Vaucluse Dreamer

It doesn’t matter that this is a day off the bikes and we have nothing to do, other than amble around a beautiful city… Our body clocks seem to be thinking differently!

I know we’re larks and are always happier being up and active before the sun, but after the last 9 days of cycling, we did think we may need a rest. So why is it that we were both awake and ready for the day by 5.45 this morning. Honestly, you couldn’t write it!

But there we were, waiting for daylight, sitting in bed and chatting until a reasonable hour, when we could just have a shower and go for coffee at the rather excellent coffee shop just below the apartment.

It opened at 8, so we managed until 8.05, before we headed downstairs, as quiet as church-mice, as we hadn’t heard movement anywhere else in the building at all.

Thirty seconds later, we were ordering coffee & something to eat at Espresso Mafia, and sitting down to start the day, with just a pigeon for company.

Normally, we’ve been heading off on the bikes by this time of day, so just a walk down a few stairs to sit down in a coffee shop, seemed a bit odd. But equally, it was very lovely too.

The first coffee was perfect, and we stayed for a second, watching as the street came alive around us. People heading off to work, shops opening up and of course a steady stream of cyclists popping in for a quick caffeine-hit before heading out for a ride.

In many ways it seemed very strange not to be joining them this morning, but equally it really was rather nice to know that we had nothing more to do today than walk, sit and catch up on some calories.

Whilst sitting there, we chatted about the joy we have in doing little adventures like these. We may not be cycling to Australia or South America, we may not be wild-camping either, but we love the challenge of riding so far, and the simple sense of achievement we get from doing it.

There is something so simple about travelling by bike, stripping life back to the bare necessities for a while and using your own power to get you from A to B.

Ernest Hemingway wrote

It is by riding a bicycle that you learn the contours of a country best, since you have to sweat up the hills and coast down them. Thus you remember them as they actually are, while in a motor car only a high hill impresses you, and you have no such accurate remembrance of country you have driven through as you gain by riding a bicycle.

And I don’t think I can find a better description of the experience of travelling by bike. It’s certainly true of the little adventures we have, and certainly the case for Spain.

We always find that we’re looking forward and have decided we’re not ready to slip quietly into retirement quite yet. There are still adventures to be enjoyed, so we started to consider what may be next.

That kept us chatting for a good hour, and another coffee slipped down easily, before we pulled ourselves away, to take a walk around the old city.

We had taken a walk along the city walls yesterday evening, so headed up there again.

The walls are a stunning reminder of the city’s turbulent past. It really was a fortress and it’s hard to imagine the battles that must have been waged from its walls that are now such a peaceful walkway.

After a sprinkle of rain overnight that had cleared the air, the distant mountains were sparkling in the early morning light, looking particularly beautiful against the first of the autumn colours

We looked across to where we had cycled from yesterday, trying to see the valley we’d ridden down for that glorious 30km from Sant Hilari Sacalm…

And just considered what we had ridden across from Madrid to arrive here. It really has been such fun.

The views from the walls across the rooftops of the old city are magnificent too…

With the bell tower and roof of the Cathedral standing proud above the skyline. It’s easy to while away some time walking the length of the walls, and climbing to the top of the towers to admire the views.

We find that on rest days, all we want to do is explore slowly, and just sit and let time slip by. And today was no different. Take a walk with us in Girona here

By the time we walked down from the walls, we walked into a very different city that had exploded with visitors. Groups of tourists being led by guides carrying flags, around the city’s sights. The early morning peace had gone, so we walked across to the park and sat on a bench, watching the light dance through the leaves….

Listening to the parakeets squabbling above us, it really was very lovely.

We took advantage of the cycle shops, one with its own rather laid back dog …

..and restocked on a few things, treating ourselves to new drinking bottles, as we don’t have room for any other souvenirs of the trip and just whiled the morning (and afternoon) away.

It really is a stunning city, and a great place to have our second day off. The warren of narrow streets are filled with shops and beautiful buildings..

The Cathedral, standing at the top of the steps, is a dramatic sight..

And the houses built so that they hang out across the river give the city a really unique feel..

Eiffel’s bridge looks as if it could have simply been an unwanted piece of his iconic Tower in Paris. In fact it was built some time before that, and yet looks as modern and stylish as if it had been designed much more recently, to perfectly frame the view

We wanted to visit Girona and have been really taken by its charm and beauty & it’s given us time to sort ourselves out again and finalise the route for the next few days too.

We’ve been watching the weather, as it has been changing regularly with threatened storms and vicious winds. So, erring on the side of caution, we have taken a final climb out of tomorrow’s ride through to Collioure. All being well this will mean that we arrive, hopefully well ahead of the predicted 85km winds that are due tomorrow afternoon.

It’s hard to believe that this is our last full day in Spain and that in 9 days of pedalling, we’ve ridden across from Madrid. As the chap in the Trek Shop said today, ‘that is a very long way’ and we have to agree.

So a final evening here and we’ll be up bright and early tomorrow, bushy-tailed and ready to pedal on again. We’ve treated ourselves to an extra rest day in Collioure, so have only got one day’s riding to do tomorrow, before we can just sit and watch the sea for a day.

Which will be really rather nice, before the final 2 days back to Sète & a train to Avignon.

Hard to believe that by Sunday afternoon, we’ll be at home