Marseille to Cheval-Blanc

Friday December 10, 2010

The view from the hostel balcony in Marseille, France.

I woke up at around 9:30 am and took advantage of the hostel breakfast, which consisted of bread rolls and jams and tea. I ate lots of rolls and had a good chat to the Belgian girl, Sophie. Then because I was still hungry, I also ate some of my own cereal, followed by some more rolls and chatted to the Scottish bloke, Mark Sheridan. Then I analysed the maps to work out a suitable route out of Marseille, which looked like it would be difficult. I'd be leaving the coast today and heading inland, towards Lyon and then Paris, and eventually back to London. I'd had to come to accept that I wouldn't make it to Spain for lack of time, so that will be left for another trip. 

I also talked to my sister Rosanna on Skype, before I packed up and carried my panniers, and then my bike, down the three levels of stairs. I was about to load up Florey (my bike) when I realised I had a puncture in the front tyre. What a drag! So I had to fix that before making tracks, and changed over the rear brake pads while I was at it, since they were almost fully worn down.

Repairing yet another puncture at the base of the hostel stairs.

Before heading off, I had a good chat to the beautiful young hostel manager. She talked about her background and travels, and about Timothy McGeever, and why he was the way he was. She seemed very good at analysing people, and I enjoyed hearing her perspectives. 

I eventually got back on the road at about 2 pm, without much motivation which is apparent from my tardiness in getting ready to go. I made my way out of Marseille, riding pretty slowly, climbing for about 15 kilometres up to about 247 metres above sea level according to my iPhone. Some of the roads were very narrow, and with lots of traffic, which didn't make for very pleasant riding. It was also very windy, and started getting very cold too!

The days' riding was uneventful. I stopped for lunch/tea at about 5:30 pm, and devoured a few sandwiches with salami, cheese and tomato, plus lots of cake and some sweetened condensed milk.

Back on the road I just cruised along, and listened to podcasts (mostly from the ABC like PM and Late Night Live), for a few more hours through dusk and into the dark. 

A vineyard at sunset, on the Route d'Eguilles, La Montauronne, France.

Because it was so cold, my nose was running like a leaky tap. And while I'm complaining, my jaw was also sore, and had been for a few days; I must have slept on it wrong. 

I found a top camp site, a little clearing in between a quiet road and a massive rock. Since I was so tired, I had a relatively early night at about 11 pm.

The days route, Marseille to Cheval-Blanc, France.

An overview of my progress so far from Rome.

Ride Stats:

Distance: 75.81 km
Average: 17.1 km/h
Maximum: 46.5 km/h
Time: 4:25:54

Total ascent: 695 m

Total Descent: 597 m