8 Day Boat and Bike Tour of Provence – Carmargue France
Today we head to one of the most beautiful and popular regions of France, yet away from the busy crowds in the south of France.
We are heading to Provence and the Camargue region, on an 8 day boat and bike tour where we will visit fortresses and Roman ruins, enjoy local wines and cycle past vineyards, orchards and one of the most important wetlands in the world – all with just unpacking ONCE, since you’ll be transported by boat between stops!
Birders will see many of the more tha 400 species that visit this area, including the charming flamingos with their comical upside down heads in the marsh as they search for brine shrimp.
You’ll see the best preserved Roman aqueduct in Europe and explore two of my favorite French towns: Avignon and Arles.
As we cycle along the quiet paths, we’ll encounter wild horses and Carmargue cattle. We’ll explore the landscapes made famous by Van Gogh and Cézanne. Along the way, we stop for coffee in charming villages and depending on the time of year you go, you can smell and see the amazing display of lavender so commonly grown in this stunning region.
Today’s adventure is one that anyone reasonably fit can do.
It’s a fantastic holiday where you can be active but not have to worry except about whether to indulge in another pastry or glass. But since you HAVE been active – GO FOR IT:)
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today we’re going to be heading to one of the most beautiful and popular regions of France yet away from the busy crowds to the south of France we’re heading to provance and the carmar region on a boat and Bike Tour where we will visit fortresses and Roman ruins enjoy local wines and cycle past Vineyards Orchards and one of the most important wetlands in the world birders will see many of the more than 400 species that visit this area including the Charming flamingos with their comical upside down heads that they put in the marsh as they seek out the brine shrimp you’ll see the best preserved Roman aqueduct in Europe and explore two of my favorite French towns Aon and ARL as we cycle along the quiet path we’ll encounter wild horses and carmar cattle we’ll explore the Landscapes made famous by Van go and cison and the birthplace of Nostradamus along the way we stop for coffee and Charming Villages and depending on the time of year that you go you might be able to smell and see the amazing displays of the Lavender Fields so commonly grown in the stunning region today’s adventure is one that anyone reasonably fit can do I can’t wait to share it with you so let’s get [Music] started welcome to the active travel Adventures podcast I’m your host kit Parks today we’re going to be exploring my affiliate Bike booat tours.com 8-day Tour of provance and kmog before we start I want to mention that the spots for the bhan trip in October of 2025 are selling fast so if you’ve been on the fence about whether to go or not it’s probably time for you to decide also I’m about 90% sure that I’m going to be doing the ever base camp Treck right before that my interview with Jack got me so pumped up about it I decided hey if I’m going to do it I got to do it now while my body can do it so I am like I said I’m pretty much 90% at the end of that diin board and getting ready to leap and push that byy button and I think since I’m already going to be all the way over in Asia with my Nepal and Bhutan trip that I might as well knock off some of the other places that I wanted to see while my body is still holding up so I’ve decided to do a long-term trip that will include Thailand Japan Vietnam Lao and Cambodia as well I’ll be doing a lot more cycling than hiking on those trips I’m still kind of working out the details I do know for sure that I’m going to be doing a cycling Adventure that will include Kyoto in Japan at the end of October 2025 one is locked in concrete so email me if you’re interested in information on joining me on any of these trips I’d love for you to come along you can always reach me at kit actor traveladventure docomo probably heard of prevalence you may not have heard of the kmog region in fact I did until I did research on this and just isn’t up front I apologize for my butchering of this pronunciation so carmar is in the coastal region of France between the the Mediterranean Sea and two arms of the river ran this River delta is a wetland of international importance and is Europe’s largest this mostly flat cycling tour has just a few hilly areas and if you’re in doubt you could always upgrade to an ebike touring by bike is not only an exciting way to explore a country but it’s also an economical way better yet on this trip you only need to unpack once since you’ll be staying on a lovely barge that drops you off and picks you back up as you tour about it makes for a very relaxing hassle-free vacation so let’s jump right into the interview and learn more about it I’ve asked Penny and Jim to come on the program today to tell us about a really fun bite and boat trip that they did in provance France welcome to the program thanks for coming on thank you it’ll be a pleasure I’m sure I’m delighted just doing the research for this particular