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.
Reading history stays on this device. My road watch requires a separate selection; opening it does not subscribe this ride.
Distance and riding time are measured on the routed road. Check local closures and conditions before you ride.
From Arles it runs 159 km to Arles; allow about 2 h 23 of riding. The stops in between: The Maison Carrée of Nîmes, Historic Centre of Avignon: Papal Palace and back through The Maison Carrée of Nîmes. It was put together for the scenery rather than the shortest line.
For 38 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.
The ride follows The Maison Carrée of Nîmes → Historic Centre of Avignon: Papal Palace for 52 km.
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 is where the day begins. Next is The Maison Carrée of Nîmes.
Most Roman temples survive as a jumble of columns and a lot of imagination. The Maison Carrée in Nîmes is the exception: a complete temple, standing on its podium with its roof and columns intact, two thousand years after it was built for the grandsons of Augustus. It owes its survival to being constantly reused, as a meeting hall, a stable, a church and a museum. Thomas Jefferson admired it so much that he based the Virginia State Capitol on it, and in 2023 UNESCO finally listed it in its own right.
Read the complete The Maison Carrée of Nîmes write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
The Maison Carrée of Nîmes comes up 45 km in. 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.
90 km in you reach Historic Centre of Avignon: Papal Palace. Next is back through The Maison Carrée of Nîmes.
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete The Maison Carrée of Nîmes write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
back through The Maison Carrée of Nîmes, late in the day. Next is 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 at Arles. That is the ride.
Arles → The Maison Carrée of Nîmes is 38 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
The Maison Carrée of Nîmes → Historic Centre of Avignon: Papal Palace is 52 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Historic Centre of Avignon: Papal Palace → back through The Maison Carrée of Nîmes is 52 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through The Maison Carrée of Nîmes → Arles is 38 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.