The cascade of the Vis river at the bottom of the Cirque de Navacelles (Hérault)
The cascade of the Vis river at the bottom of the Cirque de Navacelles (Hérault)
(This is a continuation of the trip log from Part 2: The Southern Alps)
Day
18 (86 km): We headed back to Nyons after a very nice breakfast
at the B&B. We located the Cave Coopérative de Nyons and
bought a kilo of the olives in a vacuum sealed bag to bring home
(all gone now, just a month after we got home! I wish
we could get them here.) We stopped again in Mirabel where I
phoned ahead to book rooms in two remote villages: Navacelles and
Minerve. The hotels in both places are very small and were the only
option in each village so I wanted to ensure that we had a place to
stay. We continued on through vineyards (we're in the Côtes du
Rhône appellation now), stopping for lunch in St.
Roman-de-Malegarde. (Roquefort cheese again!) We were heading for
Bollène where I had planned to stop. It was VERY hot -
near 40°C (over 100°F). When we got to Bollène we
spotted a McDonald's and went inside (air conditioned!) and had a
wonderful strawberry milkshake. What a treat! Bollène was a
very unattractive little city so we decided to press on, crossing the
Rhône at Pont-St. Esprit and continuing on to St.
Martin-d'Ardèche. It was a busy little town, full of
vacationers swimming, kayaking, cruising the main street, etc. - the
usual resort town stuff. We found a room in the second hotel we
tried. We took in a concert in the church
square performed by students of a music academy. Nice. We called our
grandson after dinner. He'd just got in from the beach and was
excited to tell us about it. There was lots of noisy action on the
street late into the night. Because of the heat, it had been a very
tough day.
Day
19 (40 km): We left town under blue skies, heading west. We were
immediately in the Gorges de
l'Ardèche, climbing and descending for the next 25 km in
an area with fantastic views of the Ardèche river far below.
Just above the
Pont
d'Arc, a natural bridge over the river, we had a frightening,
steep 3 km descent on a road with poor quality pavement. The Pont
d'Arc is quite remarkable itself but it was surrounded by bathers and
canoeists which diminished its impact. Oh well - I guess we can't
expect to be the only tourists. In Vallon-Pont-d'Arc we found a small
inexpensive hotel (Hotel du Parc) and were happy to stop. Once again,
it was nearly 40°C! Like St. Martin the night before, Vallon is
full of summer travellers. Lots of action, lots of kids and young
adults having fun. Carol bought a pair of pants which were very
elegant. She wore them to dinner that evening. With the heat, the
hills and the traffic, it had been a difficult day.
Day 20 (75 km): We headed out early, hoping to beat the heat. South from Vallon the road was valloné (hilly). At Barjac we stopped for a pause café and I oiled the chains. Carol bought some napkins in a little shop. She misses no opportunities! After climbing out of Barjac we had a long descent on a good wide road to the Cèze river. Great fun! We followed the Gorges de la Cèze for nearly 4 km before crossing the river and climbing west for about 6 km. We stopped and had our lunch in Méjannes-le-Clap. (I'm not making these names up!) Then we had a quick, twisting descent to Rochegude. The next 15 km to Salindres were without shade and once more in 40°C heat. We guzzled cold drinks and ice water at a bar in Salindres before a long climb and a fast descent into Alès (pronounced "al ess"). Once again, McDonald's air conditioning and milkshakes proved irresistible. The hotel we chose (Hotel Orly) was inexpensive and, more importantly, climatisé (air conditioned)! We knew we had a big day the next day which included a long climb near the end of the day. In this heat, I wasn't looking forward to it! We headed for the train station. We hoped we could find a train for the next day which would take us part of the way to our destination. Unfortunately, even though the tracks still appear on the Michelin maps, train service to many of these smaller, more remote communities has disappeared. So it was to be on our bikes again! We had a wonderful meal that evening in an elegant old dining room in the Hotel Riche. A great way to end a hot day.
The beautiful river Vis
Day
20 (90 km): We were on the road before 7:30. It had rained
earlier but the sun was out by the time we stopped in Anduze for
breakfast. We drafted a tractor for about 3 km outside St.
Hippolyte-du-Fort. The rolling hills continued all the way to Ganges
where we stopped for lunch at 52 km. I called ahead to the hotel in
Caunes-Minervois where we planned to stay on Sunday night. Sundays
can pose a problem since some hotels close. Complet!
(Full.) I checked in the tourist office for a list of hotels in that
region and tried another in Rieux-Minervois, not far from Caunes.
