In Driebergen

After working on the diary I had some sandwiches for breakfast and did some channel surfing then called home and checked email. Talked with Hans and Trees until lunch time. We had the lovely soup from last night again and then we drove into Utrecht for a walk around. I haven't had a proper walk around Utrecht since 1995. It is hard to say if or how much it has changed as it is so long since I was last here. Dad wanted us to have Poffertjes because he remembers a really good place to have them, unfortunately they have closed down. So instead we had pancakes by one of the canals, very pleasant. The weather is not the best, it rained earlier today and there is a strong wind blowing, however when we were having the pancakes it seemed to be in a lull and the sun was out and very warm. As I said, very pleasant!

We went back to Hans and Trees' and I cleaned the bike and did some packing in preparation for the trip to the hotel at the airport. I've actually splurged out and booked the Hilton that is right next to the terminal, so on Monday morning I can just walk across with the gear and check in, so much easier than having to travel on the morning and be there early enough to pack the bike in a box and check in on time.


We watched some TV, some sort of renovation program like Grand Designs but set in France. Then a yummy dinner from Trees. We had a very nice entree of prawns with a salad and then a huge spread of Schnitzel, mini potato's, green beans, cauliflower and another salad. All of this was washed down with 4 different wines, a white Burgundy before dinner, a Sancere with the prawns, a red Bordeaux (2000) with the schnitzel and a lovely glass of Beume de Venise with the dessert, which was ice cream with grand marnier. Delicious!

Final Ride Statistics

The ride is over now :( I head back to Australia on Monday morning. Time now for a bit of a rest.

(Why is there a blank section between here and the table? No idea.)

Total Km	3653.34 Km
Total Alt	~32 kilometres	Altitude gained
Cols	42
Longest Riding Day	140	The Hundred Cols Club Day 1
Longest Touring Day	110	The last day!
Punctures	0
Broken Spokes	1
Fixed Spokes	0
Spoke Broke at Km	2885 Km
Distance travelled with broken spoke	770 Km

Charleville-Mezieres to Dinant and by train to Driebergen

I woke early, packed and I even managed to clean the inside and the outside of the tent, and all by 7.55 am. So getting the camp site was a really good idea (even aside from the money saved) because now I don't have to worry about cleaning up the tent when I get to Holland. I got pain au raison and demi baguette across the river and then headed out towards Nouzonville, there was one hill in town and then another long one out of town. On the descent of the second hill I saw below me a bike path which I swung onto at the bottom of the hill. A nit further along there was a guide and I discovered that the path runs the length of the Meuse. 80 Km's of bike route! Great.

(In fact there was only 1 section of about 3 K's that was on the road and that was because there was a power station in the way!)


Like most mornings it was a bit chilly and I didn't notice it at first but it was kind of misty on the river. The further I rode though the thicker it got. Then it became a bit more solid and it was almost raining, very, very lightly. However as I went along it got heavier and heavier. Finally I had to stop to remove my, now, sodden short finger gloves and change the lenses of my glasses as it was getting quite dark. I stopped under a large stone bridge (which thanks to the arc had a great echo) and then it started to pour. Really bucketing down. So I took the time to put on my Goretex jacket and I ate some of the demi baguette from this morning.

In no time at all it died down to a light misty rain again and I set off. The path was now covered in puddles and I was starting to get damp feet. Fortunately the rain stopped not long after and within an hour or so the path was reasonably dry again. On of the problems I find with long bike paths is that they don't go into any towns, so you have to detour off the route to get into a town. In the end I was getting hungry so I pulled off at the next town to get something to eat. The town, naturally, was on a hillside and in the end I had to ask someone for 'de pain', so that I could get something. A nice lady pointed me in the right direction and I got a cherry tarte and a Fanta. I actually rode a couple of K's until I got to a nice seat in the sun to sit and eat.


Another thing about the bike route is that as it follows the river and rarely detours away from it the path twists and winds its way back and forth. A side effect of this is that sometimes you have a tailwind and sometimes you have a head wind. At times I could be riding along at 20 kph into the wind, you turn the corner and you can almost feel the wind pushing you along and you are suddenly doing 30 kph. Of course the reverse was also true, 30 kph suddenly turns into 18 kph as you hit a wall of wind. Fortunately the wind was mainly with me again today. In fact even though I stopped several times I still managed 75 K's by midday. I reached the town of Givet, which is the end of the bike route, at around 12.30.

As Givet was the end of the bike route, and hence my last town in France I stopped and had a brief look around. It seems a nice town and there was a fairly large market going on, Paul would have loved it. I went to a patisserie and bought a chocolate eclair, my last one in France, and a quiche. Then I rode out of town. The town is actually fairly industrial so it took a little while to get out and when I did I was on a red road, however it was a dead quiet red road so it was not a problem and then, lo and behold, there was another bike path! I stopped almost as soon as I was on the path at a park bench and, sitting in the sun, ate the eclair and quiche. Quiche first of course :)

This bike path lasted about 12 of the 24 K's to Dinant. There is an old railway line that starts about 12 K's along the path so I suspect they are planning to use that one day and extend the path all the way to Dinant. I finally reached Dinant at 1.50 pm, a 107 Km ride. I'd only expected to do 75-80 K's today. Bugger.

Once there I had no problems finding the station and getting a ticket, and there was only a 15 minute wait. More difficult was working out what to do with the bike. I asked someone on the train and they told me that the conductor has a special area, and he did. Right at the front of the engine there is an area behind the engineers with 1 or 2 bike hooks, depending on the train. I then had a rather pleasant 'training' ride to Namur, where I changed for Liege and then I changed again in Liege for Maastricht. Liege has a nice new train station, moving ramps instead of escalators. It's a nice new, bright white, open design. It must be freezing in winter!

I got a ticket at Maastricht for Driebergen-Ziest, bloody long way, three train changes and over two and a half hours. Oh well. I'd have rung Trees to let her know when I was arriving but there didn't seem to be any phones anywhere and then I remembered that her number is stored on-line anyway :)

The first train trip was pleasant enough in an intercity train, mine was the first bike on so just lined it up against the seats reserved for bikes, I even managed to sit next to it. The second trip was on a Veolia train, it was packed. Still there was no problem with the bike, the conductor just told someone to move, and I got a seat facing the bike with no one in front of me, so plenty of leg room and quite comfortable. I even 'read' a couple of the free newspapers that are on the train. The third trip was on an intercity again, hardly any one on it so no problems at all. The final leg was almost an hour so I got the netbook out and made a few notes about the day. The train arrived at 8.21 pm so I didn't get to Hans and Trees' until just after 8.30 pm! The first thing I really wanted when I got there was a shower, I'd been in my cycling clothes for 12 hours. Once that was done Trees made me some soup, of which I had two large servings :) Then we chatted until 11 pm. I was surprisingly not that tired given the 110 Km day I did today, however I had no problem falling asleep.

Fontainebleau to Meaux and train to Charleville-Mezieres

Paul's alarm woke both of us at 7 am, we just lay there for a bit and then I forced my self to get up and start packing. Fortunately that got Paul going and in no time at all we were down and loaded. I went in to pay the bill for the two nights and the lunch yesterday. Where are the tissues? :(

We stopped at a boulongerie and then ate our goodies in a small park on the way out of town. It is a bit cool today and we are wearing our thermals. I can't recall if I've mentioned this before but for the last week or so we have had to have the thermals on every morning. It is normally quite nice in the afternoon but the mornings are quite chilly. The leaves have also started to turn so it is obvious that Autumn, only next week, really is almost here.

