A Bike Ride Along the River

A panorama of the etang, with Montpellier in the distance

These days, we’re not avid bicycle riders. I used to do some extensive riding, but lately (say, the last couple of decades) I really haven’t ridden much. We’ve talked about riding bikes here or there, but nothing ever came out of it.

But Montpellier provides a compelling option: publicly-available rental bikes. Run by the same public organization that operates the trams, the bus system, and short-term rental cars, the bike system is called Velomagg (vélo is a French term for bike). It is similar to public bike rental systems in many major cities (Paris and San Francisco come to mind): stations are set up around town, bikes are locked into a rack and are released when you rent them; you ride around and when done, leave the bikes at any station.

A Velomagg station in Montpellier

 What got us to actually rent a bike and take a ride was the urgings of our ex-pat American friend, Debra. She’s rented cars from the corresponding car rental system (we took one to Aigues-Mort; I talk about that trip here), and wanted to ride to the beach, with us. So we said, sure!

We met at 11. It was a cold but gorgeous fall day. We were initially concerned about the temperature: exposed fingers, ears, and noses were gonna get cold; but by mid-day the sun was warming things up, and soon we were shedding our heavy coats. First, though, we had to figure how to unlock the bikes from the station racks. That little task took 20 minutes or so, but eventually we were thrilled to be finally riding off on our bikes. For about 100 feet.

 

The Territory: Montpellier to Palavas

I stopped to help Paula adjust her seat height. Then, for some reason, my rear wheel locked up. After futzing with it for 10 minutes or so, we dragged the bikes back to the station and shoved them back into the racks.

10 minutes later and we’d walked to the next Velomagg station. Now more experienced, we got away in much less time, and were soon happily peddling on the bike path along the river Lez. We had walked this way a couple of times, but things go so much faster on a bike! It was really lovely, riding along the river with bright autumn sun low in the sky.

The fabled pink flamingos, on the Etang du Mejean

Here the coast consists of sand dunes with large swampy lakes—étang, in French—just inland. As we got closer to the sea the bike path ran between the river and the Étang de Méjean. We stopped a couple of times to watch the pink flamingos. They weren’t doing much, just standing around (on one leg!), but it was a thrill to see them.

An exercise bar along the bike path, in the shape of a fanciful flamingo

Before long (well, 11 km; that’s kinda long) we reached the town of Palavas-les-Flots at the mouth of the Lez. It’s a fishing town, known for its beaches and tourist amenities, pretty quiet at this time of year. After locking up the bikes—in front of the police station, just to be safe—we headed a few blocks into town to find a place for lunch, happy to have arrived and to be walking again.

Paula and Debra lock up the bikes

We settled in for a fine seafood lunch, all the while looking at options for getting home. Yes, it was a fine ride, but after almost 7 miles we were hoping to find a shortcut. Montpellier’s tram system, fine as it is, does not come all the way to the beach; it stops about 5 km away. No problem, we could ride that far. Sadly, though, there was no bike station at the tram stop! No? Why is that? If only we could drop the bikes there, and take the tram home! But no joy, we would have to ride all the way back…

Palavas-les-Flots and the Lez, seen from the restaurant windows

Now the sun is low in the sky; we’re moving into the photographer’s “happy hour”—the time within an hour of sunset when the light is all golden. The flamingos on the étang are starting to move about, and we are getting very tired. While the bikes are great, they very are solid and massively heavy, probably about 50 pounds. (My very fine but very old road bike at home weighs in at less than 30.) And moving all that weight takes a lot of effort! But we kept on keeping on, having no other choice, and eventually, after about an hour, made it back to the city. We were very happy to get back before dark, lock the bikes into the racks, and walk the last 15 minutes to the tram stop heading home!

We cross the Canal du Rhone a Sete that connects the Canal du Midi with the Mediterranean

Public art on the way home

Interesting graffiti under the highway overpass!

All in all, it was a good day. We covered 23 km (the bike keeps track of the distance traveled), or about 14 miles. Not bad for a first time (in a long time)!

Ah… the joys of a hot bath were waiting for us. Good as new, we’re ready to go again.

Looking across the etang towards Montpellier, with the distinctive shape of Pic Saint-Loup in the background

This will be our last post from France for a while. We leave tomorrow (Sunday) for Seville, Spain, for Christmas and New Years (and Kings' Day!). We'll catch up with friends, and my daughter and her new beau, Ricardo, whose family lives there. So, we'll be meeting them, too! We are looking forward to these holidays with great delight.

Then, at the end of January we'll fly back to France. After a few days in Marseille (the plane lands there) we'll move into new digs in Montpellier.        Stay tuned to hear allllllllll about it!!