Success! We relaxed in Ganges for another hour, gathering our
strength for the upcoming climb. Fortunately, it was a little cooler
- only about 30°C (86°F). We began to follow the beautiful
Vis river west from Ganges. There were many small cascades and clear
pools as it tumbled its way towards Ganges. There were a lot of
people enjoying the water. The Vis cuts a deep gorge through the
Causse du Larzac. (A causse is a
plateau.) We had a fairly easy time of it as we followed this
river upstream - until we arrived in the hamlet of Madières.
Fortunately there was a fountain there with eau potable
(drinkable water) because my bottles were just about empty. We began
to climb immediately, crossing back and forth as we ascended the wall
of the gorge for 7 km. There were some spectacular views along the
way.
At
one point we could see 4 levels of road
below us as we neared the top. Finally we emerged on top of the
causse at St. Maurice-Navacelles where we found a bar and gulped down
cold drinks and ice water. We turned north from St. Maurice and
headed across the scrubby causse. It's reminiscent of New Mexico -
dry, treeless, with small, low bushes and brown grasses. We had one
climb in the 7 km ride and then we arrived at the rim of the
remarkable Cirque de Navacelles. The Vis
river has been cutting this deep gorge into the limestone of the
causse for at least 100000 years. At Navacelles, the river ran into a
core of harder rock and so went around it, creating a small loop in
its path. As the walls of the gorge eroded, the main path of the
river kept getting pushed farther away from this barrier so the loop
got longer. Finally, the river broke through the end of the loop,
abandoning its original path completely. What was left behind was a
stadium-like bowl, about 400 metres deep, with this lump of harder
rock sitting in the middle of it looking like a giant oyster shell,
now surrounded by a ring of grain fields. It's an unbelievable sight!
The bad news was that the tiny cluster of buildings at the bottom of
the bowl included our hotel! Getting down wasn't going to be a
problem but how would we get out the next morning? The descent near
the top of the hill was VERY steep and narrow with cars inching past
each other as some descended while others were climbing out. Once we
got past that part the remainder of the 4 km descent was fast and
easy. Right beside the hotel there's a pretty cascade and deep pools
in the Vis so some people were diving and swimming. When we came in
for dinner, the young woman who had greeted us when we first arrived
asked "Are you staying at the hotel?" "Yes." Pause, then "Ah, you are
the cyclists! I didn't recognize you!" I guess we clean up nicely! We
had a nice meal and packed it in early. It had been a VERY tough day
of cycling.
Day 21 (65 km): Morning! Breakfast at the hotel and now we have to get out of this pit! I lasted 1.5 km before I gave up riding. I was going 4 km/h and I can walk 5 km/h so I walked, pushing the bike up about 2 km until we were near the top and it started to level off. We cycled the last half km up to the causse. What an experience! We cycled back to St. Maurice and turned west. We had about 10 km of almost flat cycling across the causse and then a great fast 7 km descent into St. Étienne-de-Gourgas; then 6 more km gently downhill into Lodève on the Lergue river where we had lunch. There's a beautiful church there - the Cathédral St. Fulcran - with a grand altar and beautiful stained glass and an attractive cloister outside with lots of flowers. 4 km west of the city we started to climb again, back and forth up several steep switch backs for 5 km until we reached the Col de la Baraque du Bral. It was 30°C again. However the descent from the col was fantastic - over 6 km on a wide newly paved road with long straight sections, no traffic, at speeds up to 65 km/h. Then we followed the Orb river downstream into Bédarieux. It was a mostly easy day once we had escaped the cirque in the morning.
Day
22 (77 km): We stopped for breakfast in nearby Lamalou-les-Bains,
a very attractive little spa town complete with casinos, golf course
(a rarity in France), manicured parks, fountains, etc. We should have
stayed there instead of in the unremarkable Bédarieux. We were
still following the Orb river and we turned south where it did,
crossing a brightly painted blue and yellow bridge. After a bit of a
climb we had a beautiful descending ride through the Gorges de l'Orb.
We were surrounded by vineyards going steeply up the mountains. We
left the Parc Régional du Haut-Languedoc as we left the
mountains and turned west, away from the Orb. We were still in
vineyards - these were the grapes of the St. Chinian appellation. We
arrived in St. Chinian at noon. There was a large antique/brocante
market in full swing. ("brocante"
is the kind of junk you might see at a yard sale. Carol likes to
meander through them, looking for hidden treasures.) We
climbed out of St. Chinian to Villespassans and then had a speedy 7
km descent to Agel on the Cesse river. We followed the Cesse to
Aigues-Vives where we stopped for a cool drink - it's 30°C
again. 6 more km of rolling hills and we arrived in Minerve.
