Homeward Bound

This will be the last instalment in the blog - just to let you know how we got home! On Sunday we travelled by train to Lunels which was an interesting experience (see Shirley sitting amidst the bikes which were hanging on the train). After this we cycled to stay with our friends Yvonne and Graham Paddy in their beautiful townhouse in Aigues Mortes. This is a wonderful old walled city in the Camargue. We motored round the canals in their boat and even saw two Camargue horses in full flight. We are staying with the Paddys until Tuesday morning but on Monday we collected a hire car from Montpelier airport. We were trying to drive to Roscoff and take the ferry across from there to Plymouth where our car is but no car hire company will allow us so we are driving to Le Havre on Tuesday and getting the ferry from there to Portsmouth on Wednesday and David will collect us from there.

Le Somail to the Mediterranean

This morning we enjoyed the company of a couple of English cyclists along with another six French walkers who were all staying at the same chambre d'hote and we spent breakfast altogether at the one long table. the weather forecast had been appalling for Friday and Saturday but the only rain we had was during Friday night much to our relief. We set off along the canal and took photos of the picturesque village we had stayed at. The path deteriorated so we headed for the big road. it was quite nice to be in the open countryside again and in the country areas the roads are full of the machines harvesting the grapes. Met a nice young belgian couple who were cycling at a viaduct at Beziers and we took each others photos. We stopped for lunch at a shaded bench at a lock along the canal and low and behold the next bench screened by the trees were the English couple we had sat next to at breakfast. Our final lunch finished, we set off to the Med! We arrived at the Mediterranean about 3.30 pm and took some photos. We then went to book into our hotel which we had reserved two days ago only tobe told that there was no reservation!!! What an anticlimax. We then cycled back into Agde city and luckily the tourist information was open. We then managed to get a very nice little city hotel near the station which will be very handy for us tomorrow as we set off to visit our friends, Graham and Yvonne Paddy at Aigue Morts for a couple of days relaxation and sorting out our return journey.
The journey is over and we have both enjoyed the experience enormously including grazed knees, bruised legs and weak wrists. We've done a lot of cycling but we have also done a lot of laughing. The blog has been good fun for us to do and to have all the comments you have made has kept us amused whilst we travelled along.
Distance: 74.0k TOTAL DISTANCE: 1196.4K

Till the next time..............!

Carcassonne to Le Somail

After rest and washing completed we hit the road, or should I say the canal path, again. At this part of the canal the path is very poor. We have learned from our fellow French cyclists that we keep meeting that this is because the citizens of Carcassone in 1669 looked down their noses at the commercial venture of the Canal du Midi and forced the canal to be built away to the north of the city. Something they have regretted ever since. The paths improve with little stalls at most of the locks selling the local produce and cold drinks which we enjoyed. We reached our chambre d'hote for the night just before the predicted rain started.Had a delightful meal in a very small and very busy restaurant. Photos today include shirley coming down some stairs specially designed for bikes and although Billy says she can walk on water here she is crossing a run off.
Distance: 64.7k

A day in Carcassonne

Dirty washing collected which was 99% of clothing and taken to laundrette, only to find the first two were closed but luckily another customer arrived with her loads and she beckoned us to follow her to the other end of the city. An hour later, washing all done, we set off to visit the mediaeval city of Carcassone. This was very interesting and had numerous shops to keep Shirley busy dashing in an out of doorways but unable to carry anything she couldn't make any purchases!! Afternoon spent in modern part of city and managed to get camera charged so when we go out for dinner this evening to the mediaeval part of the city we will take some photos to add to the blog. Quiet day compared with most and it actually rained but still quite warm.
Distance: 0 k

Villefranche de Lauragais to Carcassonne

As we started today we were aware of how quickly the Canal's vista changes as we cycle south. From broad paths with many joggers, Tour de France type cyclists and walkers to what we have today which is narrow, very bumpy and in places difficut cycling route and very few other people. that is until you reach a lock where there is usually a boat going through, people and sometimes even cars. On the odd occasion there is a small cafe which is always welcome. We stopped for coffee at Castelnaudary (photo) and bought our provisions for lunch. The people we have met today have all originated from Scotland; a couple of cyclists from Dundee, a couple of very fit young men from Stonehaven and two couples from new Zealand one of whom originated from Scotland. All this came about by Billy having a Scottish sticker at the back of his bag! Today's milestone was our passing 1000 k mark (see photo). We are now in Carcassonne where we intend to stay tomorrow and have a rest day and hopefully we will get our washing done.
Distance: 72.1k

Grrisolles to Villefranche de Lauragais

Today we had our first view of the Pyrenes mountains which were ranged along the southern horizon as we left the Fig Farm. Before long we were back on the Canal du Midi heading south to Toulouse city centre where we had an appointment to meet Guler, Sengul's sister who has lived in France for the last seven years. Toulouse is a beautiful city but we did get a bit lost cycling in from the Canal and ended up having to carry the bikes up two flights of steps!! We reached city centre in time to meet with Gerul who only speaks French and Turkish. Despite us not speaking any Turkish and limited French we had an enjoyable couple of hours with her and her beautiful little girl Beritan.

We then headed back to the Canal and continued through very attractive countryside. One couple we kept overtaking and then they overtook us when we stopped were an English man with his French wife. He was convinced Shirley had an engine on her bike as you could only go at that speed with an engine. He didn't realise what a powerful combination Carla and Shirley are. Reached our hotel for night. Hoped to get some washing done but no laundrette in town - maybe tomorrow.
Distance: 75.4 Distance of journey to date:964.7k

Agen to Grisolles

We started the day by travelling on our first N road which was quite an experience on a Monday morning leaving a large city but we needed to cross the river. Within minutes we were on a very quiet country road running alongside the river Garonne. We rejoined the Canal du Midi just south of Agen. Our coffee break was in Valence d'Agen. These breaks are usually in scruffy old bars but today was the most superb upmarket steakhouse and cafe. Just to show how posh it was it had a chaize longue at the rear of the building. We arrived in Montech in early afternoon to discover the tourist Information office was closed for the day - Monday seems a bit like Sunday! Fortunately we had a number to call for a chambre d'hote in the country. On arriving at The Fig Farm at Grisolles (our abode for the night) we were warmly greeted with beer and soft drinks and once the son of the farmer realised we were Scottish he showed us all his scrap books of his journeys to Scotland. All we really wanted was a bath but they were so kind and welcoming. usual Monday night -no restaurants open so we ended up having pizza and wine in a street cafe. They gave us a basket of figs to enjoy in our room (wondered if we would be able to leave the room the next day!)
Distance: 88.5k