Homps to Bezier 60k's 30/06

We stayed overnight at a "chamber d'Hote" right on the canal run by a charming English couple. Gemma won our hearts by doing a load of washing for us when we arrived. And Matt made our day the next morning by offering to buy our bikes. He was looking to buy bike's for his customers to use, Des mentioned that we need to sell ours and the job was done. Matt will drive down to Bezier on Saturday to pick them up. WIN WIN!!!!

Canal tunnel

We were under way by 7:30 in high spirits as we no longer had to worry about selling the bikes. I forgot to mention that, Matt drove to the next village at 6:30 to get us fresh bread for breakfast so that we could get away early. Nice man!

Very rough track to start the day with. At the first opportunity we flicked on to a quiet road and sailed along in relative comfort on bitumen. The quiet road turned into a very busy road and after about 20k's we went back to the uncomfortable canal track.
At one stage on the road we were bombing along at nearly 30 kilometres per hour with the help of a tidy tailwind.

We arrived in Bezier in good time, had to have lunch in the bike gear as rooms weren't ready. First glitch in the accommodation arrangements, they didn't have a room for Ken. A quick phone call, (by our hotel) and a room at another hotel a couple of blocks away was secured for Ken.

Only another 50 kilometres to go to finish our ride in Sete tomorrow. 10 days on the bikes, 800 kilometres, tired legs, sore bums and a hell of a lot of fun. A quick swim in the Mediterranean and we will be done. Well maybe after lunch, a short train ride back to Bezier and catch up with the girls.

Bram to Homps 67 k's 29/06

Homps late afternoon

Homps early morning

Bram was a very forgettable little town,  it did however allow us to bring our budget back under control.  Accommodation, lunch, dinner and drinks for 3 was substantially cheaper than dinner and drinks in Toulouse the night before.

The ride to Homps was uneventful, very rough track most of the way with occasional relief through towns and villages. The Canal du Midi not so pretty as a very large number of the beautiful plane trees have had to be removed because of a disease.

The weather is starting to warm up, about, 30 degree when we arrived in Homps.
Homps a very pretty little port town with many cruising boat's coming and going.
We managed to murder a few beers and a rose over lunch.

Toulouse to Bram 81 k's 28/06

Anywhere but the bike!! The legs, the head, the bum didn't want to have anything to do with the bike. It took me the first 15 kilometres to get with the program and start to feel comfortable, bloody hard work. And by the end of the days ride I was riding strongly and enjoying the bike.

A great (grr) ride out of Toulouse, we stepped out of our hotel, crossed the road and we were on the bike path along the Canal du Midi.

Bikes having coffee

Castelnaudry

The first 30 or so kilometres was on the bike paths that we had grown accustomed to - smooth asphalt or well graded gravel. We knew it was going to happen, but still a shock. Very rough ungraded gravel tracks that narrow down to only 20 cm wide in places will be our "piste cyclable" for the next 200 kilometres. Much slower going and much concentration required.

Agen to Toulouse 115 k's 26/06

What a day in the saddle, 115 kilometres, the longest ride that we have done. We were very happy to see our hotel in Toulouse and very pleased with our efforts.

We started riding at 7 and clocked in to our Hotel at 2:30. Great riding along the Garrone canal, probably the prettiest we have seen. Beautiful Sunshine, not hot and the best part of all, not much wind.







The Giant "Roam" bikes that all bought are doing a great job and the new seat covers we picked up in Agen have helped ease the bum pain.
Early in the days ride we passed a half a dozen people walking the Camino trail. They were walking away from Spain, so they had covered some distance.
We had a very intense conversation with a English farmer over a few kilometres of riding. He was riding and camping on his own and hadn't had a chance to vent his spleen over the Brexit result to anyone until we came along.
When shopping for lunch in a small village I saw a woman cycle past wearing a Busselton bike shirt. We caught up with them on the outskirts of Toulouse, they were cycling in France, UK and Croatia.

Bordeaux to be Saint Macaire 50k's 23/06

Every once in a while you have an experience that you were not expecting. Today was such a day.

We left early to beat the heat and we decided to take a short cut today,  which meant riding on busy roads.

For a couple of hours we got to enjoy the courtesy that French drivers generally show cyclists. Australian drivers have so much that they could learn from their French counterparts. More on this subject later.

The ride was uneventful, apart from the van driver who went out of his way to give us space on the road, by being on the wrong side of the median strip.

What was special about today was the hotel that Ken chose. From the moment that we arrived we just knew that this was a bit special.
A beautiful old building that has been tastefully renovated by two charming and strong sisters (their words). The rooms are spacious and comfortable and the hotel has a very large spa that was put to good use.
We had plans for dinner at a restaurant in Sauterne, but the taxi cost was prohibitive.

How lucky were we! One of the strong sisters is a chef. Their restaurant had a interesting and intriguingly non tourist menu. The three of us had different dishes and we we all equally impressed.

Hotel Les Feuilles d'Acanthe,  Saint Macaire

If you in the area, Saint Macaire would be a great place to stay to explore the sweet wine appellations of Bordeaux.

100 k's to cover tomorrow no chance of a shortcut , should have left the table a bit earlier.

Lacanau Ocean to Bordeaux - 7k's 21/6

A beautiful day for riding, it's a shame that the legs don't feel the same way.
We have what looks like an easy ride into Bordeaux on a rail trail surrounded by pine forests for most of the way.

