Dag 28: Arles - Grau-du-Roi (61 km)

26 juni 2018 - Le Grau-du-Roi, Frankrijk

On the last day of the fourth week we reached our goal: the Medtiteranean Sea. But as the sayng goes, the last mile is the longest. Leaving Arles was easy and we were soon heading westward to the end of the Via Rhona. We sailed trough the Camargye, with its white horses, a black cattle breed, unknown to me, paddy fields and a new range of birds. At our first stop we met and older French cyclist from Bretagne who was doing his own 'Tour de France' and had already completed some 2000 km. At our second stop, in the first shadowed place since the stop, we met him again. He continued 5-10 minutes before us, a 9 km free cycle track qualified as 'ready'. After about 4 kms we reached a four way crossing and a yellow board with black letters 'after 4,5 km road blocked from 4 to 29 of June'. Ugh. Well, it was already the 26th of June. May be the road works were so advanced that we could pass. Moreover, we hadn't seen our French cyclist coming back yet either. So we gave it a try. After say 1km a cyclist came in our direction. It was our French friend: 'you can't pass'. Ugh. So we went back to the crossing assumng that one of the two other exits could be followed. I tried Google naps to find out what the best option was, but there was no satelite connection in that middle of nowhere. So we tried the one over the canal, that seemed to go to a remite farm in the right direction. It ended after a few hundred meters. In between about 8 people had come, and we had an animated conversation about what to do, but no one could help as they all came from where we had come from. So we had to go back and make a detour of about 24 kms.

Suddenly we saw two packed cyclist coming fron there were to road was closed. They had managed to go through but it had been pretty complicated. Never mind, I like comlexity. So the three of us decided to give it a try. When we arrived at the place it seemed virtually impossible that one get through. I than found a small path that led to a meadow and a gate. After some inspection I also found cycle trails, that also stopped. Well as there was another gate about 500 meters further one, we went through the hard clay, carefully avoiding a herd of curious black cattle whose reaction I couldn't predict as the species was, and is, unknown to me. The last hurdle at the main riad was a locked gate. We had to take of all the luggage and lift the bicycles over the iron gate. It needed two people to get that done. But we had managed and our French mate was so happy that he offered us a drink in the next billlage, Aigues-Morte.

The last five kilometer to the sea went over a dike with at the left ghe Rhône - Séte canal and at the right an undeep lake ('étang') with flamjngo's. Beautiful! One could se the fish swimming in the laje. There was a couple fishing. In the canal.

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