Canal du Midi,Toulouse & Bordeaux Areas, Arcachon

            14.09

Had another bumpy night with gale force winds and as the forcast was for it to continue we decided to head inland again and find a place to base ourselves for a few days of cycling and  R & R.  We headed up to Perpignan and made a left following the D11 as far as Lavelanet where we headed north past Castelnaudary and into Soreze, 6k from Revel.



 

Soreze is only 4k from ‘Le Lac de Saint-Ferreol’ which is a source for the Canal du Midi.

Found the perfect camp called ‘Camping Saint-Martin de Soreze’ and settled in!

 

15.09
 

Spent most of the morning with the blog (trouble downloading pictures for some unknown reason) .  In the afternoon jumped on the bikes and cycled into Revel for a look at the markets, described as some of the prettiest in France.
 

 16.9

 

We cycled uphill to ‘Le Lac de Saint- Ferreol’ which is one of the lakes that controls the water flow for the Canal du Midi.  We strolled around the Museum and Park dedicated to ‘Pierre-Paul Riquet’, the architect of the canal commissioned in the 17^th Century and constructed over a 15 year period.  We continued exploring on the bikes completing a circuit of the lake and enjoyed the downhill leg back to camp. 

 

In the evening we cooked on the camp BBQ and met a couple from Belgium who were cooking a huge leg of beef!
 

17.09

 

A stroll around the pretty village of Soreze with it’s old Abbey and then a ‘blobby’ day in camp around the swimming pool!!

18.09
 

We cycled through the Medieval village of Durfort and attacked Montagne Noire, the first 6k was a steep uphill climb on a shaded narrow road with spectacular views!  At the top we cycled to the small village of Les Cammazes then down to the Barrage de Cammazes, one of the host of dams and bridges used to overcome the difficult and varied terrain and flooding of the Canal du Midi. 
 

Back to Les Cammazes where we followed a great bike path along a canal through the forest to Lac de Lampy.  10k into our ride, the route was barred and replaced with a bumpy deviation;  it was late so we decided to turn back! 
 

What a buzz ‘flying back’ down the mountain!!  At the bottom we had a quick ‘stop’at a beautifully located ‘do-up’, which we discovered was an old Mill then through Durfort and back to camp!  45k and a great day!        

    19.09

 

We followed the ‘voie verte’ cycle route on small roads through the countryside to the outskirts of Revel where it joined a canal with a great bike path that took us the 22k to Lac de Lanclas.  The great path made up for the Lake which turned out to be not much more than a man-made fishing pond! The bike path finished here but another 50k along small roads would lead to the Canal du Midi.  Turned back and 45k later we were back at camp  enjoying a glass of chilled Rose (2 euros a bottle and good stuff)!

 20.9

Up early and a stock up at the local Intermarche!  We’ve decided to move closer to the Canal du Midi and also be within cycling distance of Toulouse.

 

We managed a huge 50k drive with an unscheduled stop at a Gite, incorrect co-ordinates inserted into our GPS by a certain person had caused the detour!  Back on track through Gardouch to our camp in Deyme, ‘Les Vialettes’ (16 euros) located only 1k from the Canal du Midi!  Great hot showers, lots of cyclists, nice shady pitches (with a table) and a ‘gypsy feel’! 

 21.9

 

We decided to ignore the high winds and followed the beautiful bike path along the Canal du Midi 15k into Toulouse.  Toulouse is situated at the confluence of the Canal du Midi and the River Garonne, it’s known as ‘La Ville Rose’, a reference to the hot-pink stone used to build many of it’s buildings.  It’s the 4^th largest city in France and famous for it’s rugby team ‘Stade Toulousain’ or ‘les rouges et noirs’! 

 

We biked the Canal du Midi City circuit then took our ‘lives into our hands’ by heading into the ‘Centre Ville’ with it’s mad traffic.  We took refuge at ‘Place Wilson’, a small garden square where we parked our bikes and walked to the main square ‘Place due Capitole’.