Adventure that you went I was like all right now there’s another one I got to add to the list because it just looked amazing so we’re going to be talking about your bike and boat in the provance area you started in avenon how about just before we get into the interview itself have you ever done trips like this before were you always kind of adventurous when you were on vacations or how did you get into this adventure travel I did a trip when I was in my 50s with the Summit County senior group and we did a bicycle tour of the San Juan Islands off of in the state of Washington in this in the state of Washington off of Seattle and it was okay it was a fun trip but we had to pack and unpack every day every night we did have a sag wagon but that was my first bicycle tour ever and then a friend of ours from Summit County here we we live in Breen Ridge Colorado which is a resort it’s it’s a destination in itself but a friend of ours contacted us to join her on a bike and Barge and sounded fabulous because you don’t have to pack and unpack every day so that interested Jim and and me quite a bit we went the girl the woman that that invited us didn’t get to go because she she was on a bicycle in versailes and hit a post and broke a tooth and her mouth and everything else so she didn’t even get to go but we had most of the boat to ourselves meaning people from Summit County Colorado and four Swedish women who didn’t speak English and we met our favorite guide ever Tammy venan doll however you say that last name and she made sure the swedes could understand what was going on one of them spoke a little bit of English but Tammy speaks five Lang languages so yeah she she’s amazing and so that was our first bike and Barge in France we’ve done another bike and Barge in Italy two in the Netherlands another one in France and then we’re going to Germany in September for another bike and Barge with Tammy so obviously you’re hooked on this mode of exploring different countries it sounds like we’re hooked on both both the mode of going and the company this boat bike tours just does a fabulous job they have great guides or you can go unguided if you want and they give you the maps and all that stuff which we never really wanted to do cool and as people that listen regularly boat bike tours is one of my Affiliates and they do offer my listeners exclusive discount code which I’ll put in the show notes and I’ve been on two myself I’ve done their their Greece and their croati I’m hooked too for the not only do you get to see the country and a little bit faster but I love like you said how you spend the night in the same place every night so you’re unpack once I mean how cool is that that right maximizes your time exactly so you started in the beautiful city of avenon which is I guess is that considered like the heart of provance or the capital provance you you know you’re asking the wrong person we get on the boat and we don’t think okay we we don’t have to think they have everything planned out for us in the city of provance we happen to be there at a time when the monastery there was doing a kind of a video you go inside the monastery yeah yeah it’s it’s a history of of the church and it’s all on the walls all four sides you you go into a courtyard and all four sides they show different pictures and they moving pictures and it was pretty spectacular it was all in France but it was spectacular show and they were also about to have a bull fight not not to the death they don’t do it to the death in France so we had the running of the bulls down the Avenue which was interesting to watch I think they plan around the ability to show you different interesting things that the locals will do and it looks like this is a nice combination of beautiful landscapes in the time that I was I spent a couple weeks there oh gosh it’s been six years ago just it’s a beautiful landscape but also it’s very historical and avenon is a beautiful little city that was lovely right yeah lovely and you got to see a fortress you got to see a castle I think too as well right right and then we continued South don’t ask me the exact trip because it was long ago and I’m a lot older so I don’t remember exactly I I remember events more than you know I can’t tell you names of cities although we did go through Earl and then a city that makes borax they had a big borax mine and we had to ride steeply up a mountain to get to this cave where they were Mining City borax which was below the city and then I think it was boite not borax boite and the name of the town I think was Bach Bax right like you said the beauty is they they they guide you there so you don’t have to remember even exactly know how to get there even though I think they do give you an app so you are guided on this and you said you had a fantastic guide and my understanding is the beginning part was fairly flat and then you did run into some hills after arl’s correct but it was considered this is considered a trip that just about anybody that’s reasonably fit can do because it it wasn’t overly challenging biking wise that is correct and in addition because of this one Steep Hill they offered us the the one time that they would have a sag wagon