Not even 2 weeks have passed since we landed in Plymouth, after cycling back from Provence. And today, we’ve started getting excited about our return trip. Last year, our cycle back from the UK was planned around the Provence Rugby fixtures, at the start of the new season. We spent weeks waiting to plan the … More Time to plan the cycle ride home (Rugby included!)
Day 8 of our cycle tour from Provence to Roscoff, in France and today the heatwave really hit. We have changed our route to stay safe in the high temperatures of the latest canicule, but today cycled from Saumur to Angers, through the beautiful villages of the Loire valley. A stunning ride, with lots of stops and shade too. But brutally hot 🥵 … More Day 8: From Saumur to Angers, Cycling Through the French Heatwave
I’ve mentioned before that this is going to be a very busy autumn for us, and we hardly finished putting everything away from the cycle ride, before packing again for a trip that we’ve wanted to do, for a long time. It may seem a bit odd to say that the cycle ride home wasn’t … More Time for the next adventure
After all our worries following the stressful start to the trip, with the cancelled train and chaotic, diverted route in the UK, we had been a little bit anxious about the trip we had booked to get us back from Bordeaux to Aix-en-Provence. But we needn’t have been concerned, as everything went as planned, and … More Day 17 … We left the toughest day till last.
Well, what a wonderful last 2 weeks this has been, and yesterday, we pedalled the last leg of the trip through western France, arriving in Bordeaux. We had really enjoyed our couple of days cycling along the lanes around Duras, avoiding the storms that had been a constant feature of the weather forecasts. But, on … More Day 16 … Wet, but happy in Bordeaux
Since deciding to accept that we will just ride from Duras to Bordeaux and avoid the storms that had been predicted, we’ve just relaxed into enjoying our time here. Today, we decided that as we cycled in from the north, pedalled the roads to the east yesterday, and will be riding out west to Bordeaux … More Day 15 … Second breakfast in Marmande.
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, … More Day 14 … Exploring the Dropt valley
We really enjoyed our day off in Mussidan yesterday, and after another good night’s sleep, we were ready to go on again this morning. I had planned various routes to Duras, which we had decided would be our next stop, on the revised route towards Bordeaux. We had the ‘If it’s bucketing with rain’ route; … More Day 13 … Hiding from the cloudburst
The joy of cycling and also the frustration of cycling is having to deal with the weather. Two years ago, we were having to fill our water-bottles from taps in cemeteries, as it was over 35 degrees on some days. This year, we’ve hit the storms at the end of a long summer canicule (heatwave), … More Day 12 … Dramatic history & some re-planning
All I can say, is that cycling 740km to Angouleme to watch the first rugby match of the season for Provence, was worth every turn of the pedal. We had spent a lovely afternoon exploring the town, before I put on my Provence T-Shirt to wear to the match. I have carried it in my … More Day 11 … Into the Dordogne
Postcards from Provence and beyond 