 

Lots of cafes, bistros, City Hall and The Opera House.  Great strolling around the streets of this busy, buzzy vibrant city bustling with students.  A look at the magnificent Basilica St-Sernin then a cycle to the Jardin des Plants which has gone crazy with cow statues! Up to the Pont Neuf which spans ‘La Garonne’and along a small subsidary canal, ‘Canal de Brienne’ which led back into the centre of town.  An incredibly hard bike against the wind back to camp!  50k in total and a fantastic day!   

            

  22.9       
 

The wind is still with us but not as strong as yesterday!  Again, we biked the path along the Canal du Midi in the opposite direction of Toulouse, 25k through Gardouch to Villefranche-de-Lauragais!  The last 2k was a bit scary as we had to combat some mad fast drivers as we left the canal and hit the main highway to Villefranche!   After a walk through this pretty, sleepy town we headed back to the Canal du Midi path armed with bread and Brebis cheese.  Lunch alongside the canal, wonderful!

Another beautiful ride and after 53k, back to camp and a hot shower!   
           

 23.9
 

Another long drive, 90k to Albi!  The landscape that’s been dominated by ‘yellow’ has turned to ‘brown’ with harvested maize fields and sunflowers that look like wilted soldiers standing in rows as they wait to be harvested for their oil!  In their place, fields of wheat, looking spectacular and ready to burst!

Albi is the birthplace of one of France’s most beloved painters, and a favourite of ours, Henri Toulouse-Lautrec!!  We found our chosen camp, ‘Des Pommiers d’Aigueleze,’ in Aigueleze, 11k from Albi and not much wind!  We decided to have a ‘blobby’ late afternoon and hit Albi tomorrow to give us more time to explore. 

 24.9

We followed the pretty ‘voie verte’ cycle route through vineyards plump with grapes (obviously a popular route as there was not a grape to be seen closest to the road-damn!) and fields of browned maize plants now ripe and ready for harvesting.  We took ‘pot luck’ as in parts the ‘voie verte’ signs  suddenly disappeared then miraculouly reappeared along the way!  Phew! 

 We passed through small villages including Marssac, after 21k towering above Albi’s centre ville, the enormous Gothic Cathedral Ste-Cecile!  We parked our bikes in the car free beautiful town Square dominated by the Cathedral and the red bricked Palais de la Berbie (built in the Middle Ages for the Archbishop)!!

After buying a ‘City Pass’ (18 euros) giving discounted admission to the Musee and the Cathedral, we  headed to the Palais de la Berbie which now houses the Musee Toulouse-Lautrec giving a comprehensive overview of the life and career of  Henri Toulouse-Lautrec!   500 originals and awesome!  Our favourites are his Poster Art and Parisian nightlife scenes. 
 

We walked around the Palais’s geometrical gardens with a stunning view of the Tarn River and the beautiful old Town.      

A bread and yummy cheese picnic (couldn’t find Le Brebis) overlooking the Square and a stroll through the streets and down to the old Town!  We visited the Cathedral with it’s beautiful frescoes painted in the 16^th Century by Italian artists and it’s massive stained glass windows.

 

We missed our ‘exit’ leaving Albi and ended up biking a whole circuit of the city before we discovered the ‘exit to Terssac’.  We peddaled madly to beat the dark as we had no lights!!  Relief when we reached the Bastide (fortified) Town of Labastide-de-Levis to catch the sunset and a panoramic view of the region!  Just on dark as we reached camp, a great ride and 61k in total!!

 

 25.9    
 

 A lovely sunny day with no wind!  A nice ‘catch up’ on emails day and relax!  Bliss!

26.9     
  

Woke to rain and the cold!  Decided not to travel and ‘catch up’ on chores and the blog and perhaps even kindle! 

 It cleared up in the early evening so we biked to Labastide-de-Levis for a closer look!   
 