normally there’s no sag wagon and when you leave the day that morning you have to continue the trip for the for the entire day or find your own way back to the boat but this particular day when we went up to the mine of the Box site it was so that actually the Swedish women opted for the SAG wagon the rest of us rode and I think we were in our early 70s so we were able to do it and you do have an option you you must rent the bikes and this looks like one that you can easily do a regular bike but they do offer the ebike option as a rental as well yeah so let’s talk a little bit about the ship itself when I think of barges I’m thinking of something that’s hauling equipment but this is nothing like that how about describing what the ship looks like well you enter they have a big deck and that deck is usually mostly taken up by bicycles the barges that we’ve been on have been maximum I think 12 cabins so that’s 24 people and that’s lovely because if the barge is full they’ll have two guides for you if it’s not full you might only have one guide some of the people can go off on their own with the GPS and one time we actually only had I think eight of us with a guide yeah one day which was quite nice others joined us though yeah and then they have a the top deck is a deck with all the bikes and then a dining area a sitting area the back of that top deck is the kitchen and the food everyone of our tours has been exceptional they try to do local Cuisine depending on where you are obviously and very healthy then the cabins are small very small the best cabins have two beds our first boat we had a double bed so you have three sides against the the walls and when you have to get up in the middle of the night it’s not very comfortable all the ones since then have been twin beds twin beds yeah which is very comfortable right and you have your own private bath as well right yes you have your own private bath it’s small but yeah it’s comfortable and and there’s plenty of storage space under the beds for example and there are cabinets that close securely where you can put a whole bunch of stuff yeah yeah and I found at least on mine too even though the rooms might be small as you might expect on a boat exactly you’re only there to sleep right all the other activities you’re out in the dining area you’re out in the deck looking at the things so it doesn’t really make a difference as long as it’s comfortable and clean which both of mine certainly were oh it’s very clean and they clean they clean them every day they make your bed which for some of us is important and we were talking about food too this is pretty much all inclusive all but one meal I believe in one probably arl’s I think it was that you were on your own just so you could explore the city and try a restaurant but all the rest right you get your breakfast and your dinner and and tell us how you take care of your lunch they give you the the means to make your make a sandwich or fruit or whatever at breakfast time and you have a satchel on your bitee so your lunch can fit in there but we always stop at a restaurant too so your option is to eat what you brought or to buy lunch extra eating lunch is good for about three days maybe and buying extra is always fun right particularly in France exactly where all the food is good yeah it is you’re right yeah everything is going to be the freshest the best and yeah so I’m sure that was a important part of this of this trip do you recall what time of year you went and how your weather was I do very well it was in September and the weather was dicey at one point it rained it well it rained almost every day no anyway it rained several times several days and the last day we started out it didn’t rain in the morning but it started raining pouring and it rained so much in the mountains and so on that one of the rivers that we had to cross was rising and they were concerned about the bridge and whether we’d be able to get over it so Tammy quickly changed I don’t know how she did it but she got on her computer and changed our route and we went over a Causeway with winds so strong and rain that everyone except me made it over and I’m pedaling as hard as I can and not going anywhere and I’m not that light but so I don’t know what what happened Tammy wrote out from her protection where everyone was waiting for me to get there and put her hand on my back and pushed me in she’s on her bike pushing me in she’s that strong I think I would have gotten off my bike and walked it in without her I remember in Greece that sometimes the guides had to do that in some of the steeper Hills and they just instead of being the wind at your back they were like the the engine behind your back just to help you get up those Hills right they’re amazing absolutely amazing I love too how the guides they’re not just guiding you where you’re going they’re just a font of knowledge as far as the history and the landscape and the whatever live Wildlife that you see so they truly add to the adventure as well they do I agree let’s go back to the food do you recall the kinds of things that you had like was was breakfast like a fixed meal or is it a buffet or do you have any memories about the food