5-31-10 Salon-de-Provence to St-Martin-de-Crau day 57

5-31-10 Salon-de-Provence to St-Martin-de-Crau day 57
although I had slept fairly well... when I woke I felt like I needed a lot more sleep... but I made myself get going..once packed I returned to the front desk..and asked the woman for help in finding the right route to walk...she printed out a little close up of the area, she told me with big smile that today it was windy... I told her I liked wind.. (well if it was in my favor)... she high-lit the gauntlet of circles I had to negotiate... France has a plethora of traffic circles for intersections... it's kind of a local specialty... on the way out.. I spotted a McDonalds ...danger.... I had coffee and fries again and of course compulsively whipped out the lap top..and yes diddled on it and some how another hour passed..then I tried to go into a supermarket and get some water..but they had some suited man in there who was very arrogant about letting me know I could not go in there with my pack... my anger stirred more than I expected.. and I left the place without water and started walking the circle gauntlet...as no other businesses appeared for a while..i regretted my 'storm out'.. I knew i'd be facing a long stretch of nothing and to do so without water was stupid..but yes there was a 'Geant Casino'... a super-supermarket... and the security did not harrass me one bit... I got plenty of water and a juice..but could not get myself to even look at food... again I knew I had a long stretch ahead but no appetite...

when I started walking in earnest...it was much later than it should be for someone who walks a bit slow and has over 20kms to clear... there was a point where I knew if a branched off I could find camping and try again the next day...cuz I really was not in the mood...then I passed up that opportunity...then again around an industrial park... I could have tried for a residential hotel that had advertised special with in my budget posted on it's exterior..and again right this day off...but no...knowing I had 16kms still to do and my insides rebelling...the stubborn streak in me insisted I should keep going... not all my parts are in good communication with each other... and so I went... and stopped frequently... again I would feel each hour trickle by.... I had for the first half of the walk the bike lane I could walk in..so that felt fairly safe...since cars were whipping past at 70 plus kms...but I had wind... real wind... make me 'walk like a drunk' wind... and when a big truck passed.. 'almost blow me over' wind... I remember hearing about Arles (the town real close to this area) that in spring the winds get so strong..that any crime committed out of passion during that time would get a mitigating sentence since the winds were in part to blame.. also one theory is that the winds of Arles were the finishing blow on Van Gogh's sanity.. the winds I was dealing with were softened by the onset of summer..and fortunately came and went in intensity and direction... mostly the pushed me slightly away from traffic and from the back...i noticed I had little inclination to pull out my camera this day... it was a buckle down and do the work.cuz i had a late start..and now needed to get it over with, grim day...and sure enough almost 20kms without any cafe or oasis in sight... halfway the friendly bike lane ended.. and I had to walk either on lumpy grass and rock or walk the road till oncoming traffic force me to step of the road again... as I walked into early evening...i started getting rush hour traffic..so I was mostly on the uneven edge... finally near the end of the walk

.. I went under a bridge which lead under the superhighway that ran next to my road..to another lesser used road..and walked that for the last 40 minutes till it ended and I had to merge again with the busy road...finally Martin-de-crau... it was now nearing 8pm...i was hopeful since I saw more than one hotel sign advertised coming in to town but there was still the concern of shut down lobbies because they were done for the night... I went for the first sign I could find.. a two star alberge..they were still open ..but even though it was two star, I was shocked at the price.. I asked her if she knew more economic hotel.. she was on the way guiding me out about to show me...when she gave me a new better price... and I took it... I washed up ...and dared to try the restaurant attached to this place... I did not get a really veggie meal it had some fish in it but also lentils..it was fancy small french portions...but it hit the spot... and just to make certain that I would sleep well I had a shot of whiskey for desert... then off to bed..and once again I hit it lucky with a good night's sleep...