We set off at ten past eight and had to follow a busy red road out of town. Fortunately the traffic was mainly heading into town. Of course when we turned off it there was a bit of a climb but then we got on to a really nice route, the D227. This road goes for 36 K's so there's barely any need to look at the map this morning. We actually had a tail wind this morning too so really the conditions could not have been better for our last touring day together, quiet road, tail wind, reasonably flat, cool with sunshine. Ideal! At one point we were thundering along at over 30 K's an hour! The kilometres just rolled away.

After that awesome run I was expecting us to get a bit of a head wind, or at least an annoying side wind. However no, we still had a tail/side wind all the way the Meaux. The next section was again another long section with barely any navigation required. The high speeds continued and then of all things a large peleton caught up to us. There were at least 20 of them and we dropped in behind and managed to draft of them for at least 3 K's. In the end I had to drop out because we were on a long, very gentle, climb, and riding up that at 36 kph was just beginning to be too much. They turned off a few hundred metres later as it turned out anyway.

From there we dropped into a valley where there were a few hills and then after a bit of surprisingly easy navigation came to Meaux. First things first we went immediately to the train station and booked my tickets to Charleville-Mezieres. There were no problems at all, only 27.90 Euro. The trains were every hour so I picked one in two hours time at 2.15 pm. I forgot to mention, we were hammering along so fast today that we got in to Meaux just before midday, pretty good.


Of course the next thing on the list was... lunch! I'd been so focused on getting to Meaux as quickly as possible that we'd even skipped morning tea, much to Paul's shock, so we were both starving. We had a bit of difficulty finding anywhere and I was beginning to think we might have to lower our standards when we found a lovely restaurant (which I'd ridden straight past), Le Briconnet. They had a garden terrace out the back but we just sat at the front of the restaurant so that we could watch the bikes. The lady owner was a bit worried about them just sitting there across the road we'd locked them and Paul was keeping an eagle eye. I ordered a Kir as soon as they brought the menu, no wasting time today. It is their own speciality and is Rose flavoured, very nice. Then they brought out an appetiser, a Mis en Bouche I think in French. This was like a small Gazpacho with cream on top, very tasty, and a dainty little piece of bread with a Rose flavoured cream on it, scrumptious. The entree was shredded goose meat with a really lovely chutney and the main was a leg of guinea fowl with mashed potato's and a very nice sauce. Delicious. For the dessert we had the apple pie of the maison. For some reason Paul got a huge slab and all I got was a tiny little thin slice, and I led all morning!

Thoroughly bloated we went to the Tourist Info so that Paul could look for accommodation, they had heaps of pamphlets and there are even Roman ruins to see here. Then Paul dropped me off at the train station. He couldn't come onto the platform without a ticket. So we shook hands and then he was off in search of a hotel. The big question is will he eat at the same restaurantm they have a 39 Euro Gourmet menu. Of course it is no fun on your own.

I had to lug the bike down and up the stairs to the platform, as always, and then the train was here, spot on time as always. It was like a Sydney metro Tangara, just high speed. There wasn't a bike area so I just lent it against the door and moved it if anyone was using the door, there were 7 stops before mine so it wasn't a problem. The next station, Chateau-Thierry, which I'd been through 6 weeks before (and not liked) had enormous stair cases up and over the trains. With some effort I managed to lug the bike up and down the other side. Fortunately the platform for Epernay was labelled so I didn't need to lug the bike up and over again. The next train was much older and had a bike area. It was a tight squeeze getting the bike through the doors but very pleasant for the next leg. I just stood by the window next to the bike because there was an air conditioning duct, very pleasant. I saw several things I recalled from my last trip up the valley, all very nice.


In Epernay I had to cross over to get the ticket punched, I should have done it in Meaux. Fortunately Epernay is a tourist town and they had someone manning the above ground path between trains, so no hiking down and up with the bike this time. The train this time is a brand new TER, like several I've used before and, unlike the others, there was a large seating area where I just lent the bike against the seats. I'd been sitting there for about five minutes when I realised that there were actually bike hooks overhead, so I still had time so I lifted the bike up. Cool! Now I can sit in a real seat and work on the diary. This leg is the longest at 1h36m. The train was about half full from Epernay to Reims and then almost everyone else got off, there were only two of us left on the carriage. However the train stood there for at least quarter of an hour and by the time we left it was packed, good thing I got the bike in early!


I got a lot of diary work done on the trip and then we were at Charleville-Meziers. I got the bike off the train and rode into town. There was a huge square in the centre of town and tourist info was there. I got a guide to the hotels and then noticed that the camping ground was only a few hundred metres away. I thought what the heck and went there, only 7.73 Euro! I set up, showered etc and then walked into town. Naturally it was late so everything was close to shutting down. I managed a bit of a walk around, checked out the restaurants, not a great selection, and then just picked one in the central square. It was a great location with a good view but it wasn't a good choice. All of the courses were mediocre even though it was probably the busiest restaurant in the square. Oh well, at least I saved 50 Euro on the hotel :)

Rest day in Fontainebleau

Well that was a first, Paul actually woke me with his snoring last night! Most nights it just keeps me awake if I have to go to the loo, but last night he was full volume. Shocking!


We were supposed to get up around 8 and be ready for the chateau opening at 9 am, however I woke up at 8.30 and Paul was just lolling there awake, not getting up, again. I wanted to shower and shave so I got the morning going. We walked around to a boulongerie and for a change neither of us had baguette. I got a small quiche and a pain au raison and Paul got a yucky croissant covered in almonds, which we ate in the grounds of the chateau.


The chateau entry was quite reasonable, 8 Euro, and it is valid all day, so we think we'll go out for lunch after we have done the main tour. (And yes Patrick, that is our third chateau in four days!) The entry also comes with an audio guide which is nice, there are 30 commentaries to listen too and it is meant to take about 90 minutes. We took two and a half hours! I won't bother trying to describe the chateau itself, it is too big. The main tour takes in several of the king/queen/emperor/empress rooms, the rooms around them, a couple of small museums and the chapel. The building is very plush and lavishly decorated. The rooms are filled with furniture and art work including many tapestries. Most of the furniture dates from Napoleon or later. The art work mainly goes back through the kings of France to as early as Francois the First and the buildings are a hodge podge of construction from all eras going back to the 13th century. The tour includes the throne room, the last one of its kind in France, the room and the table on which Napoleon signed his abdication in 1814, and all of the private chambers of the various rulers of France.


Lunch! After some consideration Paul had decided we would have lunch in our hotel simply because they had the best wine menu we had seen! Since this is the end of tour dinner we got a very nice 2000 Burgundy. The wine was actually a little bit young still but it had started to brown nicely and was very tasty, good length. The waitress actually decanted it for us, in front of us of course. For the meal Paul got a three course and I got a four course because I didn't like the entrees Paul's menu. I had a Salad Gourmande, last duck gizzards for the trip, and Paul got a serving of six snails, each one in a small pot. For the main I had veal with vegies in a lovely sauce and Paul had a revolting Tripe sausage which of course he loved. The extra course was of course cheese and they brought the platter around, I picked two soft Bries and a goat cheese for Paul. They gave me far too much even though I asked for a petite tranche. Oh well. Between us we polished it all off. Paul had a dessert of Fromage blanc and I had a Charlotte, a strawberry mouse dessert. Fully bloated the only thing left was to try a digestive, something we don't normally do. However they had an excellent selection of Armagnac here so I couldn't help myself, so I got a 1965, for some reason Paul abstained and just had coffee.


