It was a pleasant morning’s cycling from the campsite at Roques through to our lunch stop at Cazéres. Flat, quiet roads with views over farmland where corn, sunflowers and hemp were all flourishing and it was fun dodging the sprays from the automatic watering pumps.
We covered the 50km to Cazéres in good time, circled the centre ville and picked the hotel as our venue for lunch. The plat du jour of chicken hit the spot, washed down with wine and coffee we slept it off in the gardens opposite.
From there it was a simple 35kms to St Girons, into the foothills of the Pyrenees where the gradients were gentle and the riding enjoyable. We were due at Pete and Dee’s place that evening, but as they were driving down from Paris and not due in till between 6-8pm we didn’t feel rushed. Along the way we stopped at a church in Montardit, lovingly crafted from local stone with numerous metal and wooden curios. It seemed a traditional expression religious devotion through modern craft skills, rare in these days of pre-fabrication.
From there it was a sweep down into St Girons where we stocked up on beer in preparation for the wait for Pete and Dee, then the final 8kms to Pouech. Just as we were settling in there was the sounds of a car approaching and sure enough it was them, they had made it from Paris in a day where it had taken us 2 weeks.
It was lovely to relax and chat in such wonderful surroundings, so much work has been done to the place since last year it now feels like a home. And great to meet Emily who was due when last we were here, now almost walking, impatient to be independent and explore on her own.
No plans tomorrow, just waiting for the Tour to arrive. Am excited beyond belief!
Keep up the good work, following you all the way.
Enjoy the Tour!
My husband and I are going in the opposite direction, starting Sept. 3. Would you recommend your route to other? It’s been fun perusing your site!
Hi Emily
There’s a lot to recommend our route, but given our time again I would not have chosen to cross the Pyrenees at l’Hospitalet. It’s a main road and was busy with traffic from the Tour (even though there were no lorries on the Sunday). Instead perhaps head further west of Andorra where the main roads carry less traffic.
We didn’t really research the leg from the Pyrenees to Barcelona so were caught out by main roads and a lot of construction work on the C-17. Plus getting in and out of the bigger cities (Paris, Toulouse and Barcelona) were the worst bits of the trip, consider perhaps getting a train in/out from a stop at the outskirts.
Other than that I’d suggest the advice a friend gave when I asked where we should visit in France – he said “there are so many great places that you’ll just find them”. This freed us from the hassle of planning so we were just able to go and explore.
Having said that the cave paintings of Pech Merle and the scenery around the Lot were amazing and I’d happily go back to the volcanos around Auvergne again.
I’m sure you’ll have an amazing trip which ever way you choose.
Good luck
Richard