Observations along the way

We've been drinking local vintages in each area we've visited and learned some more about wine making in France during our stay in Pauillac. There seem to be two types of winemaking tradition. One creates wines to drink in the short term and these are aged in steel vats. They are described as wines to drink now. Wines placed in wood barrels are more complex and will be aged longer and drunk after some aging. They are described as being from wood. Many of the red wines produced in the Medoc region are blends of Merlot, Cabernet Sauvignon, and Cabernet Franc. The French select wine based on the label, not on the type of grape.


Sunday we left Pauillac heading north to the end of the peninsula. The Gironde river remained a large muddy river all the way to the mouth. The vineyards ended and the land was used for pasture. The villages on the peninsula got smaller and smaller and further apart. We stopped in a convenience store/bar for lunch and it was clearly the only social outlet around. A goat owner/cheese maker was there with his herding dog, a local fisherman was telling stories about his boat, a young man described the accident which ruined one side of his car, other locals came and went, and we listened as we ate our bread, salami and cheese. At the end of the peninsula, we took a ferry across the river mouth to Royan. The ferry ride was rough since there was a large swell coming in the river mouth and the wind was howling in off the ocean. We stayed the night in Royan and the town was hopping with tourists. There is apparently some good surfing nearby as we saw a couple of familiar surfing stores in town, Quicksilver and O'Neill's. Wandering about looking for a place to eat dinner we came on an Indian restaurant. Well it was a no brainer! We hadn't had anything truly spicy in quit a while. It was wonderful and left our mouths tingling. Monday morning we left Royan with the goal of La Rochelle. However, we got lost just north of Royan and added an extra 10 kms getting back on track. We passed some delightful houses in the countryside along the way.


We decided to end the day in Rochefort after 65 kms. After a good night's rest, we headed out Tuesday morning to finish the ride to La Rochelle. We had a strong headwind the whole way, but the small towns on the way provided some relief.


La Rochelle has a lot of maritime history and was passed back and forth between England and France many times as English and French rulers changed. It was well known for it's fortifications and inaccessibility during low tide. We approached the towers protecting the old port just at low tide.


Tomorrow we will take a day off the bikes to explore the maritime museum and other attractions of La Rochelle.

Touring the chateaus

Saturday we rode the bikes around the area surrounding Pauillac. It is a region of the Medoc with some very well known wines. The Medoc is one of the six major wine growing areas around Bordeaux. It is well known because of the Rothschild labels (Mouton Rothschild and Lafite Rothschild). The first chateau we saw north of Paulliac was Lafite Rothschild.


Just down the road was the most unique chateau we've seen, Cos D'Estournel.








Other chateaus were sprinkled along our meandering route.








There are a number of different architectural styles represented, but the buildings are relatively new and date from the 1800's. We stopped for lunch in St. Stephe and the rain started as we ate under the shelter of a bandstand at the school. We rode back to Pauillac in the rain and were glad when we got under cover. We ended our day by watching a very exciting stage of the Tour de France on TV, a gutty performance by all the favorites. Tomorrow we leave Pauillac and we will finish on the north side of the River Gironde.

Heading towards the Medoc

Wednesday morning we left St. Parentis around 9:00 in a light drizzle after watching heavy downpours come down from 7 - 8:30. The weather began to clear after lunch. We had seen guacamole on the menu for a couple of days and ordered it.


It was good, but we missed some good tortilla chips. We continued on north through pine forest, but got closer to the beach. We learned later that there are over a million square hectares of pine forest on France's southern coast. The beaches are natural and the resort areas have simple wooden structures. These are definitely not Italian beaches.


Just south of Archachon, we saw the largest sand dune in France. It is just over 100 meters tall and is a dramatic sight on the coast.


The bay of Archachon is unique in having an outlet to the sea. We had ridden around several lakes on the way north. In the past, they had been open to the sea, but the rivers flowing into them were not strong enough to keep the sandbars from forming and closing off the lakes from the ocean. However, the river flowing into the bay has a strong current and the tidal flow in and out of Archachon is significant. We arrived at high tide when the bay covers 150 square kilometers. When we left on Thursday morning it was low tide when the bay only covers 40 square kilometers. Wow! Boaters really have to plan their outings according to the tides!





Thursday was a long day (96 kilometers), but we had a tailwind for nearly 33 kilometers. We ended up camping next to small chateau that was a chambres d'hotes. There was no room at the inn, but the owners graciously allowed us to camp on the grounds.


Friday morning we had a nice breakfast in the chateau before heading towards Paulliac in the heart of the Medoc region north of Bordeaux. The chateaus along the road were breathtaking.





Chateaus fairly dotted the countryside. They stuck out on the skyline, here, there, everywhere. Tonight we are in Pauillac, just south of some of the really famous wine chateaus. Tomorrow we will go without luggage to make a circuit of some of the most architecturally interesting chateaus.

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.