We were all happy to arrive in Bordeaux, the legs need a break. Unfortunately no coffee stop this morning, we searched a couple of small towns for a cafe to no avail.

We were able to check in when we arrived at our hotel at 12:30. A very welcome shower and we were ready to refuel. Beers and burgers did the job beautifully.

Tomorrow is a rest day, a chance for the legs and bums to recover a bit before we push on.

Royan to Lacanau Ocean - 84 k's

Early start this morning, we had to catch the 7:50 ferry across the mouth of the Gironde river, about 7k's. The weather looked threatening, but eventually cleared up to be a fine sunny day. Unfortunately the wind didn't play the game today, we rode into a 30 kilometre an hour head wind for the bulk of the ride. As Des said "the hardest day on a bike, ever."

We rode behind the dunes today, of the beach and on paved bike only lanes through the maritime pine forests. The beaches are fabulous, golden sand that stretchs for many  kilometres.

Most of our riding so far has been on dedicated bike paths that are generally well maintained.

A tough day on the bikes, as Des said " the hardest day on  bike ever'. Everyone knackered, not much energy for site seeing. Beer looks like the only the only option.

Rochefort to Royan - 65k's

Day two anticipating 75 kilometres to Royan. We had a relatively late start for us, being Sunday, breakfast wasn't available until 8 am. The chap at the hotel suggested a short cut that involved taking a small ferry to cross the river. This worked fine after a couple miss navigations and some directions from some very friendly natives.

We had another navigation problem that resulted in great coffees in a bustling village . We then had to use the road for about 12 k's,  all up we shaved 10 k's off our anticipated ride.

When we rejoined the bike path,  we had a delightful ride along the Atlantic shore into Royan. Everyone a bit weary tonight.

Royan was in full song when we arrived. The view from my hotel window showing the skateboard ramp running flat out and the heavy metal band tent,  fortunately it was all shut down by 6 pm.

La Rochelle to Rochefort - 50k's

Day one of our canal des Deaux Mers ride,  La Rochelle to Rochefort. The best day of our trip so far. La Rochelle is a very beautiful old port city.

Joined up with Ken and Des after they picked up their new bikes in La Rochelle, we had a quick lunch by the port and were on our way.

A short ride - 50 kilometres, just leaves 750 to go. Very windy ride, sometimes with us and sometimes a very strong head wind.

A section of our bike path between the Atlantic and old salt works

The bike and the TGV

 One of the first things I did before considering buying a bike in France was to look at the SNCF website to make sure I understood what was required to travel with a bike on the TGV.

Remove the pedals, set the handles parallel with the frame and wrap the bike so that it won't damage or mark other folks luggage. No problem, Ross and Ian gave me a hand and the job was done in no time.


We arrived at Dijon station at the appropriate time for the 9:05 train to Paris (our train unaffected by the strikes) and waited for our train on the platform with the bike for about 20 minutes. Our train duly arrived and as we were about to board we were approached by the "boss"of the train and his side kick and they said that we couldn't take the bike on the train as it was. This was about 3 minutes before the train was due to depart. Panic set in, we needed to disassemble the bike and repack it to make it smaller in size. This obviously was going to take some time and the train didn't want to wait.

It was suggested that we catch a later train after we repacked the bike - would have meant we missed our Bordeaux connection in Paris as only 60% of trains were running.

After much muttering and gesturing, common sense prevailed and they let us on!!!!!!

Bugger, what if they won't let us on the Bordeaux train? Funnily enough the trip to Paris was a bit quite.

On arrival in Paris we sought further advice - remove the wheels and make the package smaller and you will be fine.

Fortunately I had plenty of tape left over and a good supply of zip ties. Just what everyone carries when traveling. No drama no fuss, 20 minutes later I had a more compact package.

Sure could use a beer.

Caught our Bordeaux train on time, joined the very long queue at the bar on the train about 30 minutes into the trip - no beer@@#
The Welsh supporters travelling to Bordeaux for their first big match in 58 years (Euro 2016), drank the bloody train dry!

Arrived in Bordeaux about 20 minutes late, no maxi taxi's at this station. Waited forever in a long queue for a cab for Julie and the luggage.
Did I mention that it was raining on and off?

No maxi taxis in sight, no other option but to reassemble the bike at the station and ride to the hotel about 3.5 kilometers away.

No drama, apart from the rain, the bike went together easily and I was under way in about 15 minutes.

Had to shelter from the rain a couple of times on the ride to the hotel and navigating on a bike in the wet is not much fun.

The next exercise will be to fit the bike into our hire car with all our luggage.

New bike

Picked up my new bike last night with help from my friend Ross. No drama no fuss a young chap in the bike shop spoke very good English. A lot easier than getting them to answer their emails when I was trying to order the bike from Oz. They were very helpful and charming.

Poor Ross, we couldn't order a maxi taxi to take us and the bike, so I left him waiting for a cab while I jumped on the new bike and peddled the 3 k's back to the hotel. Easily back before him, thanks for the help Ross, my shout next.




Fitted my pedals and made a few adjustments to the bike and managed a short ride first thing this morning. Nice to be back on the bike again, especially in Dijon, it all felt very familiar. Hopefully I will get in a few rides in the next couple of weeks before Ken and Des arrive.

Fortunately the weather has improved today, sunny early (first time since we arrived) and now overcast, but dry.
France has just had its wettest May in 100 years.

A free day in Dijon today, looking forward to refamilerising ourselves with the city.