny town and found a small cafe and boulangerie where we had a cup of coffee and freshly-made ham and gruyere cheese baguette in a tiny town.
With full stomachs, we continued our ride, but this time on some fantastic backroads that passed vineyard after vineyard and wound, climbing, through the oak and pine forests of the Saint Baume Natural Park. The air was scented by the pine and grapevines...a perfect fall day. We even found ourselves climbing up a steeper hill that had switchbacks, something we haven't seen in a long, long time, and something we both enjoy.
And then, it was time to ride the last 20 miles downhill to southern coast of France. We were both excited about this big event, but the ride downhill, while fast and at times, fun, was also a bit of a white-knuckle ride as we were on a fairly busy rode with little to no shoulder. I could not even enjoy the beauty of the nature around me as we descended, which was unfortunate, as I sensed there were some pretty breathtaking views.
When we finally hit the coastal plain, we were both a little disappointed to find ourselves in a more suburban area of the larger city of Toulon, with no view of the sea. We still had to pedal east to the town of Hyères,. We were actually heading past Hyères,to a really cool ecolodge out on the sandy spit jutting into the sea. It wasn't until we arrived and stood on our hotel balco
ny that we finally saw what we wanted: The Mediterranean Sea. We later took a walk down to the beach and stuck our hands in the water. We had made it from the Irish Sea in the north, to the Mediterranean in the South, all at the pace of a bike!
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