Flamingos and horses and beaches, oh my!

Peur du jour- 17 Mars 2012: Solo Adventure

Happy Saint Patrick's Day! I'm positive this day means absolutely nothing in France (except for people who just want an excuse to do something festive at an Irish Pub). The past few years I've spent Saint Patrick's day in Chicago, so it's kind of a big change for me to not be walking next to a green river and weaving through the green waves of people who have been drinking since 8 AM.

I decided to celebrate Saint Patrick's day by biking to Palavas-Les-Flots, a little beach town just south of Montpellier. I sprained my foot last week and have had to take a forced hiatus from running, so a nice long bike ride was just what my body had been craving. After packing my lunch and a few calls to some of the girls in my group who were familiar with the Velomagg system, I was ready to go! Vélomagg (vélo = bike, magasin = store) is like Bikeshare in the US. I got the bike for four hours for 1€, which is not bad at all! The bike itself was not very fancy, but it served its purpose. It only had three gears, but it did have a bell (which I could never convince my mom to let me have on my bike)!

My trusty steed

The ride there was really nice. The trail, which follows the river, is in great condition in most sections. I did get a little confused when I had to take a detour which was not super obvious. I was riding along and then came around a blind turn and nearly ran into a barrier announcing construction. Luckily I found the yellow arrows pointing me to Palavas. The detour lead through an area with a bunch of condos, and not a lot of sidewalk space. I was trying to keep my promise to my dad that I would stay off the roads (and away from the crazy Medi drivers), but the narrow sidewalks were not kind to me. At one point I had to choose between a thorn bush and a street sign and in my inability to make a decision, I ran into both. Graceful. But I kept my promise, dad! Suffice it to say, I was happy to find the bike trail again. Throughout the rest of the ride, I saw a lot of horses (and even made friends with a few of them!). 

This guy walked right up to me when I made my horse-clicking noises, but wanted nothing to do with the carrots I brought especially for him!

Where the Lez River meets the Mediterranean Sea, it feeds into many marshes and bogs. It was very similar to the Camargue region that I saw when I visisted Arles and Saintes-Maries-de-la-Mer. This type of terrain is, of course, abundant with wildlife. In addition to seeing a lot of herons and cranes, I even saw some wild flamingos!

Not something that I see everyday!

Flamingos in flight!

I finally made it to the beach and basically had it to myself. My host mother told me that she loves to go to the beach in May and June, but avoids it at all costs in July and August because that's when the "Northerners" come. She complains about how the Parisians fill the beach just like they fill the metro and leave no personal space for anyone. I can't wait to come back to the beach when it gets a little warmer to lay out in the sun and treat myself to some ice cream from one of the dozens of glaceries I saw!

Just me, my vélomagg, and la mer méditerrané