Now the plan after that was to go straight back to the chateau but I needed a slight rest after all that so we went up to the room and apparently I fell asleep immediately :) So instead of a two hour lunch and then the chateau we had about four hours off including a nap. In the end we had to rush back so that we could get in again, some of the sections close quite early. I wanted to walk back through the sections we had been in, this time without guide or having to take photo's, so we did a quick loop around, in about 20 minutes. Very pleasant and it helps to solidify the memories :)

We had wanted to visit a couple of other areas but they are by booking a tour only and it turns out that they were all over before we were even half way through lunch! So we went to the Chinese Museum, which turns out to mean Asian Museum, and then we went for a long walk/sit/walk/sit in the gardens. The gardens are nice but cannot compare to places like Chenonceau. There are of course lakes and ponds as well but they are not as large as they were in former times and again I don't think that they compare. However we had a very nice walk around and it was nice and cool in the shade. We then went back to the hotel for another rest and in no time at all it was Paul who was passed out and snoring, again.


Paul finally woke up around 8.30 pm and for our latest dinner this trip we went to a brasserie that he picked yesterday. We had considered this for lunch but it didn't have much of a wine menu so we thought it was better for a light dinner. Ha Ha Ha, a light dinner. We both had an aperitif, a Kir for me and a beer for Paul. I thought we were only having a main but then Paul got an entree of Whelks, a type of sea shell, so of course I had to have one too, six oysters. Nice. Then we both had Charcroute for our mains, definitely not a light meal. Then, after all that, we had dessert as well! A nice Coupe each, Rhubarb for Paul and Sorbets for me. After that we wandered back to the room, watched some TV and again had to close the windows because of the smoke below.

Pithiviers to Fontainebleau

I woke at 7.45 am to find Paul just lying there, not even try to get up. Unbelievable! What was he thinking, this is a short day and we can just go any old time??? I eventually got him going and we packed up and were heading out the door around 9 am. We rode ALL the way across the square outside the hotel to the patisserie on the other side and got a baguette as usual but for a change we bought a piece of Pithiviers tarte, like last nights dessert. Last nights was better I think, the pastry was not so oily (buttery?) and there was more filling.


I was in fine form this morning, even after yesterdays long ride, and we made excellent time. We had a nice run of quiet roads out of Pithiviers and there was little wind, possibly even a tail wind. We rode about 40 K's without a stop when we came to a town with an ancient ruined basilica. It looked interesting so we had to go in and take a look. The basilica was huge when it was built but for some reason, we don't know why, it became partly ruined. The back of the church is still in use but they have just walled up the inside about one third of the way along and the rest of the church is open to the air. There used to be an enormous bell tower but it has mostly caved in. Now it is a home to hundreds of pigeons.

After that we had a nice white road, a green route, but I didn't enjoy it. We'd stopped a bit too long and I was finding it hard to get going again, also it was forested and I found it quite cold. Not too far along we came to a town with a patisserie so we stopped for a another break. We bought a rather nice Flan with Cherries in it, and I had a Coke as well. Feeling rested we set off for the final leg, not too far to go now. Oh no, hills, bugger. Fortunately it wasn't that far and in not time at all we were in Fontainebleau.

Paul had, of course, picked a Logis for our stay but even though there was a sign we couldn't find it. However there was a sign for the train station which I wanted to go to so we rode there first. There was a huge bloody detour on the way, down a long hill and then back up another one :( And, once we got to the station, we discovered the detour was pointless for bikes, we could have just used the foot path for 50 metres instead. Anyway I went in to see how to get from Meaux, the town we are riding to tomorrow to Holland. The lady was quite helpful, she even spoke English, but there really is no easy way from Meaux. The system is really designed around TGV's for long distance travel but you need a bike bag for those and of course you can't buy them at the train station. I'll have to think about what to do. Maybe I can get a bag for the TGV at a bike store? By the way, the TGV is quite cheap, only 85 Euro to Amsterdam.


We rode back into town and looked for the Logis. We had to ride around to find it but it turns out we went straight past it the first time, it is only a 100 metres from the Chateau, an excellent position. We checked in, 80 Euro a night! Oh well. The room is enormous with two double beds and a vast bathroom. They even let us keep the bikes in the room. We then walked around the block to the local bike store. They have a bag for the train but it is enormous, I couldn't tour with it, and it costs 145 Euro! So that is not an option.

We went for lunch and had the special of chicken in tarragon on a bed of rice. Very nice and surprisingly filling. After lunch we went back to the room and I worked on the Internet for ages looking at different routes to get back to Holland. I have a plan now. I will ride with Paul to Meaux and then catch a train to Charleville-Meziers. The next day I will ride into Belgium and catch a train to Maastricht and from there go to Hans and Trees'. Paul fell asleep watching TV while I worked all this out. With all that done, and Paul now awake again, we went for a walk around the town. I got a Michelin Map for the region north of Charleville-Meziers for my ride into Belgium. While we were walking around we found a lovely chocolate shop so we bought a mini assortment of Chocolates, 8 for only 6.90 Euro. We ate two chocolates each as soon as we got back to the Hotel :)


After another rest it was time for dinner. Paul hadn't decided yet where to have dinner so we went for a long walk. He eventually decided we'd go to the Brasserie on the main street when I took us up another road which had quite a few restaurants. Oh no, Paul found a couscous restaurant. He'd been wanting to have couscous for ages whereas I didn't see why we'd do that when we were in France? However the meal turned out to be really nice. I got a Tajine, a stew dish of lamb, and Paul got some grilled meat. It all came with vegies, soup and of course couscous. The servings were actually very large as well, so we were nicely bloated by the time we finished. Oh, we had a Tunisian Rose with the meal too. It was quite strong, almost port like, nice.

Back at the room again we both did some email and watched TV until bed. One, I guess funny, thing was that we had to close the windows in the room. The restaurant is down below and there was smoke billowing up from below making the room stink!

Muides sur Loire to Pithiviers

Woke to Paul rummaging around at 7.30. Actually it wasn't the first time he woke me :) Anyway, he was already packing so I started as well and we were packed and on our way by 8.20. We immediately crossed the Loire to the other side and followed the excellent bike path which went most of the way to Beaugency where we had breakfast. The town is quite convoluted and it took a while to find the boulongerie. We knew there was one because we saw people carrying baguettes! We sat in a plaza to ate and just as we were done it started to rain, so we scampered under an awning until it had stopped, not long. Phew.

We had been following the bike path but decided to give up on it here. It looked like it was going to cross the river, a 5K detour. So we continued on using a red road for a brief while. 4 Ks on the red road saved 5Ks, worthwhile. Also it is Monday morning so there's hardly anyone about anyway. Then we had a nice short run of white roads before crossing the bridge then a small yellow road for a couple of Ks and before going onto a white road and back on to the path. Then we had a rather nice ride along what is effectively a dyke. This brought us to the town of St. Hillaire St. Mesmin, from here it was a mixture of bike paths and road riding and then we were in Orleans.


Orleans has an enormous Cathedral so of course we made our way directly there. Paul minded the bike while I went in and then vice versa. The Cathedral is large with a recently cleaned exterior. Unfortunately we're both getting a bit blaise about amazing 13th century churches and while we both had a nice walk around we hardly took any pictures and were in and out in five minutes each. Of more interest was lunch!

There was a bistro directly opposite the church but unfortunately, for them, there was noisy road works going on so we rode around a bit and found a very reasonable Italian. I had steak with chips and then an apple tart and Paul, misinterpreting the menu, managed to order an entree size goats cheese salad as well as the steak and then dessert. He enjoyed the salad, he has been trying to train his palette and thinks it is beginning to work! The steak was medium so a bit over done, the salad and chips were nice, as was the tart. We left around 1.30, me nicely full, Paul bloated!