27.9

Up early and off!!  A pretty drive (and great biking) through ‘La route des Bastides’ (fortified towns) along the Valley of the Garonne in the ‘Tarn-et-Garonne’ into the ‘Lot’ via Cahors.  Onwards via Bergerac and ‘vineyard country’ to our selected camp near St Emillion in the Bordeaux region.  This camp promised everything (including great views of the vineyards), but didn’t live up to it’s hype;  we chose not to stay and after 5 hours of driving it was getting late!  Fortune was on our side and we found a great ‘Aires’ a short drive away over looking the vineyards in the little village of Lussac.  The electricity and water here is ‘gratuit’.   We met Gypsy the playful Yorkie!
 

 28/9

Yet another beautiful bike ride through vineyards with their chateaux/wine houses to St Emillion, 40k from Bordeaux.  We parked our bikes and strolled through this very pretty Medieval village perched above the vineyards and renowned for producing full bodied ‘reds’!  It exists for the tasting and buying of wine, eating and drinking wine at cafes and brasseries and enjoying the view!   We found a price list at ‘Comptoir Vignobles’ who ‘specialise in vintage wines’ and noted a bottle of ‘Petras 1945’ red listed for 11,900 euros – about the cost of Lefty!!
 

We chose a different route back through the vineyards enjoying the stunning scenery!  It’s chilly in the evenings now so unless we eat early (which we don’t seem to manage), it’s much warmer inside Lefty!  We met Gypsy’s mum and dad – Guy and Marie-France who very kindly downloaded all the ‘Aires’ camps of France onto our GPS.  Guy mentioned he was thinking about setting up a small camp next year to run over high demand July and August and would need two English speaking helpers – need we say more!  A fun evening!
 

 29/9  
 

Farewell to Guy, Marie-France and Gypsy!  ‘A bientot’!  Bordeaux next!

 The Bordeaux region is the largest ‘fine wine’ producing region in the world with prestigious Chateaux such as Mouton-Rothschild, Haut-Brion and Yquem.  All up there are over 5,000 Chateaux here specialising in ‘Reds’ and Desert Wines!  

 We’re not too keen to drive into Bordeaux Centre so after studying a map of the region, grabbed from the Tourist Office, we found a bike path that ran all the way from Sauveterre-de-Guyenne to Bordeaux.  We decided to park Lefty in Latresne, a small village situated on this bike path, 12k from Bordeaux.  Off we went!  We crossed over the ‘muddy’ Garonne River into Bordeaux’s Centre Ville, we hadn’t factored in the trams and I yelled out just in time to save Col from being struck by one!!  We parked the bikes and set off for an explore on foot, now very much aware of the trams!!!!

Lots of beautiful neo-classical architecture, wide boulevards with fountains, trams and tram lines and a high percentage of students.  It’s  Saturday and there are crowds taking advantage of the ‘end of summer Sales’!  Buskers, beggars and funky students!!  We ate our usual bagette and cheese in the Girondin Park and continued to stroll the streets!  We found Bordeaux to be a beautiful city with a  personality in parts, however we found it hard to find it’s warmth.

 Back to camp and a 6k drive to the ‘Aires’ at Creon.  Turned out to be a great right on the cycle path!  Only three other vans here.

 

30/9
 

Col went for a  morning run along the path and through the forest, very pretty!  Next stop Arcachon, 80k and into the Atlantic beaches and pine forests.  Arcachon is an oyster harvesting area in the triangular ‘Basin d’Arcachon’.  We parked in an ‘Aires’ near the Centre Ville, mounted our bikes and off we went following the signs to the largest sand dune in Europe the ‘Dune Du Pilat’!!  Got as far as ‘La Teste-de-Buch’ and the signs disappeared!  We got horribly lost, eventually abandoning the cycle route and following the road  to Pyla-sur-Mer and the sand dune. 
 