On
this trip we had tried to avoid revisiting places we had seen before
but we had gone out of our way to get back to Minerve for a third
visit. This tiny village ("un des plus beaux villages de
France") sits high on a point of land where two deep river
canyons meet. Crossing the bridge over the Canyon de la Cesse takes
you back 800 years into a medieval village with narrow lanes and the
remnants of the fortress that failed to repel the dreadful Simon de
Montfort during the Albigensian crusade in 1210. There is a single
small hotel in Minerve - the Relais Chantovent. It has an excellent
restaurant where we once again had a splendid meal on the terrace
overlooking the canyon of the other river, the Brian, with the
vineyards of the Minervois wine region covering the hills across the
gorge. Any day that ends in Minerve is a great day.
Day
23 (40 km): We retraced our route east for 4 km before turning
south, still in rolling hills. We reached a crest 5 km north of
Olonzac from which we could see the broad flat plain of the Canal du
Midi which separates the mountains of the Massif Central to the north
from the mountains of the Pyrénées-Orientales to the
south. The descent into Olonzac for breakfast was long and fast. We
turned east again for a 3 km ride into the village of Oupia
(pronounced "oo pee AH" - accenting the last syllable). We were
meeting a couple of Canadians (well, actually, he's originally
English) who had uprooted from London, Ontario, last year and had
bought a small house with another small building attached in Oupia.
Their plan was to renovate the attached building and to operate it as
a gîte. A gîte is
a type of accommodation with kitchen facilities that can be rented by
the week or the month or the season. (You can get more info on the
gîte from their web site at
http://www.lourecantou.com/
or by contacting Susan at s.wallis@wanadoo.fr
) We had seen the place last year - it was a mess! We were astonished
at the progress when we saw it again: new floor, walls, roof, modern
kitchen, 2 of 3 bedrooms completed, small in-ground pool in the
flagstone terrace. There are still some finishing touches to be done
but it's an amazing transformation from the first time we had seen
it. Tim had done most of the work himself. He was pleased with the
results but he also seemed exhausted. We had promised we'd take them
out for lunch so we all got on our bikes and headed back into Olonzac
where, typically for a Sunday, we couldn't find a place to eat. We
finally ended up having drinks and a sandwich outside a bar on the
main street. Tim and Sue led us to a road that would be a good cycle
route to our destination for that evening and we said our good-byes
and headed out, crossing the Canal du Midi to the south side and then
crossing back again to the north. We continued through the endless
vineyards of the Minervois appellation to Rieux-Minervois. We found
the hotel we had booked from Ganges several days past and then walked
down to a fine bar on a little square shaded by the ubiquitous plane
trees. The benches in the square outside the bar were filled with the
old men of the town, enjoying the shade and the conversation on a
warm Sunday afternoon. It was very pleasant. We had dinner at the
hotel because there didn't seem to be any other options in the town.
How lucky we were! We had the best meal of the trip in this unlikely
little hotel in this unlikely little town. The owner-chef of the
Logis de Merinville, Pierre Morin, is very good at his job!! We
walked around the town after dinner - a beautiful evening. It seemed
like it might have been a retirement community or perhaps summer
residences for northerners. Not an attractive place. It had been an
interesting day - 40 km.
Day
24 (77 km): I was worried about my rear tire. The tread was
smoothing out and I was concerned that it might wear through. (It
happened once before!) I was inspecting the tire in the morning and
the owner-chef of the hotel asked if I had a problem. I told him that
I was hoping the tire would last 6 more days. "Can't you get that
size of tire here in France?" "Yes but it's much cheaper in Canada."
That set him off. "Ah, EVERYTHING'S more expensive in France! The
only thing that's cheap is the wine!" He ranted on a bit about gas
prices and taxes. I had obviously struck a raw nerve. We went back to
the café on the the square for breakfast and wandered into the
old centre of the town to buy lunch stuff. In the village we
discovered a very special small church - l'église Sainte
Marie, which is built in a circular design. All of its main
architectural features are present 7 (or a multiple of 7) times - 7
pillars, 7 windows, 7 small chapels, etc. It's really quite
remarkable! We headed west, still in vineyards. When we finally left
them behind we passed a "wind farm" - a collection large propeller
blade windmills on the top of a hill. We finally descended to the
Orbiel river where we turned north and began the 23 km climb over the
Montagne Noire. The narrow road follows the river up the
mountainside. The climb was rarely steep but relentless. I spotted a
small butterfly on a flower - very pretty with black wings and a
triangle of bright orange near the body. As I approached it took
flight as did a couple of dozen others. In flight the orange colour
was exposed and they were dazzling! We've never seen them anywhere
else in France. I wonder if they are unique to the Montagne Noire.