The plan now was to get out of Orleans by riding east and then north through some forests to the area around the Chateau Chamerolles. Getting out of town went reasonably well and the route north was quite pleasant too. However at the town of Trainou we somehow managed to get on the wrong road and after (a rather nice) short ride ended up on a red road. Hmmm. We decided to go on rather than back tracking. The road was only mildly busy and as it turned out most of the traffic was coming from the north. We had to stop after a couple of Ks because of rain, fortunately right next to a picnic area! Once it cleared we hammered along to the turn off towards the Chateau. I was actually getting rather tired at this point, already 80Ks and no camp site in sight.

The road past the Chateau was nice, we did stop at the Chateau but we didn't want to spend the time there as it was getting late in the afternoon. So instead we continued on and, due to a lack of any accommodation, we ended up heading towards the larger town of Pithiviers. I was getting pretty stuffed by now, on down hills and the flats following them I was fine, as soon as we hit a hill I had nothing left. Paul's solution to this was to go to the front and ride even faster than I had been before. For some reason this didn't work too well on the hills :) At least Paul is feeling better now! In no time at all we did finally get to the town and we made no attempt what so ever to look for the camping ground. Instead straight to the Logis. Paul didn't even ask the price, shocking!


We cleaned up, including all of our washing. It is a bit risky with the washing because there is not that long for it to dry but neither of us have anything clean so we might as well. Then down for dinner around 8 pm. The Logis is a two pot restaurant (rating) and it shows. I had a smoked trout entree which was really delicious, it had asparagus in it and even a poached egg on top. For the main I had Merlan which we assume is Marlin, very tender, and with a delicious sauce. The town is famous for a Tarte Pithiviers so we had to have that. It is pretty much the same as a Dutch almond ring just in tarte form. Oh yes a Kir too!

Chenonceau to Muides sur Loire

I woke late today, Paul is feeling better but still has a fever, so we took our time getting ready. We mostly packed and then while we waited for the tents to dry from the dew we walked into town to get food which we ate back at the camp site. I walked around to say good bye to the Ozzie but he wasn't there, getting food I guess.

We set off, briefly back the way we had come, there was a little bit of a head wind this morning so I guess we probably did have a tail wind in the morning yesterday. Of course we are also going up river this morning as well. The ride back the way we came was only about 8 K's and then we turned away from the Cher, over the low hills in between and towards the Loire. The area was very pleasant. It was Sunday morning, a white road, and so there was barely a car around. After a short climb we had a long section of rolling hills, very easy riding. We stopped at Chaumont sur Loire and ate our pain au raison from breakfast.


We then joined a part of the Loire bike route and followed the Loire for a bit. After a while the route turned to gravel which we did until the end of the bike path. In the end we were glad to get off it and back onto a real road. We decided to ignore the bike signs as they were a bit confusing in this area although we somehow rejoined the bike route a bit later on. Then came to the Foret de Russy. I have seen the Foret's on the Michelin maps before and so I was quite interested to see what they were like. Very pleasant, but gravel. Paul however didn't enjoy it at first, he definitely isn't himself he dropped right off when we first hit the gravel.

We came out of the Foret and stopped at the town of Cellettes, near Chateau Beauregard, we went past the Chateau but not into it. It would have been nice but today we are targeting a three star Chateau, Chsteau Chambord, so we continued on. Unfortunately I think we needed to go into the grounds of the Chateau to join the bike path because we ended up on a very rough gravel road. And then this turned into single track, rather nice actually. Even Paul seemed to enjoy it! And then it got very rough. So I took a photo. (There you go Lynda, a cycling photo for a change.)


Some how we eventually ended up back on a road near the town of Mont-pres-Chambord. It was getting pretty warm and I think Paul was knackered. From here we followed a white road and in no time we entered the grounds themselves, however there was still 3 K's to the chateau itself. We parked the bikes near the shopping area, not realising that everyone else just rode them to trees just next to the Chateau entrance. It was 9.50 Euro to get in, cheaper than yesterday. The main differences between today and yesterday are that today the Chateau is enormous, ostentatious, but yesterdays had the gardens to walk around in. The Chateau has 472 rooms of which 90 are open for inspection, including access to the enormous roof. The design is very repetitive so you get a feel for the entire chateau just from the sections that are open. Very little of the furnishings are original as in the days of Francis the 1st he brought everything with him, he had an entourage of 8000 people and the caravan was 30 K's long! The Chateau took 150 years to build up to its current state (it's not finished) it has only ever been lived in for 50 years. Francis the 1st only visited it for 72 days in the 32 years he was king. There is a stunning double spiral staircase in the centre of the Chateau and everything is built around that centre. There are also loads of towers and other spiral stair cases, all very fantastical with a Renaissance flavour.

We eventually left the Chateau around 6 pm, after 4 hours. We had another nice ride through the grounds before getting onto the road out, about 5 K's to leave the castle grounds! From there it was down to the Loire and into the town of Muides sur Loire which, naturally has a (cheap) camping ground. The ground is packed with cyclists! We showered but could not launder, too late. So we then walked into town in search of food. Oh oh. We walked all over, we'd almost given up when we eventually found an open bar.


I had a Salade Mixte, Pizza Hawaiian (Mushies and Pineapple) nice but I was so hungry it didn't touch the sides, 3 cheeses (two soft, one swiss) and a Tarte Normandie (apple with custard). Paul, claiming he is still sick, only had a pizza. Definitely not himself.

Vierzon to Chenonceau

I woke early but Paul was already rustling, he must have gotten up at 6.30. I packed and we were ready to go at 7.25 am. Sunrise is only at 7.10'ish so we were doing pretty good. It was a tad overcast and of course it is damn early so it was cold out, so we put our thermals on.


The roads out of town were deadly quiet, a weekend morning in France, lovely. We rode 14 K's to the town of St. Georges for breakfast. We had a very pleasant repas sitting on a wall by the boulangerie. Then we continued on. The day was flat with barely any rolling today, nice and fast. We followed the Cher, down river, and by 11 am we had already done 65 K's! We stopped for lunch in the one star town of St. Aignan. There was a market on, boy was Paul salivating! I got a couple of very nice peaches, tasty and juicy. Then Paul discovered that there was a shop with roasted chickens, ducks, quail and... rabbits! Guess what we had for lunch? Yep an entire roast rabbit! Finger licking good. Actually it tasted a lot like chicken. We sat in a picnic area on an island in the middle of the river.

We had another stop at the one star town of Montrichard. We shared an Eclair Chocolat and I had another drink. The town is quite nice, has a modest church and the nice ruins of a castle on the hill. However we are more focused on the Chateau we are visiting today so we did not stop for long. When we were getting closer to Chenonceaux Paul wanted to stop at a Logis however he agreed that if there is a closer Camp site we'll go there. As it happens there is a one star camping site right next to the chateau, reasonably cheap. So no Logis for Paul tonight! We set up and then went to shower but there are no showers until 6 pm, bugger. I had a towel wash instead, Paul didn't bother. We did however do the laundry, and there is a clothes line, nice!


After that we walked the few hundred metres to the Chateau, three star site of France, only 10 Euro's each. Needless to say it was very good, and well worth the money. Then again I imagine Patrick would hate it :) The Chateau Chenonceau is a very famous one, it straddles a river and has magnificent gardens. We started with the Chateau which had three floors and is mainly filled with original furnishings, quite magnificent. It was interesting in the kitchens, there was a sign apologising for them not being the originals. The kitchen was upgraded during World War I because the Chateau was used as a hospital. So the new kitchens are almost a century old as well! We took far too many photos and then went for a tea. Paul's feeling exhausted and a bit feverish. Surprisingly the tea was only 1.50 Euro, just about the cheapest we've had in Europe! Then we went for a walk in the gardens, very extensive. The Chateau is of course surrounded by forests as well which were used for hunting. There were also large gardens for food and flowers. All of the floral arrangements in the Chateau, and there are many and they are huge, come from their own gardens. Between the fish in the river, the forest and the vegie gardens I can easily believe that the Chateau was self sufficient.


