Wednesday, October 29, 2025
End: Générac
Kilometers: 24.7
Total: 234.1
We knew that it was supposed to rain all day today, so when we woke up and it wasn’t raining, we got moving quickly.
Soon enough we were out of the hills and entering the suburbs of Nîmes. There were some hills to deal with, as well as plenty of cars. Occasionally there was a raindrop, but the weather held off all morning for the most part.
Daniel had a bad attitude from the very start of the day. I don’t think Alex was feeling very good, either. We had been hiking for a long time and had surpassed our longest hike by distance already.
Once into the big city, I got a picture in front of the coliseum, and then found some breakfast from a bakery for the family. On the way out of the city. We passed by the Parnasse bus stop which we would be returning to if we reached Saint-Gilles.
At a big shopping mall, we stopped for McDonald’s and groceries. We tried to find a ball for Daniel to play with while walking, but surprisingly the store only had other types of toys, no balls.
The hike South of Nîmes took us through the town of Caissargues, the last suburbs of the city. From there, the rain started up and we were forced to press on in difficult conditions.
It’s tough to find something to look forward to when you are hiking in the countryside in the rain and the next village is 10 kilometers away. We found respite under a bridge, fortuitously avoiding a bout of heavy rain.
We continued on as the rain kept coming down. I found an old deflated plastic ball left in the ditch which Daniel kicked along. He had been having fun kicking rocks and various small fruits, but the ball was much better.
We wanted to find a place to camp to take a break from the rain, but there was nowhere to go. Alex and I thought we might try a secluded corner of a farmer’s field, but received a rude awakening when we tried to lift the wire to enter the property, and received an electric shock.
Pushing on, Alex’s pants were soaked as she didn’t have rain pants. Spirits were low as we pushed on. Eventually, we arrived in Générac, the last village before Saint-Gilles. I was atleast encouraged that we were definitely close enough to the end to finish the hike the following morning.
We jumped at the chance to get some hot chocolate at a café, and I put some wet clothing in the local self-service laundromat. I made it to the grocery store and got a little more food, then got back to Alex and the kids.
Everyone had enjoyed a good rest, and we left the café looking for a place to set up the tent. I figured that we would have to leave town and camp in an exposed field, but we found an acceptable spot just before leaving town.
Happy, we set up the tent and enjoyed our last night in the tent.
