directions_bike by Chris Riches -

Narbonne to Porte-la-Nouvelle

Departing from the campsite just southeast of Narbonne, I knew it wouldn’t be far to cycle to reach the Mediterranean coast, and was pleased to find it was a sunny morning.

The route went south on a path alongside the Canal de la Robine through some wetland areas, where you could start to sense the sea air, and then arrived at the Mediterranean coast at Porte-la-Nouvelle. As forecast it was a windy day which provided a tailwind and the sky was looking vividly blue during the journey to the coast. The area is prone to strong winds including the northwesterly Tramontane wind. Apparently the strong winds in the South of France cause the strong light conditions that can be seen there, with the clear blue skies. This phenomenon, which attracts artists, was particularly noticeable as I approached the coast.

Porte-la-Nouvelle had what seemed to be a cement plant on the outskirts along with numerous large silos. It is France’s third commercial Mediterranean port and is important for grain exports and hydrocarbon imports. It was interesting to think that much of the grain crops that I had seen being grown, irrigated and made ready for transportation in the South West region might end up being internationally shipped from here. Up to 800,000 tonnes of grain are shipped from the port annually, including wheat and barley, to other Mediterranean countries.

It was really exciting to see the calm and glistening Mediterranean Sea for the first time on the trip, from the promenade next to the beach at Porte-la-Nouvelle. Decided that this location would be an ideal place to have lunch, and stay overnight. I enquired in a hotel in the port area and they confirmed that they had a room available for the night, and a garage for bikes. I left most of my things at the hotel and then relaxed on the beach in the afternoon and had a swim.

Distance: 15 miles

Maximum temperature: 27 degrees C

Canal de la Robine

Canal de la Robine

Beach at Porte-la-Nouvelle

Porte-la-Nouvelle

Porte-la-Nouvelle

directions_bike by Chris Riches -

Porte-La-Nouvelle to Canet-en-Rousillon

After checking out of the hotel and retrieving my bike from the garage there, I headed directly south along the coast roughly towards Perpignan, and more broadly, Spain.

It was nice to stop at a few places on the way down the coast. The first one was an extraordinarily wide stretch of sand just south of Porte-la-Nouvelle where the beach was fairly empty, but there were quite a few campervans parked on the hardened sand away from the sea. Then I continued on a track alongside the railway line. I stopped for lunch at La Franqui, and then went up a very steep and rough track with many rocks. This necessitated getting off the bike and pushing it and the attached luggage up through the rocky terrain. It was hard to tell in advance what the terrain would be like from looking at the route on the phone. The views at the top of the hill overlooked the coast and the mountains further south were visible too, and they would become larger and more clear as the day progressed.

Later I stopped at Leucate Plage and Le Barcarès. Both were very nice, particularly with the silhouette of the Pyrenees on the horizon, and I was really enjoying cycling through this region and the almost subtropical feel that it had. By now there were multiple palm trees and a dedicated cycle path.

Having attempted the second repair of my airbed earlier in the hotel, there seemed to be many campsites around the area of Canet-en-Rousillon and this town was roughly horizontally parallel with Perpignan on the map. I checked in to the first one I found there, and visited the beach in the evening. I wasn’t sure what to expect. The air still felt comfortably warm and the beach looked incredible, with the colours of the sky graduating from deep blue to warm orange and the setting sun illuminating the sea and the palm trees against the backdrop of the mountains.

Distance: 27 miles

Maximum temperature: 27 degrees C

Sands south of Porte-la-Nouvelle

Leucate

Le Barcarès

Canet-en-Rousillon

Canet-en-Rousillon

Canet-en-Rousillon