Vaucluse Dreamer

Last night, we had a long chat about the plans for the next few days, coupled with looking at every possible weather forecast we could find, hoping that one may give us (even the slimmest chance) of being able to camp (storm-free) on Wednesday night.

But however hard we sought for a glimmer of hope, every forecast was showing that tomorrow will be nice during the day, and then thunderstorms will come in overnight.

So, we finally gave up the idea of camping again (on this trip), and to either move closer to Bordeaux tomorrow, or stay where we are and have a ride here instead, before cycling all the way there on Thursday.

In the end, we decided to stay where we are for another night. We are in a little place, just below the Chateau and pretty village of Duras and within easy striking distance of Bordeaux. It also has lots of nice rides that we can do from here, so plumped for spending today and tomorrow doing bike rides to places we haven’t visited before.

It’s a shame that we can’t finish on the route I had planned, but it just wasn’t right, so we are doing what we always do (when a plan is turned on its head). Making the most of it, and enjoying whatever comes our way.

So this morning, we stripped the panniers off the bikes, and took a ride out, along the Dropt Valley to Eymet, a town just across the border from the Lot et Garonne.

As we left Duras, I had a horrible sense of deja-vu and realised that we had cycled below the village on our last ride through France in 2023. I couldn’t believe I hadn’t remembered it before, but what we have realised is that the trip 2 years ago was such a mission that we really didn’t appreciate where we were riding. That day, we had pedalled from Coutras to Lacenne and stopped in the small village of Allemans du Dropt, which we passed through again today

This time though, we haven’t had any set achievement to focus our minds, and it really has felt much more of a holiday, with us experiencing every lump and bump of the road, as well as the changing architecture and cultures as we’ve travelled. So now was a time to enjoy pedalling through the valley and enjoying the views and landscape that we came across.

It felt so different, pedalling without all the weight, and our legs seemed to turn so much more easily, especially on the hills.

We rode out through pretty countryside, passing through fields of sunflowers, which just a few weeks ago would have been a carpet of colour, either side of the road.

We pottered along the quiet backroads, on a route I had planned last night, passing through little hamlets and catching glimpses of huge houses that left us wondering how we could ever live in such a place. I’m sure we wouldn’t  venture much beyond a couple of the rooms.

Arriving in Eymet, we were really taken with how pretty it was. A delightful little town with a beautiful central square and lots of opportunities for a second breakfast.

What surprised us though was the amount of British people and shops that were there. It almost felt as if we were at a cafe in the Cotswolds, rather than South West France. We later chatted to the owner of the house we are staying in, who explained that at least 40% of the population there are British, with a British school based there too.

We asked her if it was ever seen as an issue, and she explained that it wasn’t, as the area has long and historic links with England and has a lot of diversity with people moving to live and work here, especially at harvest time. That was nice to hear, but it had felt rather strange.

Cycling on, we climbed out of the town on a loop that took us back through to Le Sauvetat du Dropt, before we started climbing back up through the Bordeaux Vineyards, with the vendages just beginning, on our way back to Duras.

We cycled past more beautiful houses, one with the most stunning pigeonnier / old grain store in the garden, lifted off the ground on ‘staddle stones’ to protect the grain from the rats and mice.

We passed through woodland too, and the first plum orchards we’ve seen, the ground below the trees littered with fallen fruit, and a heady scent of sweet fruit in the air.

There were also far too many signs of autumn too. The telephone wires were filled with swallows getting ready for their long flight south

And carpets of pink cyclamen were starting to cover the grass in shady areas, like this beautiful old gateway

It really was a joy to ride the bikes without all the panniers and weight, we have carried for nearly 900km, so far. I hope it doesn’t spoil me for having to ride with everything again, in a couple of days time.

Without the panniers though, we finished the ride much earlier than we have finished on other days. So after lunch, we decided to go for a little walk around the village, just to stretch our legs and take a bit more of a look at the area.

The little walk ended up being rather longer than I had thought, and after a very lovely 10.5km, walking along quiet roads and tracks, we arrived back in Duras.

You can Watch a little video from today, here

The only stress on the horizon now is getting us, the bikes and everything onto the train we have booked from Bordeaux on Friday morning. After our Experiences in England on Day 1 ,we are hoping this goes more smoothly.

That really was enough for today, and we collapsed with a glass of wine and some supper.

As I mentioned at the start, we have decided to stay here again tomorrow, so will do another ‘pannier-free’ ride and perhaps a slightly shorter walk too.

It would be easy to feel a little down about the way this ride has been affected by the weather, but strangely, it has given us the chance to try something else that we have wanted to do. Cycling to a place, staying and exploring by bike and on foot for a few days, before moving on again.

We’ve always done it with the car before, but this really has proved to us that we don’t need to take the car at all. We can carry everything we need on the bikes, and can have a wonderful, simple time away.

We do have a rugby match to watch on Friday evening!