Paul woke me as usual just after 7. At least that is aside from when he woke me with his snoring during the night, as usual :) We packed and were ready in no time but there was no one about at the hotel. Breakfast doesn't start until 8.30 and it was only 7.30, so we went into town on our bikes to get bread. Fortunately there was no problem getting any. I had expected everything to be closed but there was a small super market that was open. We went back to the hotel and ate on the balcony of our room. Very pleasant. I then went and paid and we left around 8.30.
We had to follow a yellow road out of town and I was planning to try to get onto a white road that ran along the other side of the river, however there was so little traffic it didn't seem worthwhile. I guess not many people are working on a Monday morning. We then had a lovely ride down the valley. I was tired from yesterday so rather than wearing myself out following Paul I just led all day. We still managed to average almost 20 for the first couple of hours. We stopped at the one star town of Simorre for a snack. After the rest we just continued on down the valley towards Boulogne. The last little section was on a hilly white road, it was very nice, windy, up and down, along the top of the valley with occasional picnic tables along the way. When we got to Boulogne we had our second morning tea, this time we got an eclair, scrummy, and another drink. We also bought a complet petit, it is basically a small loaf of wholemeal bread about the length of a demi-baguette only fatter. Paul is planning to cook the fish soup he bought a few days ago for lunch. He doesn't want to have to carry it up into the mountains :)
The plan was now ride about 8 or 9 K's to the next town, and then because it would be about 12.30, we'd stop somewhere and cook it. However it didn't work out that way. The ride was quite hilly and there was no where decent to stop. After that town the road started to be less hilly and then we got on to a lovely section that just went on and on beside what I guess you would call an aqueduct. It wasn't that wide but it was carrying a huge amount of fast flowing water. The road was obviously climbing very gently and the route was just really nice. We just kept following the aqueduct and in, subjectively, no time at all we were at the end of the current section.
The road we were on joined a wide red road, however it was almost deserted, must be a Monday thing again. We followed it for 3 K's to the town of Pisan where we had lunch at long last, 78 K's and around 1.30 pm. We went to a patisserie and got a slice of quiche, which she heated up, a drink each and a pudding, French Pudding I guess. Then we went back to a picnic area and Paul finally got to cook his soup. We ate the quiche with bread while he was cooking, so half an entree each. Then we had the soup with baguette, we actually put some bread in the soup and Paul added cheese to his as well. Finally we had the pudding. So 1 and 2 half courses!
We left around 2.30 and we just had a few narrow white roads to navigate in order to get to the target town of Heche. There were a lot of towns and many roads but we went quite well. At St. Arroman we stopped at a water fountain for water but it was dry. However a couple of guys came out and talked to us, they knew all about the 100 Col club and Raid Pyreneen. They got us water, tried lifting up our bikes and wished us well. They also informed us that in 500 metres time we would start a 2 K Col!!!! I checked in the guide, they were right! So that makes 25 Cols for me :) Paul beat me up of course, in fact he raced up it. I think it is the first time he really exerted himself today. He said he was looking after his knee.
Not long after that we got to the town of Heche. First thing we checked for was a restaurant, no problem. Second thing was a camp site. Oops. When we eventually found it we discovered that it was 2 K's out of town down a hill. So nope, we aren't staying there. There are quite a few towns up the valley so we decided to just keep riding. It is only 13 K's to Arreau where we have stayed before and that is not so far. Fortunately the next town Sarrancolin had camping and a very nice looking restaurant, so we stayed there. We got there just after 4 pm and with 104 K's, the longest day this tour, so far.
After setting up we walked into town. Paul got very excited again, lots of shops with animal bits hanging up and in tins. However hard as it is to believe I really wasn't in the mood for a camp cooked meal. So Paul had to miss out and we restauranted instead. We first had a nice walk around town, very Pyreneen. There is a 13th century church, of course, for Saint Ebon and there are even some relics of him there, of course. The church actually reeks of age, very solid stone construction, nice.
We eventually ended up at the restaurant, too early though, at 6.30. So we had a drink, I got a Kir and Paul a Belgian white beer. We sat there with those, and some free nuts, for an hour watching highlights of World Cup 2010 qualifiers, then into the restaurant. We both decided to go for the 20 Euro menu. I had Salad Gascogne (duck gizzards again), it was huge, and Paul had ham and charcuterie, also huge. Then we both had the lamb and vegies, and guess what... huge again. All washed down with wholemeal baguette and red wine. For dessert I had an apple tart and Paul a Basque tart. Finally I had a tea, Paul was too stuffed. All in all an excellent meal!
No comments:
Post a Comment