Three days of R&R in Jurancon

We arrived in Jurancon on Wednesday night and Helene had a wonderful dinner of Poulet Basquaise (chicken prepared with a Basque recipe). It had tomatoes, onions, herbs and was served over rice. However, the meal started with a delightful aperitif of local Jurancon wine and this was an indicator of the fine wines we would enjoy over the next 3 days. On Thursday we headed into Basque country. The Basque country straddles the border between France and Spain into the Pyrenees from the Atlantic coast. It has many small villages and each village has a unique heritage. The first village we visited is on the pilgrimage route to Santiago de Compostela and is St. Jean pied du Port.


The Basque houses are usually painted red and white. We had an excellent lunch of trout (caught that morning) and then headed out to the next village.



Espelette could be called Pepper town, its specialty is the Basque piment (pepper) and they are hanging from many buildings in the town.





The third village we visited, Ainhoa, had a wonderful traditional Basque church. In the traditional Basque church the men sit in pews in balconies above the main aisle to look down on all the women and you can see the balconies in this picture.


On Friday after going to the local market day in Jurancon, we were off to the Pyrenees to the Col du Souler (part of the Tour de France on July 15) and the Col d'Aubisque.











Saturday was the day to clean up the bikes, work on the route to Bordeaux, and go into Pau. We worked hard all day and then headed into Pau. Pau was a fashionable place for health in the late 1800's and many wealthy British people came to live in Pau. It has a lot of parks and promenades in addition to a 17th century castle.


Bernard and Helene took very good care of us with gourmet meals and first class local wines.


We got everything we needed; rest, relaxation, and great company. Thank you, Bernard and Helene.

Leo and Steph and into Gascogne

As we were saying...We paused in the small village of St. Maurin, ordered a beer at the cafe and called our friend Leo to come and escort us the last 4 kms to his home. Dave had been corresponding with Leo via email since being introduced by our friend in common, Bernard. Leo is an avid bicycle tourist and has many excellent journals and articles on the website www.crazyguyonabike.com. When we arrived at his old stone farmhouse we were greeted by Leo's wife, Steph. We had a great evening swapping tales and Leo gave Belinda a good route to Pau.






The next morning we bid farewell to Steph while Leo accompanied us (in a light rain)until noon. They are a great couple and their hospitality is as good as it gets.





Our route included a little more time on the canal. The canal du Midi was built in the 1600's and is an engineering marvel with 63 locks. The rain stopped just before lunch and the sun came out. We passed through a small village that legend says has been saved by cats two times. The story is that during a famine the villagers ate all the cats and survived the famine. The next few years were good harvests and the rats multiplied and the village was facing starvation again when a young girl admitted that she had hidden one cat. The cat had kittens and they stopped the rats and the village was saved again. We finished the day in Condom.





The town sign was stolen innumerable times before the mayor started a museum of condom history (but not the town's history). Gascogne is also the homeland of the musketeer, D'Artagnan. That character created by Dumas is actually based on the life of Count D'Artagnan who was a musketeer. Here were some fortifications just down the road.






After spending Monday night in Condom we headed out Tuesday morning with cool sunny skies. All day we rode past vineyards recognized as Cotes du Gascogne and many producers of Armagnac. We finished the day in Aire sur l'Adour and had an excellent Cotes du Gascogne red wine with dinner. After dinner we tried the Armagnac which reminded us of a cross between brandy and a fine single malt scotch. Wednesday morning was cool and overcast as we headed toward Pau through more beautiful farmland.





Bernard and Helene met us 30 kms outside of Pau to guide us to their home. We met Bernard in 2006 as he was finishing his bicycle tour across the United States. Our friends Ray and Brenda had crossed paths with Bernard earlier in Kansas and invited him to visit when he got to California. It was during this visit that we met Bernard.




They live in a small old town, Jurancon, just over the river from Pau. Here is one of the views of Pau from the bridge.






We will be sightseeing and resting with Bernard and Helene from Thursday through Saturday. The Basque country and the Pyrenee mountains are on the agenda.

A three day sojourn on the Canal du Midi

On Friday, we left Carcassone riding into a moderate headwind, but after 12 kilometers Dave noticed that we had passed over the canal and we could see that there was a small gravel road next to the canal. We turned back and started down the canal. It was clear that all the local traffic, horses and bicycles, were using the path. It eliminated the headwind and was cool and shady.


We continued on, but the track kept getting smaller and smaller. Finally, we were on a single track and bouncing over every tree root for several kilometers. At last we met the paved bike path and off we went to Villefranche. We had a wonderful dinner of cassoulet with duck and Toulouse sausage. We got up Saturday and continued on the bike path with a goal to get beyond Toulouse. We got through Toulouse (a city of 1.1 million) in an hour and 15 minutes on the canal bike path.


On the canal we saw barges with all sorts of purposes. The one pictured above is a music venue. We also saw barges as houseboats, bed and breakfasts and even a yoga studio.


We ended the day with a great meal in Girsolles. Today, Sunday, we started fairly early because we knew we had many kilometers to go to reach our friends Leo and Steph. Along the way we stumbled on a old west town.


Finally we turned off the canal and up into the hills to reach our friends house. Here is our last look at the canal we have followed for three days.


We paused in St. Maurin and Leo rode his bike to meet us and guide us the last 4 kilometers to his house.