It was a clear sky from the time we got moving, but with a cold wind. It was a quick breakfast but it was 8:30 before we got away, knowing that it was going to be a long day.
On the way out of town we passed a number of signs warning of some sort of running with the bulls, together with some massive barriers that were clearly designed to be bull proof.
Just out of Gallargues we passed by a ruined Roman bridge, but not much to see, Since we were walking close to a river, the walking was fairly flat and easy. Our first break was by this dry-stone 'hut'. I think the story is that these were built originally by shepherds as refuges in case of bad weather. A number have recently been restored by a service club (should have noted which one!)
The first part of the day was quite pleasant but after this break things deteriorated. Marcel (back in St-Gilles) had given advice about what way to go to avoid disruptions around the new motorway. In spite of, or because of this, we got off the correct way.
We ended up walking almost to Lunel-Viel, well away from the Way and then had to work out how to get back. All of this involved walking along roads, and that was not much fun. Finally, after another break for snacks, we found our way back to markers and walked parallel to the new motorway works. Then it was under the motorway and beside it again on the other side.
Our aim had always been to get to Vendargues and get a bus into Montpellier, to avoid trudging through suburbs and industrial areas. It was with some relief that we finally found our way into what we thought was Vendargues, with a small bus apparently just waiting for folk like us.
We turned out to be wrong on two counts. This was not Vendargues, but Castries - and the bus was not on a regular service but a community bus that had been 'booked' by locals! Fortunately by hanging around and looking glum, the driver took pity on us and she took us to the tram service into Montpellier - and both her portion of this journey and the tram ride (quite long) cost us the princely sum of 1.50Euros each! We were extremely grateful.
Much later I re-read a website summary of the three days we had just done - and agree with its sentiments. It is particularly relevant to this day:
This section is probably the less interesting part of the Arles route, except for the town of Arles, St-Gilles Basilica and the pleasant crossing of a few vineyards and beautiful villages. You may just consider it as a warming-up section that will enable you to progressively enter into the atmosphere and the pacing of your pilgrimage. Besides that, there are many kms to be made on roads, the proximity of highways, many crossings of large industrial and agricultural areas, of railway lines, etc.
Montpellier is familiar territory to Phil who has lived in the city, so it was relatively straight forward (needless to say it would have been dramatically different if I had been on my own!). We left the tram at the Comedie stop and Phil easily (well, with one or two requests for directions on the finer details) to the St Roche district and the gite he had selected. We needed to do this without stopping because of a concern that the gite might close to new guests after a deadline.
By this stage I was quite wasted. We had not eaten enough for lunch and had not had decent rests - and a strong wind had blown all day [for some parts, this blew the noise of the motorway away from us, small compensation. It was also a combination of factors specific to me - the remnants of jet-lag, a bit of a cold and sore feet. My pedometer told me we'd walked 27kms and I could well believe it.
As a result I did not make good use of our time in Montpellier. After freshening up, we walked back to the Comedie district and into a park, but it was too cold and I could not sustain it. We ended up going out for dinner and then back to bed.
My feeling at this point was that I could not do many more combinations like the last two days!
.
On the way out of town we passed a number of signs warning of some sort of running with the bulls, together with some massive barriers that were clearly designed to be bull proof.
Just out of Gallargues we passed by a ruined Roman bridge, but not much to see, Since we were walking close to a river, the walking was fairly flat and easy. Our first break was by this dry-stone 'hut'. I think the story is that these were built originally by shepherds as refuges in case of bad weather. A number have recently been restored by a service club (should have noted which one!)
The first part of the day was quite pleasant but after this break things deteriorated. Marcel (back in St-Gilles) had given advice about what way to go to avoid disruptions around the new motorway. In spite of, or because of this, we got off the correct way.
We ended up walking almost to Lunel-Viel, well away from the Way and then had to work out how to get back. All of this involved walking along roads, and that was not much fun. Finally, after another break for snacks, we found our way back to markers and walked parallel to the new motorway works. Then it was under the motorway and beside it again on the other side.
Our aim had always been to get to Vendargues and get a bus into Montpellier, to avoid trudging through suburbs and industrial areas. It was with some relief that we finally found our way into what we thought was Vendargues, with a small bus apparently just waiting for folk like us.
We turned out to be wrong on two counts. This was not Vendargues, but Castries - and the bus was not on a regular service but a community bus that had been 'booked' by locals! Fortunately by hanging around and looking glum, the driver took pity on us and she took us to the tram service into Montpellier - and both her portion of this journey and the tram ride (quite long) cost us the princely sum of 1.50Euros each! We were extremely grateful.
Much later I re-read a website summary of the three days we had just done - and agree with its sentiments. It is particularly relevant to this day:
This section is probably the less interesting part of the Arles route, except for the town of Arles, St-Gilles Basilica and the pleasant crossing of a few vineyards and beautiful villages. You may just consider it as a warming-up section that will enable you to progressively enter into the atmosphere and the pacing of your pilgrimage. Besides that, there are many kms to be made on roads, the proximity of highways, many crossings of large industrial and agricultural areas, of railway lines, etc.
Montpellier is familiar territory to Phil who has lived in the city, so it was relatively straight forward (needless to say it would have been dramatically different if I had been on my own!). We left the tram at the Comedie stop and Phil easily (well, with one or two requests for directions on the finer details) to the St Roche district and the gite he had selected. We needed to do this without stopping because of a concern that the gite might close to new guests after a deadline.
By this stage I was quite wasted. We had not eaten enough for lunch and had not had decent rests - and a strong wind had blown all day [for some parts, this blew the noise of the motorway away from us, small compensation. It was also a combination of factors specific to me - the remnants of jet-lag, a bit of a cold and sore feet. My pedometer told me we'd walked 27kms and I could well believe it.
As a result I did not make good use of our time in Montpellier. After freshening up, we walked back to the Comedie district and into a park, but it was too cold and I could not sustain it. We ended up going out for dinner and then back to bed.
My feeling at this point was that I could not do many more combinations like the last two days!
.
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