Bordeaux to Nimes on a bicycle Day 9 to Narbonne Plage

Day 9 - Le Somail to Narbonne Plage

Picking in progress

A good night’s sleep was punctuated only by my nocturnal wanderings downstairs and a jet screaming overhead. When you live on the flight path near Heathrow the last thing you want to be woken up by is a plane inches above the roof!
In the early dawn, grape-picking started in the field behind the house. The motorised picker would pass over a full row of vines. At the end it would empty its grapes into a waiting tractor and trailer. The tractor then sped off to the Cave. The picker would then turn around and pick the next row and be met by another tractor – and so on. Much more entertaining than breakfast telly! At breakfast, where I demolished everything, I joined a friendly Swiss/Canadian couple. They talked about disease, not theirs but the plane trees. Apparently the tall trees that line the canals are suffering and many may need to be felled. That could be a bit of a catastrophe! They don’t just look good and give shade. Their roots stabilise the banks and the leaves, when they fall into the water and sink, help to seal the canal. I had seen trees painted with horizontal green stripes but had not realised the significance. Amusingly, the chap was also very keen to loudly point out to Madame a couple of problems with their room. Apparently the shower base flexed when he stood on it and he was concerned that it might fracture and a guest fall through. That was pooh-poohed by Madame. My husband is very fat and he has tested it.

There was also a problem with the toilet flush but Madame said she had to clean it and liked it just the way it was. Wish I had an en-suite to complain about!


Les Escaliers

Anyway, went back to my room to let my breakfast settle, update my diary and watch further grape picking from my room. There was a knock at the door, would I mind leaving now because they had a job to do in Carcassonne and needed to leave in five minutes. Homps! I left. When the latter-day Bonnie and portly Clyde plus two other gang members set off in their Toyota, dragging a trailer, I was out on the street still loading my bike.

Le Comptoir Nature

It was 9am. Think they need to get their priorities sorted out. I headed off to see where the grape tractors were going.

Trees with disease

Soon after Le Somail I said goodbye to the canal du Midi and headed south down the Canal de la Robine. No sign-posting meant that I got lost around Salleles-d’Aude, at the point where the canal crosses the Aude river. Took to the road and headed through Cuxac and onto the D13 before seeing the rows of trees ahead where I could make a welcome return to the canal. The surface was good all the way to the city of Narbonne. Took a leisurely stroll through the town. It's clearly a nice place but not when you are in a canal frame of mind. Not attuned to the hustle and bustle I headed for the nearest Patisserie and picked up my lunch. This included a wonderful lemon brioche.


Canal de la Robine

The wind blew me all the way to Narbonne Plage along a well marked track. The cyclists going the other way were a tad disdainful of my wind borne progress . My merry bonjours were not always returned as they struggled into the wind.

Narbonne Town Hall



Just taking pussy out for a walk in Narbonne

Made it to the Med! Oh, I do like to be beside the seaside.

Bright and breezy by the Mediterranean. Just a few hardy souls on the beach and in the water. Very much an out of season look to the place. Booked into a One Star hotel on the front and went for a paddle. The water felt pretty cold. 

Narbonne Plage - beside the seaside