Absolutely amazing!!  This colossal sand dune (Dune de Pyla) stretches from Basin d’Arcachon southwards for almost 3k.  It’s spreading eastwards at a rate of 4.5m a year!  We climbed to the top (114m above sea level) for an incredible panorama of the Basin d’Arcachon and Cap Ferret to the west and dense pine forests to the east.  We had a picnic in the park below.  

We easily found the bike path through the forest back to Arcachon passing many 19^th Century Bourdelaise villas. 

 It was getting late so we had a quick look at the waterfront, then hit the road!

 1/10
 

A sunny morning 4k walk into Arcachon, passing the port and along a fantastic boardwalk for pedestrians and cyclists running the length of the beautiful golden sandy beach.  Just to attract your attention, a ‘bright pink tail of a whale juts out of the sea!  In town cafes, apartments and hotels, some with 1950’s architchture, line the boardwalk!  A great vibe, laid back and fun!          

    

Last of the Pyrenees and into Spain

03.09
 

Spent the morning writing the blog with a very slow internet and in the afternoon went for a long walk through town and along the valley.  Pam found a friend!
 

04.09

 

We have decided to leave the higher levels of the Pyrenees as it is a little chilly in the mornings and evenings.  We headed north east into the ‘Ariege’(accent over the e)  region through St-Girons and Foix to the small village of Montgaillard.  Have found a beautiful camp site, ( La Roucateille 14 euros) small with a large private pitch and clean facilities.  Once camp was established I went for a run with Pam biking, along a quiet road surrounded by the Pyrennees.  We have actually ended up further north than we started the day but have an easier run down to Barcelona (200k).

05.09

Off for a bike ride this morning into the lower reaches of the Pyrenees.  We took a small backroad from Montgaillard through Soula to the 10^th Century ‘Chateau Roquefixade’. 

 The majority of the ride for the first 4k was uphill and it was a tough 34k round trip.  Added to this was a steep climb up to the ruins of the Chateau.   Well worth it though for the fantastic scenery and views from the top.  Back to camp for a huge spag bol to recharge the batteries.

6.09

 

Onward towards Spain today!!  We thought a couple of hours drive and a leisurely afternoon! Not so!  We had a lovely drive back into the higher Pyrenees, and  crossed the border into Spain at Bourg-Madam.  We took the tunnel prior to ‘Col de Puymorens’ (13 euros) to save on some of the mountain climbing and turned off before the second tunnel, ‘Tunnel del Cadi’ as it appeared longer and probably more expensive!  We therefore had a spectacular drive over the ‘Collada de Toses’, through the various skifields and down into Ribas de Fraser and Ripoll where we thought about spending the night as it was getting late.  We carried on however and hit a four lane highway going all the way to Barcelona with no signs for camping. 
 After an hour or so we took a punt and exited to Girona, a fatal move as it was highly industrialised!  Carried on to Vic and eventually found a Decathlon sports store and shopping mall where a very helpful shop assistant told us of a camp 20k away in Taradell.   Finally got to camping ‘La Vall’  and a hot shower!

7.09

 

Only an 85k drive this morning to get to Barcelona!  An incredibly easy drive as the uncrowded motorways took us all the way to our chosen camp right on the beach and only 15k from the city centre.  The camp is called ‘Camping 3 Estrellas',  there is a bus stop outside the gate and  it’s only 20 minutes to town. We have the choice of the sea or the pool, it’s quiet, shady and very chilled.  All this for only 16 euros using our ASCI Camping Card which is a must if you are camping long term!  Spent the rest of the day swimming and relaxing.

8.09



Antoni Gaudi

Barcelona here we come!  We got up early and caught the L94 bus into town (book of ten tickets 10 euros) and met Richard and Ingrid for a coffee.  We purchased a 2 day pass for the hop on/hop off bus (31 euros per person with audio) and set off for a tour of the city,  taking in all the major sights and incredible architecture  which included Gaudi’s ‘La Pedrera’, ‘La Sagrada Familia’ and also Park Guell.   We passed the Olympic Stadium and the outside Diving Pool,  Barcelona Football Club , The Old Barcelona Bull Ring,  The Port, The Gothic Quarter, The Old Town and ‘La Rambla’ to name a few. 

