Postcards from Provence and beyond

We had a very quiet day in Toulouse, yesterday. It turned out that we actually needed a day off, especially having been to the Rugby, almost as soon as we arrived, and having been so excited, after Provence’s stunning win, that we didn’t get to bed until nearly 1am (which is way past our bed-time!)

In fact, I was so tired that I forgot to do a load of washing that I had been keeping in a black plastic sack. And then thought the black plastic sack was a rubbish bag, so filled it with rubbish (on top of the clothes) . Luckily, we did find it, before we left, when I was trying to find clothes that I knew we had, but seemed to have misplaced. 

The problem is that we don’t have many clothes, so we would have really missed these, over the next few days, and it’s just another example of the exhaustion and brain-fudge that comes with cycle touring. Nothing to do with me being forgetful, at all!

We spent the morning ambling around a brocante, that I had been to 10 years ago, when I was a contestant on a Channel 4 TV Programme (French Collection)

Then, spent a few hours replanning the route home, before being in bed by 9.

After the heavy rain, thunderstorms and brutal headwind of the first couple of weeks riding through France, the heat had returned and they were predicting temperatures in the high thirties for today.

We just can’t believe the extreme weather we’ve been having, during both legs of this year’s adventure.

We planned today’s route, to follow the Canals out of Toulouse, joining the Canal Du Midi and riding alongside it, until Lauragais, and then taking backroads, through the Aude, to the campsite we had found for tonight, just outside the small town of Alzonne.

You can Watch a little video from today’s ride here

After a disturbed night’s sleep, we were awake at 5, waiting for the sunrise, so that we could pedal out in the light, and also manage to get some kilometres done, before the heat started to build.

After our experiences of cycling up through France, 2 months ago, in the extreme heat, we knew that we didn’t want to ride too much in the worst heat of the day.

We finally pedalled out, just before 8am, stopping to pick-up pain au chocolat for a second breakfast, before we rode out through the quiet streets of the city centre.

Toulouse is a beautiful city, and it has certainly got under our skin, so we will be back to explore it in more detail (just when we are a little less-tired)

The joy of French cities is that they have embraced cyclists, and Toulouse has an amazing cycling infrastructure, with protected lanes, and cycle routes throughout the city. It makes riding there a simple joy, and from the eclectic mix of bikes that we saw, it seems that it’s the chosen mode of transport for local residents too, which has to be good.

We pootled out of the city centre, taking narrow back-streets, until we started pedalling alongside the colourful houseboats that line the Canal.

As soon as we started pedalling alongside the Canal, we felt as if we were leaving the busy-ness of the city behind, eventhough, there are still many kilometres to pedal, before we would finally leave the buildings behind.

Cycling alongside the Canal, we found ourselves on a well-made tarmac path, pedalling under a canopy of leaves, with a delightful freshness in the air, from the water.

The kilometres slipped by easily and it was the perfect way to start the morning.

We stopped for coffee, on a bench, and devoured our second breakfast, as we watched a boat pass by. After not seeing a boat at all, on our ride into Toulouse,it was nice to have the entertainment back.

Refreshed, we headed on again, stopping to watch another boat make its way through a lock, happy to be able to stop for another little break, as it was already starting to warm up.

The path through to Lauregais is lovely, but as you cross the Departmental Border with the Aude, it changes from tarmac to a rough track, more akin to a medieval cart track than a nice, gentle cycle path.

We knew that this was going to happen (Andy had ridden it before) so had planned that we would follow this for a few hundred metres, before turning off, onto back-roads that would take us into Cathar Country, on our way to the camp-site.

It’s an area that we haven’t ridden through before. We have taken different routes through to Carcassonne, and have ridden in The Herault too, but thought this would be a great opportunity to explore this particular area.

We were so pleased that we did.

The roads were perfect for cycling. They were all beautifully smooth tarmac, with rolling hills, beautiful views, and no traffic, at all.

When I say no traffic, I think we saw 5 cars, in the 40km that we pedalled along them.

It was just delightful, especially after the Canal, which can get a bit monotonous after a while.

The road we had chosen clung to the front edge of a little hill, winding its way along the contours, with no steep hills, just wonderfully gentle rolling slopes.

From here, the views across the Plain, towards the Pyrenees were beautiful, even though it was really rather hazy today, and we’re already planning a return trip, when the skies are clearer, so that we can enjoy it even more.

We passed through sleepy, pretty villages, stopping for lunch on a picnic-bench under a tree in the delightful Souilhe, with pretty sculptures and statues around the public spaces.

Then on again after lunch through increasingly pretty places, eventually stopping in Saint Papoul, where the old gates to the village enticed us in for a better look.

The village is sleepy, and beautiful, and is home to an Abbey, originally established in the 8th Century. It has had a bit of a history, becoming a Benedictine Abbey, before being designated as a Cathedral, until the French Revolution.

It’s a stunning building, with exquisite and characterful stone-carvings around the roof-line and we would have loved it to have been open, when we passed, as I imagine it is rather spectacular, inside.

From here, it was another lovely ride through incredible villages and past beautiful Chateaux, as we made our way to tonight’s campsite, just outside Alzonne, where we were welcomed by the most unusual receptionist

As we finished setting up the tent, we heard the distinctive call of a flock of  ‘Wibbly-Birds’ – Bee Eaters, over the vines behind the tent, and we both looked at each other, and said, ‘It sounds like home’

It’s really the first time that we have seen and heard the signs of home, and it just made us smile.

We still have a little under 400km to pedal, but we are now in the South of France and it has made our hearts sing.

We ate at the camp site restaurant tonight, and again had a delightful meal, with a superb cassoulet

and local wine.

We had to smile, when Andy’s Cafe Gourmand arrived for dessert, as next to the creme brulee, cannelles and fondant au chocolat, was a pastel de nata.

It seemed rather apt, as 4 weeks today, we will be having supper after the first day of our walk along the Fisherman’s Path, in Portugal,

That will be here, before we know it now, so we’d better keep pedalling back to Provence, so that we can start walking with our rucksacks.

We had hoped this would be a year of adventures, and it appears it really is!

On again tomorrow, but we’ll enjoy an evening watching the stars and listening to the crickets, and hopefully have a better night’s sleep too!