France Spain (Pyrenees)

31 May – 1 Jun 2025

Andorra – Sete- Cassis

Ready to leave Andorra but the half the foxes were injurious. Hydro had a stomach upset and Boxy had bruised his leg badly. A fox conference was had but only in the minds of Boxy and Hydro, that this was to be a fast trip to get to the next hotel asap. Mike and Russ just did the normal route (we’re not a support group). The ride out of Andorra was brilliant, the road to France much better than the road from Spain. Massive ski field area that went on for many kms. In fact they have 300kms of ski trails.

We are now back in France and and headed through Ax Les Therms which turned into a goat track at the pass. Beautiful scenery, but only Russ and Mike stopped to appreciate it. A fantastic ride down the mountain and along the valley for about 60kms. Stopped for a coffee and found Boxy lying on a bus seat in the main square, his bruised leg was annoying him. Russ got the first aid kit and Mike went to the chemist, but given his limited French managed to buy Hemorrhoid cream rather than Hirudoid cream. Boxy couldn’t work out why it wasn’t working. We got him back on the Bike and headed into Sete. A coastal city that any Sydney Sider wouldn’t bother with, but we were in France!

Headed out to dinner in the main square and we’re entertained by some Spanish Flamenco guitarists. Who knew we were in France!

1 June

Short day riding today so we gave ourselves a sleep in. It was decided that Russ could lead today, but he got the sack after 3 wrong turns. We ran along the coast line of Southern Provence and over the Rhone delta, where in contrast to Panic at the Peage we only had to pay the ferryman.

Interesting place. It is the home of many flamingos, so looked more like Miami Everglades than France.

We then steeled ourselves for the ride through Marseille. By this stage we had lost Hydro..something about not needing gas…I’ll see you at the Hotel. Russ for the second time took the lead determined to make it through. We got over the Port overpass, through the city tunnel, thinking thank god we didn’t have to go through that shit fight, but in a strategic error as the nav stopped working in the tunnel we ended up seeing close hand the city and the Port.

We are staying in the hills above Cassis. We regrouped for drinks on the Terrace. Mike has got the gold star award today for not stalling once. Boxy was telling us he had discussed his leg bruise with his medical team in Sydney. Russ suggested the prognosis might have been “suck it up Princess”, to which the response was “Any other tour except a Fox tour they would have medi vaced me by now” Thank got we are not a support group.

Ubered down to town and had an excellent meal at Restaurant Bonaparte.

Boxy thought the wine glasses were like thimbles, so had to order a bottle to keep the thimble topped up

On completion we did a reccy of the town and tried to get an uber home…..no response, tried to get a taxi….no response….. Russ and Mike considered walking but Boxy and Steve weren’t up to it so we went back to the restaurant to see if they could find some transport, and the owner and chef Jean Marie said he would give us a lift in his van. Boxy got in the front seat and Hydro Russ and Mike got into the back of the van with the lobster cases. Jean Marie said is was a souvinir du vacance! We were very happy.