After an exhausting two hours we went back to the camp to check the washing and have a shower. There was an Ozzie there from Melbourne travelling on his own, he is here for 3 months and like us is finishing in a week or two. We talked for quite a while before we needed to shower. I am not sure if he is even going to the chateau, he went last time he was here, in 1982! Finally we showered, and feeling much better we went into town for dinner. There were several to choose from although the menu's are not that different. Paul is actually not feeling that well, so he is getting the Vegie menu, but yes it has fish in the menu. The meal was very nice, I had deer for the main with vegies in a really tasty sauce. I also had a Kir Royal and a 250 ml bottle of cider. I would have had wine, they had an excellent wine menu including several aged wines from the early 90's. But Paul doesn't want to risk it, damn. Still think of the money we saved :)

Montignac by bike and train to Vierzon

Slept really well last night. It is almost cold this morning, cool air blowing in from the window and out the bathroom window. There was rain last night but it didn't last that long, or at least I never heard it again. We got up at around 7.30 and went down for breakfast at 8 am. They took ages to bring out our bread and drinks but it was a nice breakfast and a welcome change to sit down while we eat it, and at leisure. There was baguette, sliced (rock hard) bread, croissant, mini pain au chocolate, yoghurt, boiled eggs, fruit, cereal, orange juice, tea and coffee. A nice start to the day.

We've completely given up on the idea of the Lascaux caves and we aren't even going to bother trying to go there. Instead we will make our way up the river to a train station and see what our options are. We checked on-line but the route it gives requires a station change in 7 minutes which seems a bit unlikely.

We set off in the wrong direction but used a side road to connect back. In fact the side route was so nice, aside from the up and down, that we stayed on that the whole way. At one point we had a fair climb up to a rather good look out, we could see three separate chateau's along the river. I pointed out the horrible red route that was on the other side of the river to Paul and said “Who'd want to take that nasty busy road?”. Paul wanted to know if I meant the dead flat one with no cars on it. Yep that was it :)

After the lookout there was a nice descent into the next town and from there a small lump and then another lovely riverside road (beside not above) into the town of Terrasson. We'd decided to ride directly to this town without checking out any others along the way as we thought this was the first town that would actually have a manned train station, and we were right. The station attendant was very helpful and took ages to book a route for us which seemed unduly complex and even included a TGV leg. However the price was 150 Euro! Too much, we were expecting it to be about 80 or 90 Euro at most. We picked a town that was quite so far and he tried again, this time it was 108 Euro which seemed much better. We could have saved the 8 by riding the 15 K's to the next town but couldn't be bothered. We booked that, thanked him several times and then went back into town.


The town has a nice looking church half way up the hill that surrounds the town so up we went. Alas it is being renovated and it closed to the general public, bummer. We enjoyed the views for a while, Paul took yet more photo's and then we went back down in to the town, checked out the 12th century bridge. Paul then found a patisserie with a meringue based regional speciality tart so we got that and ate it in the town square. As it turns out the change of destination is probably good as it puts us on the river Cher which Paul informs me is another important chateau area, so more to see!


The train was spot on time, as always,, we got on and while there were bike hooks didn't bother as this leg is only 14 minutes. A pleasant little trip down the river valley, and no hills! At Brive La Gaillarde we carried the bikes down the steps, up the steps and then rode out of the station to the nearest restaurant. Paul immediately picked the Logis de France restaurant which had an 11 Euro lunch which included a buffet entree. We locked the bikes up together across the street in a bike parking area and settled in for our 90 minute lunch, I mean wait. The buffet was reasonably good, lots of vegies, gerkins, even a mixture of mushies. We ate a plate of that with baguette and then I had beef burgognone and Paul had steak hachette. Some of the beef was a tad tough but by and large it was pretty good. Washed down with a Rose for me a red for Paul. For dessert you could get one dessert from the buffet so I had a slice of apple pie ad Paul a crème brulee.

With just a few minutes to spare we made it to our carriage on the incredibly long train. About 12 carriages, almost like a Japanese train. There were even bike hooks which we got the bikes on to, panniers and all, with some effort. Then a rather nice, air conditioned, ride to the town of Limoges. At this stop, our final change of trains, we had a quick look at the area outside the station and decided that there was nothing there. We then walked back into the station planning to look for somewhere to wait when the train platform number appeared so we went immediately there. And it is a lucky thing we did. When we got there, to the two carriage train, there were already two cyclists trying to get their bikes up and into the only area of the train where the bikes could fit. After removing our panniers we followed them in and the organised to have our bikes against the wall as they were getting off first. While we were doing that another cyclist appeared, he went to the other end of the carriage. We then settled into a pair of seats to wait for the train to leave when 2 more cyclists arrived. And then another 3, and then another 2. Who knows how they fitted so many people into the front carriage, but they did get everyone in!

The train finally left, spot on time of course. It is an all stops and will take close to 2 and a half hours to get to Vierzon so I decided it was a good time to do some work on the diary and photo albums, so I did. I went to the loo after a while and discovered that they had opened up the guards area and put all of the bikes in there, so no problem after all! After a rather uneventful journey we arrived at Vierzon. We descended from the train, repacked the bikes and then we had to go down and up to exit and there were ramps! Cool. Paul almost lost control of his bike but fortunately no children or animals were injured.

We then looked for a map, there was one, AND the camping was marked. So good! Paul seems resigned to camping so off we went. There were even signs all the (round about scenic view of the city) way to the camp site. Great! And it was only 8.25 Euro, what could be better. Well as it happens it has concrete picnic tables available! Alas though, we don't actually have any food to cook. So after a shower (too late for laundry) we ate at the camp site snack/dinner area. Paul got two turkey kebabs and I had chicken fillets, both with a green salad. The chicken was actually very tender, the lettuce smothered in a sea of mayonnaise. For dessert Paul had a Magnum, the bugger. I had a Callypo because I've been on the verge of hay fever the last few days. I'd have loved a Magnum I haven't had one in so long.

Sarlat to Montignac

We both got up early today as it was a bit cooler and we also wanted to get going before it gets too hot and too crowded. We were down at the patisserie by 8 and on our way by 8.20 am. I'd chosen a white road for the first part of the route just to avoid what I suspect is a very busy red road. It was, as expected up and down, up and down, however it was quite pleasant, cool if not cold in places which made a nice change, and hardly a car about. The final part of the route to Les Eyzies was along a green road and it was, surprisingly, almost all down hill. Very nice.

We stopped at the Grotto Gaume, two star, and Paul even decided to go in (he hates caves) since there were cave drawings present. However, after quite a wait we got to the head of the line and discovered that even though the ticket office had only been open for only 30 minutes the tickets were already up to 1 pm. We decided it was too late, we would never finish the day if we didn't leave here until after 2 pm. So no cave this morning :(


We followed the road out of town and up another hill, quite a long one and a lot of traffic. Now as it happens, fortunately for Paul, I didn't notice the turn off for a route which would go up a quiet white road. It was fortunate for Paul because only a few K's further on there was a Goose farm where they gave demonstrations of the goose force feeding. I think it is kind of disgusting and I didn't want to see it but it turns out the demo was in only 20 minutes so there was no way Paul was going to pass that up. The farmer came out in due course, gave a long speech about the geese. As far as I could ascertain the babies were about 8 weeks, the middle size ones 17 weeks and the larger ones older. He then took us into the feeding shed where there were two groups of four geese. It was interesting the way they behaved. Outside they all flock around the farmer as he feeds them. Inside they run from him squawking. Paul assures me that they feel nothing from the process but I don't think so. The farmer gabbled on for a long time and then fortunately we could leave. All I got out of his speech was that they get 17 days of one type of food and 17 days of a corn like feed.


