05 to Frontignan

Route 89 kilometers, cum. 342 kilometers | Elevation 210, cum. 1,430 meters, straight line to home 623 kilometers 

Today I have reached the Canal du Midi again and am therefore definitely back on my planned route. Unlike in spring, the paths were dry and well passable. Thus, I have made peace with the canal again. 

The Mistral left me alone, which means that the wind became significantly weaker. The reason I didn't cover more kilometers is that I wanted to take enough time for this beautiful tour. Additionally, my destination tomorrow is Aigues Mortes. And that is also still less than 60 kilometers away. 

Today, the route led me a lot through vineyards and past chateaus. Although 'vineyards' is the wrong expression, as most of the vines are in flat areas or at most on gentle hills. For the first time, I saw that the grapes are harvested mechanically. Until now I believed that all of them are harvested by hand. Should I assume that only the cheap wine is harvested this way? When I was riding along a side canal of the Canal du Midi, I heard a crackling sound like a fire and thought of a barbecue. But when I returned to that spot, I saw a small forest fire very close to the houseboats and buildings. At the same time, firefighters arrived. I didn't want to get in their way and didn't want to be a spectator, so I continued along the beautiful path. 

I passed through some familiar places, many of which I already knew from houseboat holidays. This brought back many beautiful memories. I took my first trip on a houseboat on the Canal du Midi in April 1985 with Mario and Caroline. Several more followed, the last time being two and a half years ago with Heini and Magi. 

A particularly beautiful city is Sète, which I recently passed through. We also started from here with the houseboat. But I preferred to spend the night a bit outside the city where it's quieter. While passing through, I had a brief but nice encounter with Swiss people who were probably spending their holidays here. I am very happy when someone approaches me because of the small flag with the cross on a red background. I am proud of our country. 

https://www.komoot.com/de-DE/tour/1865419551?ref=itd

Today I reached the Canal du Midi again and am definitely back on my planned route. Unlike in spring, the paths were dry and easy to navigate. So I have made peace with the canal.

The Mistral left me alone, which means that the wind got much weaker. The reason I didn't cycle any more kilometers is because I wanted to take enough time for this beautiful tour. In addition, my destination tomorrow is Aigues Mortes. And that is less than 60 kilometers away anyway.

Today the route took me through a lot of vineyards and past chateaus. Although vineyards is the wrong term, since most of the vines are on flat land or at most on slight hills. For the first time, I saw that the grapes are harvested by machine. Until now, I thought that they were all picked by hand. But can I assume that only the cheap wine is harvested this way? As I was driving along a side canal of the Canal du Midi, I heard a crackling sound like a fire and thought of a barbecue. But when I came back to the same place opposite, I saw a small forest fire very close to the houseboats and buildings. At the same time, firefighters were coming with me. I didn't want to get in their way and I didn't want to be a spectator, so I continued along the beautiful path.

I drove through some well-known places, some of which I already knew from houseboat holidays. This brought back many beautiful memories. I took my first trip on a houseboat on the Canal du Midi in April 1985 with Mario and Caroline. A few more followed, the last time being two and a half years ago with Heini and Magi.

A particularly beautiful town is Sète, which I recently drove through. We also started from here with the houseboat. But I wanted to spend the night a little further out, where there was less noise. As I drove through, I had a brief but nice encounter with Swiss people who were probably on holiday here. I am very happy when someone speaks to me about the small flag with the cross on a red background. I am proud of our country.