The road was often dark and damp because of tree cover and water
trickling down from the mountain. We passed many pretty little
cascades as the stream tumbled down over the rocks. Near the summit
the climb got steeper with a couple of switch backs. There were a few
drops of rain as we reached the col and began the 11 km descent into
Mazamet. We had considered staying there but our initial impression
wasn't good and it was only 1 PM so we decided to continue on to
Castres. We had to seek shelter from a brief shower before we left.
The rain was accompanied by a sharp drop in temperature. We had an
uneventful stay in Castres except for the odd scramble to cover when
a shower passed through. The ride over the mountain had not been as
difficult as anticipated and the climb had been beautiful - a fine
day.
Day
25 (63 km): We checked out the market in the main square in
Castres before heading out after breakfast. A few km west of town we
left the main road and took a small country lane which paralleled it,
cycling over rolling hills through great fields of sunflowers. At
Serviès we stopped in the village square at the delightful
little Café de la Place.
We sat under the canopy of the plane trees and had a coffee at one of
the tables already set for lunch with blue and white chairs and
tables. This is one of Carol's favorite memories of the trip. We had
lunch in Lavaur and climbed north, entering the vineyards of the
Gaillac appellation. We had a long descent and crossed the bridge
over the Tarn into Rabastens. There's a grand church with an
impressive steeple right at the bridge. Inside it was in much better
condition than most French churches - nice ceiling, frescoes, statues
- a huge organ and choir. We checked into our vine covered hotel - Le
Pré Vert -
with
its pretty terrace and garden. and then
set out to tour the town. There are impressive
ramparts above the river, still intact, and a number of tiny
little cobbled lanes typical of medieval towns. We were impressed by
one large gated building with a cloister visible through the gate. It
looked like a convent. We were informed by a local that this was a
private residence! Wow! The museum has a good display of Rabastens'
long history from prehistoric evidence of man's presence through
Roman and medieval periods to modern times. We had a nice dinner on
the terrace at the hotel. Despite the 35°C heat it had been a
pleasant ride.
Day
26 (67 km): We headed straight north through huge sunflower
fields. They were past their glory; they would have been spectacular
two weeks earlier. After a series of climbs and descents we turned to
make the 3 km climb to Puycelci ("un des plus beaux villages de
France") We stopped at the top at an Internet café (!)
that offered cider on tap. They must have known I was coming. I took
a half hour to catch up on my e-mail while Carol toured this hilltop
village. There were great views of the surrounding countryside below.
We returned to the main road and carried on to Bruniquel where we had
lunch. I found some shade to escape the 36°C heat but Carol (who
is much tougher than I am and who NEVER wants to miss anything)
climbed steeply up into this very pretty little medieval town with
the ruins of a castle at the top. When she returned we followed the
Aveyron river, leaving it only to climb to see the tiny medieval
village of Penne, long and narrow along the
top of a ridge with a single narrow cobbled lane down its length.
Back at river level we cycled through the Gorges de l'Aveyron,
crossing the bridge at 67 km to our destination,
St.
Antonin-Noble-Val. St. Antonin has a wonderful old medieval core
with narrow cobbled streets. We sat in the square across from the
museum which was built as the town hall in 1125. They say it is the
oldest example of civic architecture in France. As we had seen
throughout France in these small towns and villages, there were many
closed businesses and "For Sale" signs. I think the next 20 years of
visiting France will be quite different from the past 20. We had a
nice dinner on the terrace of the hotel overlooking the Aveyron - confit de canard (duck legs and thighs cooked and
stored in their own fat - very rich, very tasty - a great favorite of
ours.) There was a "keno" game (like bingo) in the park beside the
hotel. We strolled over to watch for a while. Another beautiful
evening.
Day
27 (80 km): We left under cloudy skies over rolling hills,
roughly following the Aveyron east and then the Cerou south. We
stopped at les Cabannes below Cordes for a pause
café with a wonderful pastry - chausson
aux abricots. We cycled around the base of Cordes. It's a
wonderful medieval village perched on top of a dome -
"Cordes-sur-Ciel" they call it - "Cordes in the Sky". It's very
turista but still worth the visit. We passed it up this time
because we had stayed there for a couple of days several years ago.