We finally left there and this time I did see the turn off for the next quiet route which also turned out to be fortunate. Just a K or two along there was Le Roque St. Christophe. This is the location of an old fortress built into the rock face. The first fortress, really rock face town, was around the 14th century. However the site has been almost continuously inhabited for the last 55,000 years! The rock face town is gone however they have recreated sections of it and there was even a printed English guide. They also had working replicas of various different winches that were used at the time to get food and materials up from the valley floor. It was actually a very good site.


We were peckish so we polished off a patisserie we had from breakfast and then rode the 5 K's to St Leon sur Vezere. This is also a one star town and quite pretty, although not very big. We checked out the restaurants, almost accepted a mediocre looking one, when we saw a sign for a garden restaurant. We went there of course, a very nice setting and the food was excellent. I am pretty sick of duck and goose by now so we had something completely different: A vegetarian terrine (yes Lynda it's true), a vegetarian assortment for the main, including a lovely potato dish, with two medallions of chicken. Ha Ha, fooled you. And dessert was a Tart Belle Helene, basically a lemon meringue pie. Delicious, bloated we left around 3 pm. Fortunately it is not as hot today.

Then the final 10 K's to Montignac where the Lascaux Caves are. Of course we have no hope of seeing them now, it is just too late in the afternoon. So it looks like it will have to be another time. The final stretch of the ride, after the obligatory hill was along the side of the river Vezere. We've actually been along the river all day but this is the first time that they've bothered to put the road along side instead of in the cliffs up above. There was a nice little chateau along the way, open to the public too, but it was on the other side of the road, so we got a photo but that was all.

Finally reaching town we circled once looking for the hotel that Paul had picked and then found it. We checked in, they only do demi-pensions. This is where there is a fixed price for accommodation, breakfast and dinner all in one, in this case 120 Euro. It seemed a little steep but we were planning to have dinner there anyway (we'd already checked the menu) and tomorrow is a semi-rest day so it would be nice to have a proper breakfast, so we did.

After showering, I started the hard work on the diary. I am so far behind and Paul has taken so many pictures it is going to take ages to catch up :( Around 6pm Paul insisted we go for a walk and just as we were leaving Paul found the two pain au raison that we bought for breakfast and forgot about. He ate his but I just nibbled at mine, mainly the raisins, and fed the rest to the ducks. Quite fun. There was a mini Paul duckling, it grabbed as much as it could and wouldn't share no matter how big the other duck was!


The town itself is quite nice, not that touristy. The church is 1930's and of course by now most of the shops were shut. Still we had a nice walk, Paul took too many photos again, and we got back to the hotel around 8pm for dinner. After a quick wash we went down and we were one of the last ones to arrive. Dinner was in the garden out the back of the hotel and there was almost a cool breeze blowing. There is a change coming in and it is supposed to be 24C tomorrow, a nice change. The demi-pension includes the 24 Euro menu, which we'd picked earlier. It was mainly regional specialities but I managed to avoid duck altogether, Paul however couldn't help himself and had duck gizzard salad and confit of duck. I had red mullet with salad, which included a rather nice tomato sorbet, and then I had steak which was outstanding, so very much better than the other day at the Bellevue hotel. Of course the wine was just a glass of the local red and was not too exciting. For dessert I had what turned out to be another lemon meringue tart!

One interesting thing about the hotel is the number of English tourists here. We can't remember the last hotel where there were any and this hotel is almost completely full of them. Funnily enough some of them are exactly the stereotypical English tourists, not a word of French, they even had to ask what the word for water was!

Ride around Sarlat

Slept like a log, couldn't hear Paul for a change :)


We got ready and rode down the hill for breakfast around 8 am I think. Stopped at the patisserie and got baguette, two pain au raison and a Tresse for later. We then sat on a rock wall near the Logis we couldn't get into, there was a market on too. We then set of immediately for our loop, the earlier we go the cooler it will be. First off we had to go down an awful busy red road to Beynac-et-Cazenac, a two star town thanks to the fortress there. We rode into the lower town which is very picturesque and Paul took far too many photo's. (I think that's going to be the case for the next few days.) Then we walked up to the fortress proper. This is an English fortress from the 100 years war. On the other side of the river are the French fortresses from the same period.

We walked around but we were too early, so we went and got a drink while we waited for the Chateau to open. 3 Euro each for an Orangina, it's a good thing the Australian dollar is appreciating :) We went into the fortress just after 10, it was a good time as there were not too many people around yet. The fortress is amazing, it is in excellent condition and is under going a restoration process from 1980 to 2030! It is perched on a rock out cropping, naturally, high above the river floor. Very good. There are of course very few furnishings other than some massive chests and wardrobes. We spent over an hour just inside the castle area. By the time we came out there were hundreds of people around.


We then rode down from the castle using a different route and then crossed over the river to the French fortress of Castelnaud-la-chapelle. It is only a little down stream from the English fortress. It is not as impressive looking but Paul thinks that is because it is on a naturally defended (i.e. shear) rock face so it does not need as many battlements. We rode up the 1.5 km road to the chateau and had a look around, however it is already close to midday and we originally planned to be back at the camp site by then. Not to mention that it is getting damn hot now. So instead we looked at the junk shops and I bought a replica castle.


We descended down looking for somewhere to have a drink and a patisserie we bought this morning. In the end we sat by the river, a bit cooler, quite pleasant. Then it was time to make some tracks to get back before it got too hot. However there was one more stop along the way, La Roque-Gageac, actually the castle I bought a miniature of. It wasn't far and Paul time trialled us there in no time. This castle is also in excellent condition but is unfortunately not open to the public. We think the town was given a star rating is for the actual town itself, it is quite nice, built along the side of the cliff. We took a bit of a look around before continuing on.

Paul resumed time trialling and we were back to the back road route we used to get to Sarlat in no time. A pleasant enough ride with no panniers, but much hotter than yesterday. Yesterday was 34C and today is 37C, noticeably worse. We rode back to camp with the intention of cooking. So while Paul went ahead I bought baguette, peaches (for dessert), a bottle of Orangina and paid for an extra day of camping. The lady at reception was quite impressed that we'd been out in such hot conditions. Paul cooked up a storm! Alright, that's an exaggeration he reheated the jar of Coq au Vin we bought the other day. It was very nice with the baguette, and very filling :)

After cleaning up we walked into town. It was absolutely packed with people. The town itself is all cleaned up, very nice. Beautiful stone work in all the buildings, wooden framed houses here and there. We went to the church for a look, and because we thought it would be cool inside, but alas it was pretty warm inside. I bought some Foie Gras to send home and a small porcelain serving plate which has a goose head as a handle. The next thing was to mail it all home. The plate was a bit of a risk but it was only 10 Euro so hopefully it will make it home. It is wrapped in paper and a T-shirt and wedged in between some other stuff. We only just made it to the Post Office in time, Paul just happened to notice the time at 4.45 pm, they close at 5. 3.45 Kg's sent home for 41 Euro, the bike will certainly be lighter tomorrow :)


We walked around until dinner, just enjoying the ambience. The restaurant we picked actually has its own cave which you can check out after the meal. The restaurant was quite cool when we got there because of it which was nice. The food, alas, was not as good as yesterday. Because the fresh Foie Gras was so nice last night I risked getting it tonight and while it was tender it had a strong duck flavour which doesn't work that well for me. The main course of trout was not so hot either, I think it was over cooked because it was hard to get the bones out. Dessert was a piece of chocolate cake, a little too close to Sarah Lea for me. So really the meal was a bit of a disappointment compared to yesterday. After paying we checked out the restaurants cave, and it really is a cave. It has been in use since the 15th century and the water flows into a small fountain next door to the building. It was also lovely and cool in there so we stayed a few minutes. Then back to camp, in the dark, it was finally starting to cool down. I stared out of the tent at the stars for a while again to help cool down.

