An Old Town and a Modernist Town

We had an early start this morning because we have a lot planned for today. We emptied and filled before hitting the road

Friday is shopping day so first stop was Lidl to replenish our supplies..

We’re heading to Les Poissons d’Argent, a private fishing lake which has a large area set aside for motorhomes. On arrival we pitched up and had coffee before unloading our bikes.

We set off along a private road and soon arrived at the Canal du Rhône a Sete. We turned left and followed the towpath until we came to a bridge across the canal. Crossing the bridge we arrived at the 13th century walled town of Aiges-Mortes.

This town, which is completely surrounded by a high fortified wall was originally a major sea port. Nowadays, land reclamation and salt pans have marooned the town 5km inland. We entered through one of the gates and cycled around the inside. Having completed the circuit, we repeated the circumnavigation on the outside. The walls are very impressive and in season you can walk all way around the ramparts. We retraced our wheel tracks back to Kiki for lunch.

Suitably refreshed, we set out again along the private road. This time however we turned right at the canal and followed the towpath until we reached the port of Le Grau de Roi. Here we crossed the canal and made our way along the coast until we came to La Grande Motte. This purpose built tourist resort was conceived in the mid 60’s in a “modernist” style. The hotels and other buildings had futuristic looking sweeping waves and other unusual features. Some buildings were made to look like an ocean liner and another looked like a pyramid.

Having explored the town and wandered around the marina, we retraced our wheel tracks back to Kiki. I packed the bikes away whilst Emma cooked up a storm in the galley. We were both hungry as we’ve cycled over 30km today!

After supper we settled down for the evening.