yourself that you were served the dinners are served food the breakfast is a buffet initially it was a typical French breakfast meaning I didn’t get my bacon and eggs until the very last day when I mentioned to the owner of the boat who was also the chef that I missed my bacon and eggs and she said well just you should have told me earlier and so I got my bacon and eggs but it was you know was pastries and things like that in France then fruit a lot of fruit cheeses yeah cheeses and and Co Cuts cold cuts which is not my typical breakfast typical European right yeah right exactly right yes typical European and then also they are able to accommodate gluten-free and vegetarian all that you just got to let them know ahead of time I’m sure they can I have never worried about you know knock on wood right about diet so tell us like what what’s a typical day you wake up and then what happens okay you we generally we have breakfast of course and then uh wake up at 7 well when breakfast at 8 and then we get on the bites about between 9 and 9:30 we take off at about 10:30 we stop usually at a bakery and people get coffee or whatever they want or pastries and stuff and then we generally keep riding and a lot of times it’s about 30 Mi 35 miles for a whole day so you’re breaking it up there’s at noon to to 1 we stop for lunch and then we ride Gally to about 3: 3:30 and we generally you know put our bites back on the barge and they usually have some pastries and or somebody had they have wine and and soft drinks and juices and stuff like that so wine you have to pay for your wine yeah or you can bring your own we on our first one when in France we went to two Wineries and so we bought wine and they would bring it back to the barge the the winery so we wouldn’t have to worry about it so that was an interesting thing cuz a bottle of wine was very reasonable so we had we’d have wine and dinner and U you know after drink or something like that would have some wine after mostly it’s just wine they do have hard liquor but I I didn’t never see anybody everybody was drinking wine because they’re in France and Italy and all that and that’s pretty much the day after dinner we’ll have a meeting and tell us what we’re going to do the next day how far we’re going where we’re going a little history about where we’re going and so we we’re prepared for sites you know that we the next day you know the next day so that does make it you know and then I guess at the end of the day people start phasing out about 9:30 10 so at the end of the day Tammy will bring out her yeah her guitar and we’ll all sing in in various languages and just visit with people that you’ve met and now are becoming really close friends right and all the guides must speak at least English and German but like you said Tammy speaks five language it’s very typical for Europeans to speak multiple languages right and so you’re able to communicate even if your original language or your native language is not the same as the other people’s right could you tell us a little bit about some of and you can do this in general from the many trips that you’ve been on the types of people that go on these trips I’d say they’re mostly older probably I’ve only encountered one young couple and they were in their 40s I call that a young couple I’d say most of most of them seem to be in their 60s and above we’ve had travel mates in their 80s their mid 80s a lot of people from Australia some our last trip yeah was from a lot half the boat was from Australia a lot of Germans a lot of Americans but I find it very interesting that we get to meet so many people from so many different countries and interact with them and you said you become friends right I I I would usually make on most of my trips I’d say one lifelong friend sometimes more right we made good friends with the Australians they speak our language sort of and they’re fun Australians are fun they are fun yeah the the Germans tend to kind of stay to themselves I’m not sure why but there were a group of them so yeah well there were a group of Australians too yeah one thing I know I noticed that this is not a race you know each day this is just a ride and to see the countryside where our neighbors who are young they the 60s they’ll go to Europe they’ll race across the country I don’t know if they see as much as we do you know obviously or learn as much yeah it learn as much and we just you know we sto for sites places of interest you know our guides will Tammy or somebody else will sit there and explain the surroundings how this church was built or this Castle was built or so you do learn a lot which is a lot of fun but like I said we’re not racing we’re you know 30 miles is not very far you know in a full day exactly exactly it looked like yeah you’re that’s probably a pretty good average I see 185 24 33 31 yeah so if you’re going at just a modest pace and you’re doing it over the course of like six hours you’ve got plenty of time for stops in that exact yeah exactly so very cool another thing I like too is that in addition just riding through the country side I want to talk about the the paths that you’re on or the roads that you’re on in a minute but when you go to