Souillac to Sarlat

Well I learned something new last night! Paul can snore as he breathes in AND out! Bloody annoying to say the least.

We had breakfast this morning sitting on a stone bench around the wall outside the towns Abbey. Interestingly there is an echo caused by the curvature of the wall, very interesting! Once we finished we went around to see if the bike store was open. It was! However there is no way they could fix the broken spoke this morning :( Oh well. We rode out of town and up a pointless hill. It was quite a nice road actually. As we were going up Paul said that he was taking his time, but whenever I sped up he sped up. I said I was just taking my time too, and the victory salute at 27 kph at the top was just me stretching :) Paul of course contests where the top of the hill was and claims it was 2 metres further on where he thinks he was in the lead. Of course he wasn't.


After that there was a nice downhill, our reward, and then we had a lovely stretch of white road, along the side of the river. We stopped at to photograph an old train bridge and later crossed the river and went up a dog leg to the one star town of Carlux. There was a nice little ruined castle but it was being renovated and so was closed. It was warming up so we stopped at a bar and had a coke and coffee, very pleasant. As we were leaving town I noticed a local produce store so we stopped again and Paul realised that it is one that he and his family went to in 2002! We got a couple of peaches and then back down the hill, a nice descent.

We then joined the bike path which heads all the way to Sarlat, of course we didn't follow it for far. We stopped at Aillac thinking it was the one star town Carsac-Aillac, it wasn't, but there was nice church, alas also being renovated. Back to the bike path and this time when we stopped it was Carsac-Aillac. It didn't seem like it deserved its star until we went down and looked at the church and the old fortifications visible in the hills. Very nice. Then a brief stint along a yellow road, fairly quite, and stopped at the Cingle de Montfort. Pretty but not open to the public, bummer, guess that is why it only gets a single star.


Next we went to Domme, there was a 5 K up hill climb but it was not too steep. The town is an old bastide town which is why it is on top of a hill, of course. Very pretty. However we are not really sure why it is a two star. We didn't think much of the church, but then again we didn't go into the caves (grottes) or visit the Templar dungeon either. We had a mediocre lunch and then I went for a look around the junk stores, didn't buy anything, Paul didn't even bother. With all the touristy work done we both got a three scoop ice cream in a waffle cone, lemon, raspberry and chocolate (and hayfever in the evening)!

Then we were off and out of the Bastide. It was now very hot. Somehow we went out the wrong exit and swung south and then north, fortunately it was quite a nice road and (after a climb) there was a long descent. It was very hot and very busy at the bottom and as it was now after 5 pm everyone seemed to be heading home. I found a nice quiet white back road to Sarlat, I enjoyed it. Did I mention how hot it was?

We got to town around 6pm, Paul went to look for a hotel while I asked about getting my spoke fixed. Not today and not before lunch tomorrow. Oh well. No hotel near by, they recommended another Logis, we tried that, nope. In the end 800 metres up a stiff climb to the camp site. 21 Euro!!! Unbelievable. And even more unbelievable another 300 metres of climbing (not elevation) to the camp site. Bloody hell. We showered, wonderful. Went to the loo, seat paper and toilet paper, wonderful. We did our washing, we have a clothesline!!! Wonderful. So ok, it was dear but it did have some good features.

We went into town for a walk, amazing, so many stores. Sigh. We must stay another day. We changed our plans to do a day ride for tomorrow instead. The shops were even open at 8 pm, it's almost like civilisation! I have to say this is the first place I have been to in France, other than Paris, that is truly busy.


We randomly picked a restaurant, based more on the air conditioning than anything else. I had a Salade Salamandere (basically a duck gizzard one). Paul has fresh Foie Gras with Kiwi fruit dressing, I tried a bit, it was really nice. Then we both had a Snail and Cepes stew, also delicious. Then, again, we both had the Duck breast with Pomme Sarlandaise (sliced potato's and cepes), and again it was delicious. Then we got, alas, a goat cheese with lettuce and walnut, revolting. Paul ate my cheese for me, he is trying to train his taste buds. To wash all this down we had a local wine, a Bergerac, Julien de Savignac, a white and according to the label a mix of Savignon Blanc and Semillion blanc.

Fully sated we walked all the way UP to the tent, it was dark now, cooler but still hot. It was so hot I lay partly out of the tent to stare at the stars. You needed to be careful though, you don't want to get hit by an acorn :)

Train to Souillac

Almost another rest day today. But not so restful a night. At about 5am the fire alarm went off. It was very loud and it went on and on and on. In the end I went for a walk down the lane until they finally turned it off. Fortunately it was quite cool by then so there was no problem getting back to sleep. No sign of the fire brigade though. As to the day, Paul decided that even though he'd like to we are not going to Lourdes. It is a bit inconvenient and we are running a bit low on time. So instead we are catching a train north from the nearest station rather than in two days time.

Consequently we packed and checkout as soon as they opened, 8 am. Interestingly, when the owner was preparing the bill she had to go to the menu to get the prices and the 1986 Mercurey is now crossed out! So we got the last one, it patiently sat there for 23 years just for us :) A shocking 275 Euro for two nights and dinners, of course more than a third of that on wine and an almost equal amount on food. The accommodation was the smallest component.


We got a pain au raison in town and then rode to Lannemazan which has the nearest train station. There was a map of the region and the town we wanted to go to, Souillac, was listed. Paul got the tickets and then we went and got Paris Brest to celebrate finishing the 100 Col club event and ate it at a bar across the road from the station with a hot drink. By the by, it rained a little bit last night and was quite misty this morning, but it is not even remotely raining now.

The train arrived right on time, we squeezed ourselves on and had a fairly pleasant trip to Toulouse where we had to change trains. When we got there we went out of the station and across the road to have lunch. There was a bike store there too but they didn't do repairs, so no luck on the spoke today. For lunch we had a plat du jour, Tagliatelli Carbonara. A bit cheesy but light enough given that we have only done 13 K's today. I got a map for the next area and then we caught the next train, no problem on this one as there was a baggage area. After 2 hot but fairly pleasant hours we arrived in Souillac. We went directly into town and checked out the Logis de France. The one we wanted, i.e. cheapest with WiFi, was shut till 4.30 so we went and got a drink and in the end stayed at that hotel instead, about 10 Euro cheaper. The room is quite large but is on the third floor, a bit of a hike.


We went for a walk around town, there is an abbey there and lots of historic buildings. The general houses themselves are rather historic for that matter. We also stopped at a Foie Gras shop and Paul bought a tin of Coq au Vin which we plan to heat up and have with bread for lunch one day. After an hour or so I'd had enough so we went to the restaurant Paul had picked and had an aperitif, Muscat, quite alcoholic really. Then we got the regional menu for 20 Euro, a local version of goose gizzard salad, then a duck cassoulet. They were both very nice. The cassoulet is more of a winter dish and we were both sweating and stuffed by the time we finished it. After that we waddled back to the room for the rest of the night.

