Wednesday, July 13, 2011

Leaving Pau and heading to Bordeaux

We left Pau on Sunday morning after taking pictures with Bernard and Helene under the flags they hung to welcome us.


They accompanied us on the road for 42 kms to Sault-de-Navailles where we had a wonderful picnic lunch together before saying our final goodbyes.





As we headed out of town, we saw the local library in this delightful building.


We ended the day in Montfort-en-Chalosse on the route to Bordeaux recommended to us by Bernard. Monday morning we left Montfort and headed into the last cornfields before reaching the coast. In the area north and west of Pau, the amount of corn and its vigor are impressive. Bernard commenting on the local agriculture said "corn, corn everywhere". Here is a farmhouse swimming in a sea of corn.


We started into the pine forest just after Dax. In the Aquitaine, the land along the coast is essentially sand dunes with a pine forest. Just after Leon we picked up the Atlantic coast bike path in France.


We camped near the beach at St. Girons and had some great people watching. The campground was very nice with campsites under the trees, showers, store, pool and a restaurant. Tuesday morning we headed north along the bike path. All day we rode through the piney woods along the bike path. There was a lot of traffic along the bike path, families, fitness riders, and bicycle tourists like us. The bike path pavement was not always smooth and the bike traffic heavy. Twice we diverted to small, lightly traveled roads to make better time. We ended the day at a small hotel along the road St. Parentis. The rain just started.

2 comments:

Diana said...

Looks like you're hooked up with the global cyling community! How interesting to meet folks this way. Your pictures truly enhance the experience for those of us here at home.

Dave and Belinda said...

Hi Diana, and thanks. The cycle touring community is rather small and cycle touring is a great way to meet people and make friends. There is a difference though between touring in the States and touring in Europe. When we crossed the States, every bike tourist greeted another enthusiastically and stopped to visit and exchange news of the road. In Europe when bike tourists encounter each other, more often than not it's just ciao, or bonjour and keep on peddling. It was disconcerting to us at first but now, unfortunately, we are becoming accustom to it. Forgive us for a small rant, and

Love to all