On the bike in Avignon - Overview

Last week I managed five days of cycling and nature watching in the Vaucluse area of France, during which I covered the following excursions:-

Day 1 Avignon - Via Rhona - Théziers and return

Day 2 Avignon parks circular

Day 3 Orange - Avignon via Via Venaissia and Via Rhona

Day 4 Beaucaire - Cavaillon (on  EuroVelo Route 8)

Day 5 Same as day 1 but continuing on Via Rhona to include part of the Pont du Gard Greenway

Part of the idea here was to visit some areas where there was an admittedly very remote chance of finding a two-tailed pasha. Unsurprisingly it never materialised.

Conditions overall weren't ideal.  Temperatures were high, rising to 35C on Day 4 and there was a persistent strong northerly breeze, which on Day 2 was gusting up to 40 mph. hence the decision to stay local, also avoiding a widespread train strike.

Marbled White

It was interesting to note that on each day, certain butterfly species dominated.  So Day 1 and Day 5 were definitely the days of the marbled white and the white admiral. Apart from the common whites, Day 2 heavily featured the small copper, and to my initial delight, scarce swallowtail (then seen on each subsequent day) while Day 3 produced a large number of painted ladies.  Having made so much effort to see one in Madeira, it was ironic as well as pleasing that Day 4 was dominated by cleopatras.  All days also produced a species of insect I hadn't seen before.

Generally though the number of sightings decreased over the later days as understandably there were many repeats, and frankly because my increasing level of exhaustion made me less keen to stop at every hint of a sighting.

For more specifics on each day, see subsequent posts "On the bike in Avignon - Day by Day."