the towns you’re often getting like a a little brief tour of that town yeah some some of the towns we do some of the towns yeah the the more historic ones or right if you’re seeing a a place of interest it’s not just oh there’s the Fortress you’ll actually learn a little bit something about the Fortress right and you may you may get to go through it depending on the rules of that area well tell them about your fish oh well okay for example in Italy we did a trip from monova to Venice Venice and before you get into Venice there is a fish market on a separate Island outside of Venice and the Night Before we or the night that we arrive there Tammy says okay who wants to get up at 4:00 a.m. and three of us out of 24 raised our hands we’ll do anything with this woman and she took us at 400 a.m to the fish market which is the major fish market for all of Europe and walked us through gave us a tour of it talked about the various fish that were available some that I’ve never some very odd looking fish that I’ve never seen before and then we went back then and that took about an hour so we got back on the boat slept until 7 and at 9:00 we went back there by there by no we went we went through there yeah because it had it was amazing how fast they had cleaned it up so I mean you you learn a lot about just things you never thought about exactly exactly and I think that’s some one of the important parts of travel so yes it’s great to go see all the pretty but it’s also fun to understand the different cultures and fish is a very important part or the markets are extremely important probably even more so than the US right because they do right demand the freshest the best of foods very cool and you were smart to get up at that 4:00 are you saying we Americans don’t demand the best we demand the best processed food right right I know I just uh we say that and uh we went we were in Holland with with some friends with us on the barge and he spotted a Burger King oh and he had to have it you know because that’s he was just a meat potatoes and a hamburger type guy I was [Laughter] appalled guess you you got to do what you got to do but I’m always amazed anytime I’m in Europe at how important food is to them and how the freshness the just they know everything about their food oh yeah you know if you go to a cheese shop these are local cheeses that came from like three blocks away you know it’s we don’t know anymore where our food comes from in many cases unless we go to the farmers market so it’s it’s a it’s food for thought it always makes you want to do a little bit better when I get home right we did not all the bar just we’d have a dinner the chef would take a day off or whatever and we would go into town and you know select our own restaurant so so we could get some of the local food that that was that’s always enjoyable to do yeah and I’m sure it was delicious I remember my parents did a on one of the can the canal dumi where they would take the boat through the locks and all that and they would arrive in these little Villages yeah that might have a restaurant with four chairs in it and then get these exquisit meals and right it’s just unbelievable right yeah so it’s the food is always very very important when you go to to Europe that’s for sure yeah and the wine and the wine yes and it’s a it’s affordable like you said too right so cool unbelievably affordable one of the nice things I I find on these tours we don’t go through the major cities at all maybe nice siiz little town but we got to go on the outskirts a lot of them we go to the countryside and that’s that’s what I’m looking at that’s that’s what I enjoy CU you know you’re seeing you go to a big city they all look the same pretty much you know there’s a few that are different Barcelona is certainly different but I find that very enjoyable to see what the people in the countryside are you know what they’re doing how they’re building houses and and and stuff like that and just seeing the and the The Villages are cute I think even went through some medieval ones as well and I wanted to ask you too so you’re actually on often just the quiet country lanes going to and fro is that right that’s true and sometimes there I mean they also have bike paths yeah so in the Netherlands we actually were on a bike path which is a hiking path also through their National Park which is seem to me like it was half of the country that was on one of our Netherlands trips and it was unbelievable because no traffic whatsoever very few hikers and just total we feel very safe always they’re always on the side roads not the main roads exactly and also Europe is much more used to having bikers in the roads than say most places I’ve been to in the US so they get along together a lot better than I think sometimes in the US I agree unless you’re in Amsterdam bikers in Amsterdam are scary they have the RightWay over well pedestrians had the first ride away and then bikers but the bikers are so many it’s scary to be a pedestrian gotcha I have to keep that in mind because I do we we covered two of the Netherlands on and I’ll put link l in the show notes one was the htic region and one was South Holland but like I said it’s such a