Day 14 - Castres to Narbonne (109km, 1,250m)

Friday, May 30th, 2014

Route Map and Garmin Ride Statistics

Les Jones cycles 1,000 miles from Eastbourne to Barcelona for St Wilfrid's Hospice

The hotel in Castres was very eclectic, and good, but also well situated in a small alley just near the main square. The BA van managed to get in to collect the luggage, and the sun was shining when we all set off some time between 8:00am and 9:00am.

But as we climbed out of Castres heading for the Black Mountains (in the distance), there were a few drops of rain, and the sky looked quite ominous - not another day of rain in the hills?!

After 20km we joined a cycle path which continued for another 10km. There seem to be quite a few cycle paths in Europe (well, Portugal and France, anyway), but they don't appear to link up and they're often not well maintained. This one was rammed earth, and may have been a former railway line.

Continuing along the bike path, which occasionally went through village car parks, the clouds over the Black Mountains weren't improving.

And near the bottom of the climb we thought the worse - 10km of steady climbing into rain clouds.

But it didn't rain, and by the time we got to the top it was still dry. Unfortunately, there was nothing at the top, and therefore no reason to stop...the wind had also started to blow and we got cold whenever we stopped anyway.

But a few kilometers into the descent, the sun came out, and the wind increased, fortunately from behind us. 

We stopped at a lookout, and suddenly all the work in getting here seemed worthwhile.

I had a banana, a big drink, enjoyed the sun momentarily, and prepared for the rest of the long descent.

10km later and we were riding across a long ridge between farm land on the left and national park on the right with a view of the valley through which the Canal du Midi flows.

Then the frequency of vineyards increased, and we realised we were in the heart of the Langudoc Minervois region, well known even in Australia for its wine. It was quite different country to that we had been riding through for the past two weeks. Very Mediterranean, in fact.

 

The Minerve river flows though a kind of canyon along which we spent an hour or cycling. This little oasis is next to the town of Minerve where we had lunch.

We crossed the bridge...

And on the other side found a tourist town with lots of cafes and restaurants. Some of the others were already there, so we found a spot in the outside terrace and had a very nice cheese omelet with a coke!

Back on the slow descent along the Minerve valley we looked back at the town in which we had just eaten, vineyards still taking up every piece of available, relatively flat ground.

I was aware that we would cross the Canal du Midi today, and when I saw a sign to La Somail approaching I knew exactly where would cross it.

I convinced Trevor to take a slight detour to the port of La Somail, and the Boulangerie boat was still there - Prue and I stocked up here when we were on the Canal in 2012.

And here's the (very narrow) stone bridge that leads to a quaint bookshop and the bread barge on the other side. I remember how tight it was getting the boat through here, spending the night on the other side, and almost certainly having a drink in one of those bars!

The wind built up and it was starting to buffer us quite a lot. The last 10km or so into Narbonne was via a (poorly maintained) bike path, followed by some very complicated navigation through the outer suburbs and industrial area of Narbonne (in the distance).

Our hotel, part of the Campanile chain was "traveling salesman basic", and mine still smells of cigarettes, despite the "no smoking" sign on the door.

We all ate at the only restaurant in the area, and it also became the "celebratory" dinner for the trip. Apparently, trying to organise the group into eating together in Carcasonne doesn't work - there are too many options in the "citadel", and none cater for large groups.

The forecast for tomorrow is for strong headwinds winds (60km+), some some people have already decided to take the train to Carcasonne, 35 minutes away. Many will ride, and a few of us will ride to Narbonne Plage (ie. the Mediterranean), have a coffee, then also take the train. I'm one of those people - I have no strength for an 80km push into a strong headwind, especially once I've actually reached to Med.

And if you think the Campanile is basic, try the Formule 1 across the road from my room!