From The Canal to Le Lot

Posted on July 19, 2011 by jo

Sunday July 10, 2011, 44 km (27 miles) – Total so far: 2,510 km (1,560 miles)

We woke to a damp morning and the rain was still pissing on our tent. Speaking of which, we stayed in bed as long as possible before our bladders finally forced us out of our tent.

We set up a tarp for shelter so we could at least eat our breakfast and pack up in a kind of dry manner.

Thankfully by the time we packed up the rain had stopped and the sun was trying to break through. It was a gentle and pleasant, if slightly boring cycle along the canal.

We decided to break away from the canal and get onto the Lot river and follow that. The thing was that we missed the turn off to The Lot river and ended up pushing our bikes up a very steep hill and going cross country. A strenuous ride but kind of nice once we got to the top.

The downhill run was a lot more fun and we found a fantastic campground overlooking the river for only 6 euros and only one other couple camping there. This is sooo much better than the crowded, overpriced coastal campgrounds full of motorhomes and people in self contained units thinking they are camping!

View from our camp:

Bryan and Lynnes Place

Posted on July 19, 2011 by jo

Day 65 – Melhan-sur-Garonne to Saint-Pierre-Sur-Dropt

Thursday July 7, 2011, 37 km (23 miles) – Total so far: 2,423 km (1,505 miles)

After 10 weeks of cycling and 2500kms we finally made it to Bryan (an old school friend) and Lynnes place.

Bryan and Lynne have done an amazing barn conversion, which they live in with their 3 kids. Mike and i want one! (a barn conversion that is, not a kid)

Our first night we went to the night markets where we bought a tub of snails.

This snail had more guts than me and this was as far as it got to my mouth. Seriously, if you ever plan on eating snails, don’t look too closely at their insides!

Our second evening Bryan and Lynne cooked a delicious dinner. Bryan is a superb cook, feeding us on the most delicious prawns I have ever had, and lamb cooked to perfection on the barbie, accompanied with a selection of fine wines. Lynne cooked a delicious homemade pavlova. Definitely the best food I have had in France yet!

On the Canal Path

Posted on July 9, 2011 by jo

Day 64 – Creon to Melhan-sur-Garonne

Wednesday July 6, 2011, 65 km (40 miles) – Total so far: 2,386 km (1,482 miles)

Today we cycled along an old railway line which has been converted to cycle paths. The cycling was wonderful and flat.

Big scary tunnel to cycle through.

Luckily it was well lit but would have been scary if the lights went out.

We are now on the canal path which goes about 200 kms to Toulouse.

We stayed in a campground in Melhan-sur-Garonne for only 6 euros. Makes a pleasant change from the expensive coastal resorts.

We went into the night markets. Mike ordered a plate of eels. It was putrid, but he seemed to enjoy it.

Departing Bordeaux

Posted on July 9, 2011 by jo

Day 63 – Bordeaux to Creon Click to display route

Tuesday July 5, 2011, 31 km (20 miles) – Total so far: 2,321 km (1,442 miles)

We spent the morning in Bordeaux and headed off around 1pm. It was a slow start to the day. We stopped at Decathlon for Mike to get a new mirror for his bike. He also picked up some togs because for some reason, boardshorts arent allowed in the campground swimming pools. weird.

It was a nice day of flat cycling through vineyards.

We did a short 31 kms and stopped at a campground in Creon.

Arriving Bordeaux

Posted on July 9, 2011 by jo

Day 62 – Mios to Bordeaux

Monday July 4, 2011, 57 km (35 miles) – Total so far: 2,290 km (1,423 miles)

It was a shitty day cycling along main roads to get into Bordeaux. It was another hot day and we picked up the pace a bit to get through the main roads as quickly as possible.

We arrived in Bordeaux at 4pm and it was so noisy. We had spent the last 10 weeks cycling through quiet forest trails so were a bit overwhelmed by the noise of it all. The sirens just wouldn’t shut up! If it werent so late in the day we would have cycled straight back out of there, but instead we headed for the nearest hotel.

We spent the afternoon wandering around the old city and went for dinner at a steak restaurant called L’Entrecote. There is only one dish on the restaurant and that is steak and chips. I love the idea of it, not having to decide what to order. As well as that – we had to queue to get in, and within minutes the restaurant was full. An interesting experience.

Backtrack Over

Posted on July 9, 2011 by jo

Day 61 – Bicarrosse to Mios

Sunday July 3, 2011, 46 km (29 miles) – Total so far: 2,233 km (1,387 miles)

The GPS was wanting to send us up the coast again, but we forced it to head a different way and we ended up in a town called Mios, with a campground right beside the river.