We headed south back into the Gaillac vineyards on small country
lanes over another series of long climbs and descents into Gaillac.
We visited the Abbaye St. Michel which
housed the tourist office. The abbey is a large building with a
beautiful cloister overlooking the Tarn. Inside, its former beauty is
obvious but like many French churches, it needs some work.
We
toured the old quarter of the city and then crossed the Tarn and
followed it west to Lisle-sur-Tarn with its fine old arcaded central
square. This 12th C town is laid out in the classic rectangular style
of a bastide. A "bastide" is a fortified town built by
either the French or the English during the Hundred Years War. It was
getting late so we continued straight down the route
nationale to Rabastens where we booked into the same room in
the same hotel - Le Pré Vert. Carol sat
in the garden to do her cross-stitching. We had done 80 km in
32°C heat so I was tired. I had a nap! Dinner on the terrace
that evening was again excellent. This hotel was a good find.
Day
28 (93 km): We followed the Tarn west passing by apple
orchards with trees loaded with fruit. The road on the north side
of the river was quite hilly, dropping down to and climbing away from
river level several times. We crossed the Tarn and climbed first
through huge sunflower fields and then suddenly into the vineyards of
the Frontonnais appellation. A steep descent and climb brought us to
Fronton where we had a pause café. We descended to the Canal
de la Garonne, crossing it at Grisolles. We turned south into the
wind and finally found a café at St. Jory where I inhaled a
litre of ice water. This close to Toulouse the traffic was very
heavy. At Fenouillet we saw another McDonald's and had another
milkshake in air conditioned comfort. I haven't been in a McDonald's
4 times in the last 25 years but this was the fourth one this trip.
However at 35°C and after almost 90 km of cycling the milkshake
really hit the spot! We followed the sign which said
"Toulouse Centre - Route Recommendé". Big mistake!
We found ourselves cycling along the shoulder of a high speed
autoroute thick with traffic. I was looking for an exit when I saw
that construction ahead closed the left lane and moved the traffic on
to our shoulder. Panic! We stopped and rolled our bikes down the
embankment to a spot in the chain link fence where someone had pried
open a hole. We were able to squeeze through and escape our
predicament. Once settled into our hotel we did a little shopping,
adding a Gaillac, a Frontonnais and a St. Chinian to the Volnay we
had already purchased (since we're allowed 2 bottles of wine each
duty free) - liquid memories of our trip. That evening as we dined on
the narrow street outside a restaurant we were treated (?) to:
garbage collection; kids racing on their motorcycles; a strolling
accordionist. It had been a long difficult day.
Day 29: We walked out along the boulevard Strasbourg to find a kiosk selling leather goods. I wear a purse around my waist and the one I had was worn out after several years of constant use. We found a good replacement. "150 francs." he said. "That's too much" said Carol to me and turned away. "C'est trop, monsieur." I said and turned too. "100 francs" he said. "I can get it at home for that price. Tell him the most I'd pay is 90 francs." she said to me. "C'est encore trop, monsieur. Elle ne payera plus de 90 francs." I said. "OK" he said. I was impressed. I'd have paid the 150 francs because the bag fulfilled all my needs. I guess I have some things to learn about shopping. We got our bikes and headed out to the airport in suburban Blagnac. We had booked a room from home at the Hotel Campanile at the airport for our last night because we would need to check in by 6 AM for our early morning flight home the next day. There's a big shopping mall near the airport so (of course) we spent some time there. Prices are high for merchandise in France so shopping is usually fruitless but I think it's more of a recreational activity than a functional one for Carol. The weather forecast had been for rain and it had been threatening all day but had held off so far. Carol finally said "Let's just go for a ride." We were very close to 2000 km for the trip and I think she'd like to have surpassed that milestone. However, as we headed out into the wind the skies darkened ominously so we turned back after only 5 km. It never did rain until after dark that evening. Carol's camera died that day - rewinding the film into the cassette after only 14 shots and refusing to load another. We were so lucky it lasted until then.
We had an uneventful flight home, happy to get back to see our grandson. It had been a wonderful trip - 1960 km, a lot of it in mountainous terrain. I ate and drank anything I wanted and lost 15 pounds. (Carol has never changed from the 113 pounds that she weighed when I first met her over 40 years ago. She didn't lose an ounce!) Next year? Who knows? We're running out of places to go in France but we love it so much there.