Last night’s camp-site was really rather lovely, after the madness of the one, the night before, and this morning, we woke refreshed and ready for the day ahead.
Finally, the weather was feeling settled, and after packing up the tent, I took a leap of faith, and put my waterproof jacket, in the panniers too. Let’s hope I wasn’t going to need it!
We pedalled out of the site, and started making our way back towards the Canal Path. Over the last few days, since leaving Cognac, we have had long, hilly rides, so the prospect of a day pottering along the Canal Paths was sounding very attractive.
It was a beautiful start to the day, and we slipped onto the path, watching the sun dance across the water, and listening to the wind rustling the leaves. With no cars, no machinery and no other background noise, it was really very lovely.
The paths are well-made and well-marked too, although we realised that you do notice the difference, when you cross from one Department to the next. This was particularly the case, when we entered Tarn et Garonne and any bumps disappeared, leaving us cycling along bowling-green-smooth tarmac.
The path criss-crosses the canal, and is very easy to ride.
Today, it was incredibly quiet, and we really didn’t see any other cyclists until we were approaching Agen, nearly 40km after leaving the site.
Riding under the shade of the huge Plane Trees, that line the Canal is really lovely, with the dappled light on the path, and a slight freshness in the air too.
At times, the path leaves the Canal and drops onto quiet back-lanes, this one taking us below the waterline, onto a little shaded road, through woodland…
Before we pedalled past huge Kiwi Orchards, almost hoping that we would be sprayed by the irrigation system…. as it was rather warm, in the sun. I must admit, I hadn’t expected to see quite as many Kiwi-Orchards as we have, I wasn’t aware they were such a big crop here.
The joy of pedalling along the Canal is that there is plenty to watch too, and we stopped every time we saw a boat approaching the locks that we were passing.
There is something gentle, but also quite entertaining about watching boats negotiate the locks, especially when there is a self-declared ‘Captain’ on-board calling the orders, and the ‘crew’ doing the exact opposite of what was demanded. We’ve only seen one real disaster, a few years ago, but we still watch, with fascination , when we see the lock gates start to open.
We seemed to reach Agen in hardly any time at all. It’s amazing how much faster we ride, when there are no hills to get up, with all the panniers and kit that we’re carrying.
We stopped for coffee, in the shade of a Willow Tree, enjoying the sight of a boat enter the lock, realising (when we heard the Emergency Sirens being tested), that it was already noon. The morning had flown past.
Just before Agen, the Canal crosses the River Garonne, on an Aqueduct, with narrow paths alongside the Canal, which we had to cycle along.
With the sheer edge into the Canal on one side and a low bridge parapet on the other, high above the river, my knees were wobbling a little as we pedalled across.
It is an incredible piece of engineering, and it must have been amazing to have seen it at the height of its industrial use, when it must have been a busy thoroughfare, rather than now a path for pleasure cruisers, cyclists and walkers.
We continued on through Agen, and for a while the Canal was wider and more open, without the tree cover, before we found a little lock, where we parked the bikes..
and sat in the shade of another tree, whilst we had lunch (honestly after the last 11 grey, soggy days this was a joy)…
Then on again. After the detailed route planning that I had done for the ride so far, it was just so nice to follow a well-marked, well-signed path as we continued on.
We were passing a few more cyclists now , including one we called Captain Underpants, who was riding his bike wearing a little Captain’s hat and nothing else, but a pair of ‘budgie-smuggler’ pants. All we could think was that it couldn’t have been very comfortable!
After a while, the trees started to shade the path again, and it was a glorious ride towards Moissac, where we had found a camp-site to stay on tonight.
We watched one rather unusual boat, which was more like a shed on a floating platform, going through one lock, and held our breath, as it started to skew sideways, striking the gate. But they were obviously well-seasoned and with sticks and feet, managed to straighten it, so it eventually slipped easily into place.
I think I would find that far too stressful…. I think we’ll stick to bikes.
As we approached Moissac, the view opened up, and we saw we were cycling between the Canal and the vast riverbed of The Tarn, where there was a delightfully quirky little sculpture of a fisherman
And a Totem with distances to different places (as the crow flies) – we had seen lots of walkers along the path, and with Santiago de Compostella mentioned as being km away, I imagine some would be heading there. That is an incredibly long walk.
After just under 80km, we pulled into tonight’s camp-site, on the banks of The Tarn, and have Toulouse well and truly in our sights. Only 70km along the Canal tomorrow, and we’ll arrive in plenty of time for tomorrow evening’s rugby match, which is the reason for pedalling this way home.
It was a gentle, easy and beautiful day’s ride today, and in man ways was just what we needed, as by the end of today, we have pedalled 700km, since leaving East Budleigh, and have ridden a tad over 300km in the last 3 days.
On again tomorrow, and once we’re in Toulouse, part 2 of the ride will be over, and we can enjoy a day off in the ‘pink city’
For now though, we’ll just enjoy a quiet evening and look forward to tomorrow.
Postcards from Provence and beyond 