Ventoux Cycle Day 5: 80 Kms Avignon to Pont du Gard, and back to London

3 AUGUST 2013

The final day was also my return day to the UK. I wanted to visit Pont du Gard, a famous Roman aqueduct. It was built during the 1st Century AD, so it's 2000 years old, and was part of a 50km long aquaduct that supplied the city of Nimes with water. It stands 50 metres high and crosses the River Gardon. It is made of soft limestone blocks, with the water channel constructed over the top of the Aquaduct.

Pont du Gard

I needed to be back in Avignon in time to catch the 4.30pm high speed train to London. I was mindful of the fact that I was a bit tight for time, especially if I had a puncture, or a mechanical problem. I dived into the tourist office at Aramon, and got a couple of local taxi numbers, so I could ask for a lift back to Avignon if I had a problem. The lady in the tourist office directed me along the main road which was 17 Kms to the town of Remoulins, the nearest town to the site. I followed the sign for the River Gauche (left bank), which is the longer route to the Pont du Gard. I paid my entrance ticket and was able to cycle to the aqueduct. There was a bridge next to the aquaduct to cross the river, so I did that and cycled around the site and along the river. I then cycled back into Remoulins along the Rive droite (right bank). Once back in Remoulins, I stopped for a snack, and then set off back to Aramon, and then followed the River Rhone along the main road to Avignon. It actually rained on this section, first and only time.

After collecting my bag from the Hotel, I went to the TGV station, and dismantled my bike. I then went into the station but didn't see my train shown on the departure board. ?? I looked at my ticket and then I twigged. The Direct London TGV (Eurostar) train leaves from Avignon town station, unlike all the others that leave from the TGV station! Oh Sh*t! I went out of the station and looked for a taxi - long queue! I saw a bus with a massive queue loading up which was heading into town. Somehow the bus swallowed up the whole queue and we were on our way into town. Slowly! I realised I was not the only one, there were at least 5 or 6 others who had gone to the wrong station. We leapt off the bus in Avignon and ran for about 250 metres to the station, by this time it was 4.20. We then had to go through a security check so we were boarding the train at 4.25, five minutes to go. This was the only direct train to London per week, so if I had missed this, I would have had to buy another ticket and travel via Paris. So lucky!

Once on the train, I calmed down, and settled in for the 6 hour journey direct to London. My bike bag stowed in the racks at the end of the carriage. On arrival at St Pancras station at 9.25pm, I put my bike back together and cycled across London to Charing Cross station. This was all of 3.5kms and I cycled all the way through London's Theatre district (St.Martin's Lane), through to Trafalgar Square. This was fun.

I then caught a train from Charing Cross station to Hildenborough in Kent, and had my final cycle of the day, 8 kms to my night's lodging at Penshurst. It was pitch black, but I knew the road well, and I was amazed how I climbed the hills so well, and it showed how I had improved my cycling fitness since the last time I cycled these roads before I left the UK in 2011.

So a great few days in Provence. I shall return next year, maybe to cycle Mont Ventoux three times by the three different routes, not just the one.