Hérault

Agde is a large place spread out into three different areas, the old town, the fishing port on the river, and the marina on the Mediterranean Sea. Our camp site faced directly to the river, it was a lovely spot half way between the sea and the old town.

On site the various narrow road turns to reach pitches was quite tight, we were there for a few days and heard numerous raised voices between couples or travelling companions as they were entering or leaving their designated pitch.... bikes on backs of motorhomes clipping trees and bushes... pitch signage flattened.... high tension all before 10am.

The comings and goings of a campsite when you sit out enjoying a leisurely morning coffee observing the daily exodus became a sport.... will they - wont they... bets on - hit anything?raised voices?... usually both!

Little did we know we had one of the prime spots of the site... becoming more obvious as our various neighbours over 3 days left by the 10am departure deadline, with new arrivals not allowed on site before the 12.00... we watched as existing campers disguising themselves as dog walkers or cyclists went slowly by, perusing vacant more attractive pitches - weighing up better options between their existing and any pitch that had became free ... swiftly they would descend.... no spaces were left before 12.00 near us.. surrounded by Dutch and Belgian number plates in their monster motorhomes.... we looked small in comparison to these bus like road homes.

Back to our first day... bikes out and a trip down the shared pathway that took us past the fishing boats on the river.. out to the channel lighthouse markers where it was a tad breezy, and along the med to our right, as we ventured towards Agde marina in the direction of Montpellier.

Lunch at the marina and a 7 mile meander back was enjoyable, the cycle paths everywhere and quiet roads where the path ran out... despite me getting a puncture about 5 miles before camp.

Not to worry we were carrying a spare inner tube... Brompton city bike tyres not liking mosaic and tiled hard road surfaces it seemed.

Day two, we took a walk along the river, this time in the opposite direction towards the old town of Agde... where it seems a regeneration of the public spaces is in full swing... the old town streets and alleyways did still seem a little underloved, quiet streets, empty cafes, shuttered off doors and windows in varying states of repair or disrepair!

The old town still had a few lovely gems and architectural treasures to offer, the town ramparts dating back to 4th century BC, and the romanesque 12th century cathedral of Saint Etienne, built entirely out of dark volcanic rock.

Despite the sense of isolation, the walk was lovely... set on a picturesque river where all forms of water craft were moored, yachts to fishing tugs and leisure boats, lining both sides of the river.

If you ever walk or cycle along the River Thames path from Surbiton to Kingston... there is a lot of similarity.

It was on the walk where we came across for the first time... boats for 'Water Jousting'... who knew it was a thing... later finding out there are fierce local competitions ... the jouster standing on an elevated platform at the back of the boat carrying a lance and shield, propelled by rowers with oars.. the object to dislodge the oncoming jouster in his / her boat.

Previously, on return from our cycle ride and the puncture, Jo had logged into amazon.fr and got a couple of replacement inner tubes 'just in case'. They were being delivered to an Amazon locker at a local laundrette the day later... so two birds and all that ... we headed off.. returning to the pitch to hang up the washing in the sunshine... before we ventured out for the rest of the day as we set off to explore the nearby town of Sète 20 miles away.

Sète is a pretty fishing port and magnet for tourists, famous for its many waterways and canals, having driven there - it was one way streets and no where to park for camper vans .. that was made abundantly clear... so we did not stop.. just a slow drive through in traffic.. many bridges crossing the river and the Bassin de Thau... perhaps we will revisit in the future.

Our time in Agde was coming to a close, opting to venture towards the Spanish border, the Pyrenees could be seen in the distance, our next camp would be in further down the coast at Canet-en-Roussillon, near Perpignan.Read more