Did a bit of training today for our Spain trip in a couple weeks. Shoko doesn’t get out on the bike much (she’s a runner, if you must know) and to get her legs remembering what it’s like to pedal we rode from Montpellier up to the Roman site of Ambrussum, about 45 km away. I’d already been and already blogged about it, but I’m not going 45 km without a blog entry! So here goes.

On the way we passed lots of these beautiful flower-filled vineyards.

 

And I’m sure we passed a lot more, but these are the only pictures we took. It was an excellent ride though, with little wind, tons of sun, and no knee problems!

This is the bridge, or rather what’s left of it. You can see on the sign a famous painting by Gustav Courbet, who is quite the celeb in these parts. Anyway, the painting was done in the 1850s I think. Notice the arch that is missing today – it was wiped out in a flood in the early part of the 20th century. 

 

No Shoko isn’t praying, she’s trying to sketch the bridge.

 

As you can see, we had a little picnic there, and I have to say that it was probably the best afternoon I’ve spent in France so far. The sun was hot, but there was a brisk wind blowing down the valley from the north to cool things down just enough. It reminded me of a Gaspe summer, which is sort of sad considering it is March here!

After our sieste we tramped up the hill to a very well preserved stretch of Roman road, along with the foundations of a few houses and the protective wall that enclosed it all.