In Capvern les Bains

Woke early today, bugger. We are in no rush and I still wake up at 7'ish. I lolled until 7.30 then thought I may as well got on with the diary! So I worked on that for an hour or so. After Paul got up we walked into town. There is a lovely path through the forest which we followed for a bit and then used a switchback path to drop down to the Tourist Info office where we checked email for free! We walked up through the town, basically one main street. It is a bit run down, a lot of closed buildings. The town is a thermal town so I would have expected it to be doing better but obviously the thermal business is not so good in France these days. It is Sunday so of course nothing is open :( There was a small shop attached to a bar where we got some food then we went back to a nice chair in the shade that we had seen in the forest where we sat to eat before going back to the hotel to rest.

I worked on the diary most of the day and Paul went outside to read for a while. At lunch we went to a nearby picnic table where we ate baguette and some terrine we bought earlier. Paul attracted a cat and proceeded to get rid of some of our cheese and to earn a new friend. We ate the entire Flute, finished Paul's cheese, along with a tomato and the terrine. A good meal.


Back to the room again for the diary and TV until dinner time. Paul had been quite excited about dinner for some time and we had been debating whether to get a Chateau Mouton Rothschild 1975, a Bordeaux red. It was 190 Euro and we had checked on the internet it was a fair price, especially in a restaurant. In the end we decided against it because we didn't think that they would decant it and also it would really need to be decanted before the meal rather than we when we arrived. A good choice I think. Not to mention the money saved :) Instead we got a Chateau Latour Martillac 1980, also a Bordeaux red. I told Paul he could just drop the Martillac if he wanted to impress people! The waiter came out with the bottle in a special carrier. It generated considerable interest from the other tables. The waiter was actually sweating as he took the cork out, he broke it as he did yesterday but he managed to get it out without getting any cork into the wine. (After all it is 29 years old!) The wine was a lovely brown colour again and what struck me is that the smell reminded me of an aged port. Naturally it had great length. This one was 70 Euro. For the meal we went al a carte and got a duck gizzard salad followed by steak. To be honest I actually think the meal yesterday was better than today's. You just don't know in advance. The wine however was excellent, a fine finish to our rest day!

100 Cols Club Day 4

We got to have a bit of a loll today, we'd decided on breakfast at 7.30. We didn't have too much to eat today either as we get lunch on the mountain before we leave. So after a leisurely meal we went back to the room and packed. There is one rider in the club who has just recently managed to achieve 10,000 Cols. He was there, he saw us packing our touring bike and introduced himself. We chatted a lot about touring and cycling. He's from a Flemish region and speaks English. He's toured in the US as well. After checking us out, i.e. giving back the key, we rode up the Col, again. I managed to keep up with Paul. He dropped me several times but I was able to come back. He claimed he was taking it easy but whenever I was behind him the speed would go up. I sprinted at the top but he didn't compete.

There were tables set up. Drinks and nibbles. We stood around for a while then we got the bikes and rode up the dirt road to the Col just off to the side. Paul raced me this time. He thought I'd given up after I had to stop to let a car through. However I gave a huge charge and was doing almost 30 coming up behind him, he started to sprint and crossed my line, I had to swerve onto the grass, hit some pot holes and stopped. I think he should have been relegated for that!


We took lots of photo's, too many really, of the meeting, the Cols, the montains. We talked to some other people for a while. I gave one of the 100 Col members, Chantal, my email address, she and her husband are coming to Oz, cycling, and are interested in where to go. At 12 they had speeches and presentations. They introduced the entire club staff. Thanked the organisers. They introduced the foreigners. Claude did us last, gave a short speech about my tour, 11 weeks, from where to here. We all got a big cheer and photo's taken of us. There were 5 foreigners, so Australia made up 40 %! They gave out certificates for achievement, 500, 1000, 2000, 3000, 7000 and 10000. Chantal got a 3000! The mature aged gentleman I passed on the first two days who was weaving all over the road, he got a 1000 award!


Next they brought out a huge drum of something, an aperitif, like punch, definitely alcoholic. Then nothing happened for a while so we started to get ready to go, but Mario said that there would be lunch, so we stayed. Lunch was nice, buffet of course, salads, jambon cru, melon, roast, baguette, water, small bottles of red wine. Very nice. I wondered about dessert, and then there it was, the nice apple pie from the other night. Very cold. Finally we had to depart, we said goodbye to Gerald, Mario and Claude. We got a few cheers as we departed on the touring bikes.

It was a great descent. We used the road Claude had come back on the day before as well. After one missed turn we got on to the main highway and rolled down the valley. We went through Arreau for the third time this trip, fourth time ever. Then I stopped because I thought I had a puncture, it turned out to be a broken spoke. So we went back to Arreau, again. We went into the town and Paul went to look for a shop, he asked, and as usual no, none in this town. We talked to some Cent Col members who were riding home and then I had to do the deed and try to true the wheel. Amazingly we did it, Paul knew which way to start the process and then after doing a bit here and there it worked out really well! First time ever.

We resumed our route down the mountain. I led for quite a while to control things while I looked at the wheel. Then when I was happy Paul took a lead, time trial mode again. He said he was taking it easy, 32 kph into a head wind on the flat in a 30 zone through Sarrancolin. Hmmmm. Just after Heche was the turn off for the Col de Coupe. Average 22! I was a bit undecided, so hot and dry, but I felt Ok so why not, one more Col :)


It was a lovely climb, cool in the trees, actually much nicer than riding one the main road had been. After a slow start on the Col I really got going, nice. At the top we took photo's, of course, then there was an unbelievable descent, just so long. Really nice. We then hopped onto another route, D14, and followed a river valley. Yet more descending, tree lined as well. Just lovely. Eventually we needed to get up out of the valley so we turned up the D82. A nice climb, tree covered again, but so long. 6 K's, granny the whole way. I managed to stay around 10 all the way up the climb until the last 500 metres or so. I was actually out of water, and it was really hot, again. My average dropped under 20, bugger. There was no bar in town, so we continued on up the hill to the main road and descended into the town of Capvern. We got a Coke and sculled it immediately. Then it was into the town of Capvern les Bains.

It took us a while to find the hotel Paul had picked, right at the very bottom of the valley that the town, which is a Thermal town, is in. Naturally the hotel was full :( But there is another Logis in the town and they rang and booked us a room there. We should have guessed from the name, Belelvue, it was out of town and up a hill. To be honest though we both had to agree that the view was really good.

It was only 42 Euro, a big room and a great shower, you can stand up in it!!! We showered and then we had to go down for dinner, already 7.30 pm. Everyone else in the hotel was waiting for 7.30 so they could go in for dinner. We had a quick look around the hotel and its grounds. Paul is really impressed, straight out of an Agatha Christie novel. They have a TV room, a dining room, a breakfast terrace, what looks like would have been the smoking room and, amazingly, they even have a bridge room with bridge tables!


For dinner we had already decided on the dearer four course menu, only 22 Euro. We were going to get a carafe of Rose to go with it when I pointed out how cheap some of the wines were. Paul was so excited! He was making plans for a big meal tomorrow. But then I pointed out it's really better to have it today, after all we are hungry tonight! So we did. We got a 1986 Mercurey Burgundy, only 25 Euro. And it was good! Very good. Amazing length, a lovely aged brown colour, really delicious, and only $40 Australian for a 23 year old bottle.

The meal was good to. First off there was an aperitif regional, like Kir but quite strong. Then we had a small trout with an almond and butter sauce, delicious. The main was a lamb steak, not really a chop, with a cassolette, beans and vegies, quite tasty. The lamb was very tender as well. It all went really well with the wine. Then sadly the wine and main were finished and we had a trio of crepes with a chocolate(?) ice cream, a meringue and it all seemed to be drowned in Cognac. A great meal with a great bottle of wine.


Afterwards we went for a short walk around the area, we were both a little bit sloshed. Then we sat on the terrace as it was cooler there. Eventually we went up to the room and did all of our washing, took ages, mine especially. Bed around 11.30, still quite hot.