Bike ride around Villeneuve les Avignon
What a pleasure to reconnect with spring with a bike ride! Movement, smells, sounds and sometimes even encounters… Everything is conducive to seeing our environment from another angle. From the other side of Avignon, on the other bank of the Rhône, there is a short 13km tour that is worth the detour, starting from Villeneuve-les-Avignon, where we have decided to test the electric bike.
facile
intermédiaire
difficile
Duration:
2 hours
Distance:
13 km
Pratice:
e-bike
Type:
Loop
Picking up the bike
Not yet being personally equipped with an EAB, we have a meeting in front of the tourist office with our renter. This is when the experience begins. Although easy, getting started requires a short briefing. Our friendly service provider shows us the controls for electric assistance, which we can skilfully adjust in addition to the conventional speeds. After two short laps in the car park to practice, we set off towards the Plaine de l’Abbaye.
Good to know
Some rental companies like Cicada Concept in Morières-lès-Avignon deliver the bike and helmet to you on site. Convenient!
Along the canal
Did you know?
Entire families of beavers have made their homes among the canal. Organise a night walk and you will be able to see them.
We take the Chemin de Savoye at the roundabout of the Tourist Office and are on our way. Here, until the canal, we are sheltered from the Mistral wind which blows hard today. Once at the end, turn left! It is then completely different, having the headwind. I decide to increase the level of assistance, just to see; a wrong adjustment here and I go from 1 to 5 – oops! – a slight bump and I’m taken upwind. So easy! All without any effort. The EAB shows it’s power.
In the undergrowth, along the Rhône or along the fields
This pretty walk offers varied passages. After a section in the shade of the trees (which is welcome in the summer), we go toward Sauveterre below the RD, then to the right just before the CNER bridge. We are still on the Villeneuve side, but at the level of the arm of the Rhône. The colour of the water reflects the blue of the sky and the green of the dense vegetation. The sun on the surface of the water sparkles with the rhythm of the ripples caused by the current. In this area, the ground is very pebbly and bumpy, but it is full of surprises. At the end of the path, you will discover a small “beach”. Here you can take a short break, before joining back up with the fork taken on the outward journey near the RD and the end of the canal. For a change, we take side roads in the Plaine de l’Abbaye to return to the town centre.
Fall in love…
We love being close to the water. You can take beautiful photos!
On the other side, on the Chartreux road
A safe route can be taken from the Villeneuve town centre, the cycle path of the Daladier bridge towards Avignon, or the Via Rhôna. You can join the canal from the roundabout, this time turning right at the end. It is an option while waiting for the future bike path planned for the autumn at the foot of the Philip the Fair tower. At the level of the tower, we ascend the embankment in front of the insect hotel and descent again toward the banks. Here it is enchanting. We simply follow the bank of the Rhône where the barges are moored. There is a clear impression of being in another country. At the end, we find the Daladier bridge.