  There was a ‘red route and a ‘blue route’ so we did them both (4.5hours).  A great  way to see the city!
 

La Pedrera

We had a fantantic day and went home content with our orientation and a general idea of the places we want to re-revisit tomorrow.  Can’t say how fantastic it is to have a swim in the sea after a long hot day in the sun, staying in the camp is wonderful! 

We discovered an awesome path with lanes for biking, running and roller blading running along the full length of the beach (10k), Pam biked and Col ran!  

09.08

 

La Rambla
 

Up early again!  It’s tough! but a must to take advantage of the cool temperature.  Back into town for a long walk from the Bull Ring, through the National Palace with it’s wonderful morning panorama of the city and ‘La Sagrada Familia’ dominating the vista. 


Up into the Olympic Park for a look at the Stadium used for the 1992 Olympics, (looking a little dated now and surprised to see rugby posts in the middle of the athletics field).  Saw the Olympic Diving Pool which is ‘open air’ and has an amazing city backdrop.  Back on the bus to the Port and a walk up ‘La Rambla, a 1.5k walk through the middle of the city with it’s many stalls of flowers, birds, jewellery, paintings, Cafe and ‘La Boqueria’ Food Market.  All very lively and colourful!

Next was ‘La Sagrada Familia’ and it’s utterly bizarre and outrageous architecture, we loved it and were totally awestruck!  It’s been in construction now for over 100 years and still a long way to go.  Gaudi (1852-1926) knew it would never be completed in his lifestime and said ‘that his client had all the time in the world’ to wait! 


 We followed on with a trip to ‘Park Guell’ which was Gaudi’s home for 20 years.  In these equally awesome gardens, Gaudi turned his hand to landscape gardening in his own bizarre fashion.  We spent over two and a half hours wandering around the gardens and visiting his house.
 
 A last look at the many ‘Modernista Mansions’ and we were spent!  Back to camp and a swim!  We rode our bikes 6k along the pathway to Richard and Ingrid’s Hotel for a beer;  the return trip was a little tricky as it was dark and we’d had a couple! 

10.09

Up early for a fantastic bike ride on the bike path to the end of the beach (22k return).

Back for a late breakfast and swims.  In the evening cycled 6k to 'El Quinza' Restaurant and met Richard and Ingrid for the most delicious meal of tapas (octopus, small fish, mussels and an unknown which may have been squid) and seafood paella.  Got home late and sat on the beach where some hippie was playing the bongos.  He got rapturous applause when he stopped and didn’t re-start!!



11.09  Return to France
 

Heading back to France today for a 3.5 hour drive to the ‘Cote Vermeille’ and Collioure near the Spanish Border. We were hoping to see the Salvador Dali Museum which we were told was in Figueres, but when we got to Figueres found out it was 50k earlier!!  Just as well as when we got to our planned camp ‘Les Criques de Porteils’ there was only one site left which we grabbed!

 

 

 We walked to Collioure along the coastline pathway for about 40 mins to find a small, beautiful fortified town that reminds us of some of the Greek fishing villages. 



 We strolled along the narrow, winding streets with the soft pastel coloured houses, cafes and restaurants.  Collioure found fame in the early 20^th Century when it inspired artists such as Henri Matisse and Picasso.

12.09

Pam’s birthday and a storm has arrived , rain during the night and extremely strong winds coming in from the sea.  We changed pitches so we could stay another day and have sea views.  Spent the day taking it easy inside a ‘rocking van’ (the wind!!!)

Walked into town in the early evening and met Richard and Ingrid for drinks overlooking the sea and dinner in an intimate fish restaurant with a great ambiance.  A fabulous evening with lots of laughs!  Got slightly lost walking the 2k home in the dark!

