The cloister at Moissac
The cloister at Moissac
(This is a continuation of the trip report from Part 3: Gascony and the Pyrénées)
Day 25 (81 km): We're heading north, now. It's very sad to be leaving the mountains. We had a hilly morning up to Montmaurin where there's another fairly large dig at some Roman ruins. We followed the Gorges de la Save - very pretty but very short. Along the way we met a procession of antique cars. They looked like the same ones we saw in Aurillac. Then we had a fast, flat, stick-straight 17 km to L'Isle-en-Dodon, then on to Lombez. The last 40 km of this ride followed the small river Save. It was a great day of cycling. There's an impressive church (in need of repair) in Lombez. (Phil Buck of Brooklyn, NY, whose mother has a house facing the cathedral, reports that since 1993 the exterior of the church and the square in front of it have been completely restored and it is all now as it was in the Renaissance period. I'd like to see it again!) There was a serious thunderstorm at dinner that chased everyone from the 'terrasse' into the restaurant. We ended up sharing a table with an elderly German brother and sister. He spoke German and a little French. She spoke German and a little English. I speak English and French and a little German. Carol speaks great English. It was an interesting meal, by candlelight, with very good food which was remarkable because the power was off for a long time - credit to the chef and staff at the Hôtel de la Vallée.
Day 26 (45 km): Sunday. We're back into Gascony with its rolling hills. We had an easy cycle to Auch, with its magnificent cathedral. It was the feast of the Assumption - August 15th. We've been caught in this before. Everything shuts down. Sunday in France is very quiet, even in a moderate sized city like Auch, and combined with the religious feast day, it was hard to find a place to eat. There was a candlelight procession to the church that night up the long staircase where D'Artagnan's statue is - this is "3 Musketeers" country! A relaxing day!
Day 27 (55 km): Another beautiful day. The sun always shines in the south of France! More rolling hills through prosperous looking farmland. We arrived in the little town of Mauvézin at about 11:30. There was a large busy market on. Carol immediately took off to see their wares. I sat down at a café and ordered 'une pression' (a draft beer) and watched the bikes. (I'm good at both of those things.) A woman began chatting with me about our adventures - cycle tourists are always a curiosity. After a couple of minutes of conversation she asked "Avez vous déjà mangé, monsieur? " (Have you already eaten?) "Non, madame. Pas encore." (Not yet.) "Ah, bon, monsieur. Il y a ici un restaurant.... " (There's a restaurant here .....) She directed us to the Restaurant La Rapière and told us not to order 'à la carte' but instead to try the daily lunch special. It was four courses with a quarter litre of house wine for 65 FF and everything was superb. If you're in the area, make a detour to this restaurant. After lunch we continued with a fast, easy, hot ride to Beaumont-de-Lomagne. We found a 'chambre d'hôte' (bed & breakfast), l'Arbre d'Or, run by an English couple, which was very nice. I had an interesting exchange with the woman as I was checking the place out. She wanted me to go and see the rooms. I asked "Est-ce qu'il y a plus qu'une chambre, madame?" (Is there more than one room?) She responded "Oui, il y a un grand ... um ....choice!" (Yes, there is a wide choice - but the word "choice" was in English!) I asked, "Vous êtes anglaise, madame?" (You're English?) "Oui, monsieur." Then she continued to struggle on in French, explaining her presence in southern France until I said "Why are we speaking French?" There was a bike race on in town and a fireworks display that night. Great day.
Day 28 (65 km): We crossed the Garonne, still going north, to Moissac. There's a magnificent church and cloister there. We continued on between Tarn and Garonne to Montauban, a fairly large city, not memorable, except for the big church, but a good day of cycling.
Day 29 (101 km): Heading south now, we cycled through the vineyards near Fronton. There's a great wooden covered marketplace in Grenade sur Garonne. There are mûres (wild blackberries) growing everywhere along the ditches beside the roads and they are very sweet at this time of year so we treated ourselves a couple of times. It was very hot and flat, so we continued all the way to Blagnac (suburban Toulouse, where the airport is). It was our only 100+ km day, bringing our total to just over 1700 km, but unfortunately our last day of cycling.
Day 30 (and 31!): We spent the next day in Toulouse (by public transit) - a beautiful but big city with lots to see, but we'd been there twice before, so much of our time was spent doing 'le shopping'. Due to mechanical problems with the aircraft we had a 28 hour delay before returning home to Canada. They put us up in a brand new golf resort about 20 km north of Toulouse. It was very nice but very North American. We could have been in North Carolina