bike Centric country that and plus I want to go see the Tulips which you did didn’t you see the what the Tulips oh we did yes kin doll or something like that yes no yeah yes no I wanted to do that so yeah every time I I do a show about the bike and boat tour it’s like y got to do that one npe got to do that one now they all sound fun and and so you said that this was one of your favorite trips what what makes this one stand out and why should people want to consider doing this I guess because provance is so interesting it’s it’s so provincial for one it has the historical value and it’s also I guess it’s less traveled not Less Traveled but less populated and I I like that and some of the places that we went were so interesting like the the cave that I mentioned the time that we were at that cave they also do the videos around the walls of inside the cave and when we were there the particular video they were doing was climed all of his art which was just phenomenal shown on these walls another spot that we stopped at was a Roman aqueducts they had a museum there yeah and it was really interesting to me it was yeah and I saw too in the notes I’m glad you brought that up that’s the best preserved Roman aqueduct in Europe right right very cool and we get to go there yeah no I mean it’s it’s amazing yeah you’ve got the history I think You’ got Greek history there Roman history and of course in addition to the history I don’t want to forget I think it’s July that the lavender is In Bloom yeah I’ll look that up and I’ll put in the show notes but I think it’s in the middle of the summer and I imagine because that’s impr provance that you probably see at that time of year just Lavender Fields and the aroma just must be amazing yeah no I have to go back I really appreciate you coming on do you have any final thoughts or stories you’d like to share before I let you go well we did find this giant fig tree at at a cheese factory in Italy that we stopped and had samples of cheese and and wine and Jim and I found this fig tree we’re originally from Texas where figs are king and and we miss them in Colorado so we found this fig tree and passed them all around so you’re definitely a fan of the of the boat and bike you said Germany is coming up next that’s your next one yes yes we’ll be there and where you where you going in Germany we’re going from Mery to coblin okay I don’t know where those are so I’ll have to look I like I don’t think nobody seems to know it’s it’s very near not lonstein I have to look that up yeah that that’d be a fun way to see Germany I would think very nice yeah I think so too I think so too very cool well you’ve got all of us interested in in going on a bike boat trip and certainly going to pance and I said I’ve been there before but now I think I want to do it by bike as well yeah so I’m very very grateful for your time today Jim and Penny thank you so much for coming on appreciate it you too thank you very much I hope you enjoyed my chat with Penny and Jim about their bikeb tours.com tour of provance and kmog bike booat tours offers my listeners a 50 discount with the promo code ATA 50 ata5 and if you’re driving I’ll post the discount code in the show notes as well and if you’re interested in cycling the south of France the best times to go are from the spring through the fall the rainiest time is September through November the lavenders bloom in provance in June through August with the peak in early July remember though that the south of France is most crowded in July and August when the Europeans flock to the Sea for their summer holidays summer heat averages a high of around 87 Fahrenheit and 30 celsus at its peak the show notes and travel planner will have details in the weather and everything else you need to know to plan your adventure so be sure to check them out monthly newsletter subscribe subbers will have this sent to them automatically as I’m getting older going on the cycling Adventure is getting more and more appealing especially if I can rent an ebike which will level the playing field on some of the Hillier destinations I love that you can cover more ground on bike than you can with your feet yet you still get the benefits of slow travel where you’re experiencing life more like a local than a tourist when you go on a boat and Bike Tour you get the added bonus of not wasting so much time packing and unpacking and moving about which is a huge benefit and since bite boook tours are almost all inclusive and include great food and your lodging and the bike it makes it easier for you to budget your vacations and know exactly how much you’re going to spend I’ve covered several BBT tours on Adda and I’ll list them in the show notes and on the website which you can find by tapping a little circled io on your podcast app or with an easy search at the activ traveladventure if you’re interested in joining me on any of my 2025 Asian adventures in Bhutan Nepal Vietnam Lao Cambodia Thailand or Japan email me at kit actor traveladventure that would be so cool if you came as the plans firm up I’ll also put them on the website on the travel with me header link thanks again for listening until next time this is get Parks Adventure on