Saturday 2nd June. Homps (15) to Gruissian Plage and back
to Narbonne (16)
48.7 miles 4hrs 21m riding time. Average speed: 11.16mph
Total: 745 miles.
I was blown to Narbonne by a 70kmh wind along the D124 and D169 arriving
at my hotel shortly before noon. Luckily my room at Will’s Hotel was
vacant and ready for me so I dumped the bulk of my kit and headed down the
Canal de Robine for the sea at Gruissian Plage - in lightweight mode with
just a few tools for company.
I abandoned the rough towpath of the canal after a mile or so for a nice
smooth cycle route that ran through a nature reserve alongside the Étang
de Gruissan all the way to the beach at Gruissan Plage. (an étang
is a pond but in this case it means an inland sea water lagoon)
Gruissan Plage follows the rule of most resorts suffixed by the word plage and is a drab bleak outpost of a place – apart from myself and a few windsurfers the beach was windswept and empty. Strangely, the feelings of excitement that I had on reaching the ‘Med’ on my 2005 trip were absent this time and I can’t really put my finger on the reason why. I loitered around for a few minutes before asking a lone passer-by to take a photo of me looking worried as he messed about with my camera as if it was the first time he’d ever seen one. I set off back to Narbonne slowed to a speed of about 6mph, out of the seat standing on the pedals as I fought the headwind that had been helping me all morning.
“Careful with that camera…”
Once back in Narbonne I checked out the rendezvous point in the centre commercial
where Bike Express’ coach and trailer were due to pick me the next
day; I didn’t want to be dashing around Narbonne trying to find it
five minutes before departure time.
Narbonne is a fairly compact town far smaller than I was expecting. To be
honest, it’s not really a place that a tourist would choose to stay
long in. The station and huge Motor Rail terminus ensures that motorists
pass through the town en-bloc as trains disgorge each coast-bound cargo
of traffic rather than staying in it.
I spent the rest of the early evening lurking around a few boisterous café-bars
before finding a restaurant for my ‘last supper’ in France.
I was a little bit the worse for wear by the time I dropped into l’internet
café on my way back to the hotel to berate potential sponsors into
donating a bit more to my charity fund. I don’t remember a great deal
more.
http://www.willshotel-narbonne.com
http://www.bike-express.co.uk/