Nimes to home, Day12 flying with a bicycle

Homeward bound

Ready for check-in

The wind had a final blow as I took the route from the Hotel to the Airport. Once in the terminal I had plenty of space, and time, to take the trusty TREK 520 apart and put it into its bag along with any other heavy stuff. That left me with one pannier for hand luggage (max 10kg). Right, ready for check-in!. Even though there are only two flights per day they still need all the security paraphernalia. The additional charges lady looked particularly efficient. I suppose with only 300 or 400 passengers per day she needed to justify her existence. My fellow passengers were desperately re-packing, putting on extra layers and filling their pockets to try and avoid excess charges – Bonjour Monsieur et Madame Michelin!
Check-in was not a problem for me as I had paid my 40 Euros for the bike, still a bit of trepidation though, never quite certain I've understood the rules. Or maybe Mr O'Leary has changed them?

I went through security, and the scanner, clutching my lone pannier. Monsieur, you have a ‘permp’. I’d left my pump in my pannier - ‘you should put that in your checked-in baggage’. I suppose they thought I might ‘blow up’ the plane. Didn’t make any smart comments though, could have ended up with an intrusive strip search. Anyway, she kindly let the offending inflator through.

My fellow passengers did not look particularly cheerful, they must have been suffering with the wind as well! I sat in the lounge with my back to the window while we waited for the plane. Without doubt, the landing would be a bit dicey. It wasn’t until I was being blown around on the top of the aircraft steps, some time later, that a fellow passenger revealed that the pilot had really big problems trying to land. Why are you telling me this? Are you one of those people who delight in revealing results of matches or races that friends have recorded? I should have hit him with my permp.Take-off was fine although there was someone across the aisle reading – ‘pourquoi jai mange mon pere’.That seemed to mean ‘why I ate my father.' I felt like pointing out to her that I was all gristle and that, if we crashed and ended up stranded in the mountains, like that South American Rugby team, she should look elsewhere for her next meal.

Not to worry, we were soon at Luton where they charge TWO Pounds for a trolley, non-refundable! My poor bike arrived on the normal carousel, not the out of gauge conveyor, but thankfully survived. Some damage to the bag unfortunately.

For the onward journey to High Wycombe I had the pleasure of the National Express 737 bus. Found a nice, comfortable seat at the front for the trip of about 1hr 15 min. Just one stop on the way,in Hemel Hempstead. The helpful lady driver had no problem getting the 13m bus around the infamous Hemel roundabouts and we had a great scenic ride through Buckinghamshire. The only hitch was that I forgot to claim my senior discount. TW met me at the bus station and was pleased to see me - 'oh you do look surprisingly clean'.


Postscript
Transport costs:. The three trains from High Wycombe to Bordeaux cost £94 plus £20 to take the bike on the Eurostar. The best price was achieved by booking a ticket for all sectors from Eurostar. (http://www.seat61.com/ is an excellent site that has all the train info and links). You can travel and ship a bike to Lille (not just Paris) on the same train. Going via Lille has the advantage that there is no need to cycle across Paris to get to the onward train!
Coming home from Nimes with a bike on Ryanair cost £109 plus £10 for the National Express coach from Luton.

Travel Times: To Bordeaux – 06:55 to 21:00 local time 13hrs. From Nimes - 08:30 to 14:30 local times including bagging the bike. 7 hrs. Both included waiting times when transferring. I had to travel early to Marylebone so I could take the bike and I just missed a coach at Luton and had to wait two hours.

Accommodation: Between 20 and 65 Euros per night. The B &B’s charge per room so it’s cheaper for two, or even 3 if you are Musketeers. An extra bed was typically about 10 Euros. Cheapest was the YH at Carcassonne at 20 Euros including breakfast. Most expensive B & B was the apartment in Bourdeaux but it did have a kitchen. The Hotel at Nimes Airport was the most expensive at 65 Euros plus 9 Euros for Breakfast. It did have a very nice outdoor pool and was pretty comfy, so no complaints..There is a YH in Bourdeaux and another in Sete on the coast, probably should have used them. Had no problems finding accommodation but might be a different story in July/August.

Food: I was eating a lot because I had lost weight prior to the trip. Breakfast was between 5 and 9 Euros, typically buffet style with plenty of cups of coffee. Even though its nice to eat breakfast in a local cafe it is invariably far better value to eat a large buffet breakfast in a hotel or b&b.
Lunch, from a Patisserie, was 4 or 5 Euros and multi-course dinner from a set menu between 13 Euros and 30 Euros.

Best value dinner was at Sauveterre at the Hotel de Guyenne.
Best meal, probably the lamb I had at Le Somail which was mouth-wateringly good.
Favourite restaurant - Le Petit Gazouillis in Castelnaudary, good food, good company.

Best cycling: The whole canal-side route was good although, with hindsight, I would probably plan to take to the roads more often to avoid the ‘bumpiest’ of the canal du Midi sections. It’s not just the hits, there is also the necessity to watch the track all the time. The Canal Lateral sections north of Toulouse were not quite as pretty as the Midi but the track was superb and there were plenty of towns to explore en route.

Would I do it all again? Definitely! Although I would get some better maps and not arrive late at night in Bordeaux.