A good traveler has no fixed plans and is not intent on arriving.
Towards Dufort
Once I was on the right road out of Lézan things were tickerdy-boo. Wide landscapes with views of mountains in the distance.
After a while I hit the D982 which was, though a little busier, much faster.
St Hippolyte here I come
So I decided to stick with the main road and not take the quieter, but longer, detour towards Monoblet on the D185 then D133. I was feeling tired but was enjoying the faster road and was looking forwards to getting to Saint Hippolyte du Fort.
St Hippolyte du Fort
It's not a large campsite but a very nice one, and the best thing about it is they do food, pizza's done in a wood fired oven and various other tasty things.
I was very tired when I finally got there and asked if I could go and pitch my tent before doing the paperwork, the woman said "no", she was in the middle of checking in two german hikers, but the man took pity and took me to a nice, quiet, shady spot. I got talking to the two hikers later, they were walking from Gibralter back to Germany, a reasonable stroll.
Actually, I was so tired, that after having a shower and washing my clothes, alway's the first thing to be done once the tents up, simply so that the washing will dry before bedtime, I went to buy a coke. I could use the sugar hit. Unfortunately, since both cans were red, I ended up with a can of Kronenberg!
However, the best thing about this site is the food, and I think I had this year exactly what I had two years ago; and enjoyed it just as much: a tomato and onion salad (with tomatoes picked that morning with sweet Cevenne onions), followed by meguez and chips, with a petit pichet of rosé.
If you mouse over this photo you can see the 'restaurant' and if you click you can get a larger picture of the mouthwateringly tasty food.
St Hippolyte du Fort to Pezénas
Thurs, July 21st, 89km, avg 16.1km/hr, max 67.4km/hr, 5.5hrs riding, 8 hrs duration.
Long busy hill, even in the early morning, well 7.30am anyway but I was soon off the D999 and onto the lovely roads to St Bauzille de Putois. I remembered this section fondly from the last time I did it. It seems largely downhill, the tarmac's good, and the bakers in St Bauzille is well stocked.