13.09

Still blowing a gale!  Walked back into town for coffee and goodbyes to Richard and Ingrid who go back to Simorre today.  Walked along the seafront to Port-Vendres, a small port and harbour lined with small restaurants, had lunch on a seat overlooking the harbour.

 

      

The Pyrenees

29.08

Well we did it!  We finally extradited ourselves from the

evil clutches of Simorre and it’s temptations of food and drink!  Had a last coffee with Richard and Ingrid and drove the 115k to the Pyrenees passing  through Tarbes, Lourdes, and Pierrefitte-Nestalas to the little ski town of Luz-St-Sauveur.  Despite a slight hangover we didn’t stop at Lourdes for a quick fix.

 

We are 8k into the famous “Col du Tourmalet” the highest road pass in the Pyrenees that will take us through to Spain.  It is the famous route used in the “Tour de France” races.  We’ve found a nice little camp called “International Camp” with a pool about 1k before the Luz village.  We’re now back to having the camps mostly to ourselves as school has restarted and most everyone is back at work. 

30.08

Got our walking shoes on today and hiked a three hour circular route around the foothills of Luz-St-Sauveur in the Hautes-Pyrenees  A delightful ski town with hillside villages and ski stations on each side of the valley.  

 
31.08

Frank and Bron

An hours walk this morning along the hillside to Sazos before Frank and Bron (who we met in Paris) arrived for lunch in a small cafe in Luz-St-Sauveur.  Frank is in training for his ‘Raid Pyreneen’ which has him riding from Hendaye on the Atlantic coast to Cerbere on the Med along the backbone of the Pyrenees.  The distance is 810kms in 9 days, climbing over 28 Cols  the highest being  Col du Tourmalet at 2115m.  An incredible achievment as it’s 16000m of constant climbing!

01.09

A beautiful day so we decided to continue on and have our own assault on the mountains!

We crossed the Col du Tourmalet (2115m) passing the statue of the 'Geant du Tourmalet', who recognises the feats of ‘all giants’ who make it to the top.

 

Fantastic views over the mountain range and the winding road we had climbed but rather chilly, watched several groups of cyclists celebrate their arrival at the top.

Had our first encounter with a marmot on the downward side, like a large cuddly guinea pig.  Down through the ski village of ‘La Mongie’ with it’s huge cable car taking passengers to the ‘Pic du Midi’, the highest peak around at 2872m. It has an observatory and lookout platform.  We passed Frank at this point on his training ride heading over ‘Tourmalet’ (he’s mad), most people would be happy to do it once!!!

The alpine scenery is like a scene out of ‘The Sound of Music’ for those old enough to remember, with endless green fields, pine trees, pale cows, goats,
horses and marmots all with a magnificent backdrop of distant bare peaks.

Fantastic, we love it up here!

The next Col was ‘Col d’Aspin’(1489m) equally majestic with fantastic views all around.

We stopped for a late lunch at the beautiful small ski village of ‘Arreau’, a river runs through it’s center and many small ponds have been created throughout the village planted with colourful flowers. 

Onward through Borderes Louron and the third Col, the ‘Col de Peyresourde’(1569m) into our camp at Bagneres-de-Luchon, another 19^th Century ski town.

Lefty performed well over all the mountain ranges and we are not too leg tired!!

A quick orientation  before dinner and bed.
 

02.09

Had a bike ride to the local tourist office to gather information about the sights and spied the ‘telecabine’ working and taking people and bikes up the 1800m ascent to ‘Superbagneres’.  Thought we needed a workout first so biked the first 7k uphill towards the mountain and then had a fun descent back to the telecabine for our trip to the skifields.

Paid 9 euros each for return ticket and had an exciting trip up the mountain arriving at the skifields and a hotel that was used in a ‘Bond Movie’ (trying to establish which one!)

Hiked for an hour or so upward passing several pale cows and their calves for endless views towards Spain which is very close.

 

We then decided not to return by lift and took a bike trail 18k down the mountain side.

Probably a little rough for our poor bikes but they lasted the journey as we did!! Good fun!