CURVESCOUT / MOTORCYCLE RIDE
The recorded total and the leg detail need reconciliation. Inspect the leg notes before using this record for timing or navigation. Stops, delays, approach and any separate return travel add time. Basis: producer-declared routed record.
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259 km from Les Grands Carmes to Les Grands Carmes, about 3 h 48 of riding. On the way it passes Arles, Historic Centre of Avignon: Papal Palace, back through Historic Centre of Avignon: Papal Palace and back through Arles. A steady touring day rather than a sprint.
For 1 km this is Camargue Scenic Route, a road with a name of its own and a reason for it — expect company on a summer weekend. Early is better than fast.
45 km on Arles → Historic Centre of Avignon: Papal Palace.
Marseille is France's oldest city, founded around 600 BC by Greek sailors from Phocaea, and it has never entirely lost its Mediterranean temper. The Vieux-Port, the old harbour, is the heart: a long rectangle of water lined with fishing boats and yachts, a market where fishermen sell the morning's catch, and the quays where restaurants serve bouillabaisse, the fish stew that is the city's pride. The district of Les Grands Carmes lies a little to the north, near the old port and the Joliette docks, where warehouses have been turned into offices and flats.
Read the complete Marseille write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Marseille is where the day begins. Next is Arles.
Arles is where the Rhône splits in two and the Camargue begins, and for more than two thousand years it has been a city of power, art and sun. The Romans made it one of the great cities of Gaul, building an amphitheatre that still hosts events, a theatre, baths and an underground gallery, the cryptoportiques, and the Roman and Romanesque monuments of Arles are a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The Romanesque church of Saint-Trophime, with its carved portal and cloister, is one of the finest in Provence.
Read the complete Arles write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Arles comes up 36 km in.
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Arles write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
72 km in you reach Arles. Next is Historic Centre of Avignon: Papal Palace.
For most of the fourteenth century, the popes lived in Avignon rather than Rome. In 1309, Pope Clement V, a Frenchman, settled here to escape the turmoil of Italian politics, and his successors built a vast palace, the Palais des Papes, the largest Gothic palace in Europe, with massive walls, towers and halls, more fortress than residence. Seven popes reigned here until 1377, when the papacy returned to Rome, and then rival popes continued to rule from Avignon during the Great Schism. The palace, the cathedral, the ramparts and the famous bridge, the Pont Saint-Bénézet, were listed by UNESCO in 1995.
Read the complete Historic Centre of Avignon: Papal Palace write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Historic Centre of Avignon: Papal Palace, about halfway.
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Historic Centre of Avignon: Papal Palace write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Historic Centre of Avignon: Papal Palace sits at 144 km, about halfway. Next is back through Historic Centre of Avignon: Papal Palace.
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Historic Centre of Avignon: Papal Palace write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
back through Historic Centre of Avignon: Papal Palace comes up 180 km in. Next is back through Arles.
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Arles write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
216 km in you reach back through Arles.
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Arles write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
back through Arles, late in the day. Next is Marseille.
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Marseille write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
The route ends here after 259 km.
Marseille → Arles is 99 km of getting across. Ride it tidily and keep the enthusiasm for what comes after.
Arles → Historic Centre of Avignon: Papal Palace is 46 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Historic Centre of Avignon: Papal Palace → back through Arles is 46 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Arles → Marseille is 99 km of getting across. Ride it tidily and keep the enthusiasm for what comes after.