We discovered later that there was a cycle path to get here.

More Backtracking

Posted on July 9, 2011 by jo

Day 60 – Mimizan to Bicarrosse

Saturday July 2, 2011, 56 km (35 miles) – Total so far: 2,187 km (1,359 miles)

Another hot day. We stayed at a campground on the way down for only 10 euro, but now the price had more than doubled to 22 euros! And the campground next door was 35 euros. Ridiculous when you just want to out up a tent for the night. We managed to find a camp for 17 euros. Still pretty expensive but it’s the price you pay for camping during school holidays.

Backtracking up the Coast

Posted on July 9, 2011 by jo

Day 59 – Soustons to Mimizan

Friday July 1, 2011, 74 km (46 miles) – Total so far: 2,131 km (1,324 miles)

We really enjoyed backtracking this section of the coast as it was sunny and warm, whereas on the way down it was raining. We did 74 kms this day as we just wanted to continue riding as the day was so pleasant.

We stayed at the same campground in Mimizan as we did on the way down. It was cheap and empty, which was unexpected due to it being the first day of the school holidays.

Probably the quietest night in a campground yet.

The Rain is Spain Falls Mainly on our Tent

Posted on June 22, 2011 by jo

We have left the wonderful flat cycle paths of France behind and are now in hilly Spain. Our cycle into San Sebastion was on a dual carraigeway – which is like a motorway but worse as they allow cyclists on there. It is only 4 kms to our camp from San Sebastion, but they didn’t tell us it was up a bloody steep hill! We had to push our loaded bikes up 4 kms!

Now we are rained in at a campground after our first night. It is our first day of rain in our 8 weeks of cycling so I guess it’s not too bad. It was too wet to pack up our tent so we decided to have a rest day and caught the bus into San Sebastion. We are currently enjoying a McWifi and fries (MacDonalds has free internet in Europe).

Below are the blogs from the 13th – 18th June.

Day 41 – 13 June 2011

We camped at the base of this massive sand dune. It is the biggest Dune in Europe.

It was really steep and looked a bit scary to climb so we decided to drink our bottle of red wine before tackling it.

Here’s Mike climbing up:

And Here’s me at the top:

Fantastic view up here:

Climbing down was much more fun

During the day we also saw a couple of turtles

Day 42 – 14 June 2011

This was another day of idyllic cycle paths through forests and beaches.

Day 43 – 15th June 2011

We decided on a rest day today as we were camped beside a lake and the campground was cheap at only 10 euros.

We spent the day doing washing and stocking up on food from the local LIDL (22c beer).

We saw a red squirrel – so cute.

Day44 – 16th June 2011

Today Mike got his second flat tyre of the trip.

Our table set ready for dinner. Our panniers make great seats, and the wine is really cheap here.

day 45 – 17th June 2011

We camped at a really busy campground on the beach. It was full of young surfers and we thought we could be in for a noisy night. It looked like rain so we struggled to make a shelter with a tarp we bought. A couple of girls camping nearby saw us struggling and offered us some poles – which was very helpful.

Day 46 – 18th June 2011

We did a massive 70 kms today. The weather started out rainy and it drizzled on and off during the day, but it was mostly fine. The weather was looking dodgy so we took a cabin in the caravan park. Of course it didn’t rain.

Days 35 to 40

Posted on June 15, 2011 by jo

Day 35 – La Tremblade to Royan Click to view route

Tuesday June 7, 2011, 38 km (24 miles) – Total so far: 1,178 km (732 miles)

For the month of May we had endless sunny days, and now it is June it seems the sunny day spell has been broken as we woke up to rain again. Bugger – I hate having to pack up a wet tent. Luckily it stopped raining when we got up, but everything was wet. We leave our panniers outside the tent at night as there is no room inside. They are meant to be 100% waterproof, but the rain still manages to seep in through the top a bit. It was bloody freezing too.

We packed up our tent wet and put on our wet weather gear and continued on.Despite the overcast damp morning, It was a pleasant ride through the forest. In the afternoon the sun came out and it was quite warmish.

I couldn’t handle another damp night, plus the tent and my clothes needed drying out as they were starting to smell a bit. We decided to try a cabin at the campground. Only problem was it was a two night minimum. Bugger – we really didn’t want to stay two nights – but the black clouds above forced the decision to stay in a cabin as another damp night in the tent would have been grotty.

Obviously it didn’t rain and we had two days of brilliant sunshine!

Day 36 – Royan

Wednesday June 8, 2011

As we had to book our cabin for 2 day minimum, we took the day off cycling and did a 40 minute walk into Royan.

Most of Royan was bombed during the war so it’s a pretty modern city having been rebuilt in the 1950’s.