Agde to Montpellier and home 911-1000+ miles

For full trip index click HERE, and for all photos from trip click HERE

After reaching the med, as planned, we’ve had a week or so holiday that we won’t bore you with. But as we are on the med in tourist season campsite costs vary hugely up to €40+ but there is one that is €28 but also on acsi till 12 July for €14 saving us a fortune. Kindly to they laid on a fireworks display to say goodbye to us, or was that coincidence for Bastille day?

The beaches have been fun, the weather pretty good and our legs grateful for the rest.

Sadly Mel’s bike is broken, a pannier bolt has sheared on the same side the rack snapped so this is well and truely broken so as well as a new rack it will need drilling and re-tapping not something I can do here. So bodged with a ball of stuff and two tent pegs! Should last till we get back….

Our last real cycling day was from Agde to just outside Montpellier, around 30 miles via Sete one of our favourite places. The route was smooth cycle path for most of it thougwhen leaving Sete we had a short stint on a busy road. The rest of the route was very pretty and rather good albeit windy. Rarely the cycle path took us through the good parts of Sete which was good. As usual we had a nice 3 course lunchtime meal and bottle if wine in Sete which may explain us getting a bit lost. We completed this ride ache and pain free meaning a good rest on the beach works wonders!

For the campervan readers there is no trace at all of the old Sete-Agde road that used to run against the beach, even the new cycle path isn’t that close. A great loss.

Getting back from there involved a short bike ride to an out-of-town shopping centre and we had to be there by 16:50, but without much else to do we arrived early.  Sadly (or fortunately!) , being a Sunday all the shops were closed.  The bus was around 90 mins late having sustained a puncture and we took this time to chat to the others who were returning, one group informed us of an alternative way back to Paddington which should save us a couple of hours….

The bus ride was as comfortable and organised as it could’ve been.

So following the tip, we got off at Gravesend and had a quick 3 mile ride to Meopham and a train ride to Victoria.  From here, we followed them through a short ride, mostly Hyde Park, to Paddington.  Simple and we saved enough time to get our train.  Well we would’ve had there not been signalling issues and all the trains cancelled….   But after a bit of a jiggling we got back to Chippenham and cycled back home to a forest garden and 3 tonnes of post.

Total distance including UK ends just over 1000 miles, and in France, just under 1000 miles.

Now, we need a holiday…..

For trip summary, review and costs – click HERE