The ferry may had left TanMed five hours late, but it eased into the small port of Sete a few hours early. The skies were clear and a cold wind was howling down from the north. I rode out of the hold and joined a mass of cars where a casually dressed guy who looked like a stowaway was nipping about snapping our vax certificates on his mobile. Was that it? I was expecting a harder time from French immigration but there is something to be said for these small ports.
Once clear of the docks I pulled over to wrap up and plug in, returning waves from the couple of other bikers on the boat. My Montana was playing up and not routing, but the free download map still worked so I could wing it. Years ago when I used to transit France to Marseille for Algeria, I calculated the shortest, fastest, toll-minimising and big-city-avoiding route from the Channel to the Med.
Usually deserted, the A75 was a scenic way of ticking off big miles for free. If it was freezing down here what would be be like up on the foot Massif plateau? I had the gear to keep warm and dry and for me, an unusually fast bike to bat away the miles.
Plus I love France and French living, for all the well known reasons. But I wanted an excuse to linger down in the familiar south for a bit. Other means of retrieving this information failed. The streets were deserted, as they always are in these places, so back in the square I popped into the bakery for some hot savouries to see me over the bone-chilling Massif. She handed me my warmed-up nosh. Do you know an old Anglais who lives in the town?
He is called Ted Simon. Then I zipped up, strapped down and braced myself to hit the road. Soon I was pushing into the headwind barrelling down the A75 as it climbed and curved into the Massif, while the fuel and temperature gauges raced each other to the bottom. Bags either side of the tank may not have been helping the range, but they sure helped keep the wind off my Aerostich AD1s , while the Palmer screen was adjusted out front offering all the aerodynamics of a Landrover. Still, this was a recovery mission so I accepted it would cost what it cost to to get the job done.
