Thursday, May 29th, 2014
Route Map and Garmin Ride Statistics
We departed Villefranche with the weather threatening to rain. Indeed, there had been some rain earlier so the roads were very wet.
After a long steep climb, and a few even steeper shorter climbs, we descended into a deep gorge at Laguepie and here I realised that my camera battery was flat. Trevor took over official blog photographer, and crossing the bridge we didn't realise that the road out of the gorge "climbed very steeply".
It was Ascension Day in France and we were led to believe that everything would be shut. Many people had even bought food the day before, just in case. After 45km we arrived in Cordes, a hill town with its "Cite" even higher than the road and cafes where we stopped.
The place was buzzing, and there was no problem obtaining food, coffee or other supplies. The rain was also holding off.
Most of us were here at one time or another, and when we pressed on. What seemed like an eternity later, we followed a "lost" Noreen into Gaillac and happened upon a Boulangerie with the best selection of sandwiches and cakes we had seen in France so far. This was our very welcome lunch stop.
By 85km we were at Graulhet, a pretty little town with a nice medieval bridge. Unfortunately, with 120km to do, we decided that a stop wasn't required. We pushed on, up and down, with the weather still holding off. Indeed, for this stretch of the day it looked like it had never rained.
Not much further on, we came across Mark and Fran, happy campers, having their pre-prepared lunch in a bus shelter. It wasn't raining, from what I remember, but the sky was becoming very dark.
Then it did rain, and quite heavily. Trevor, Noreen, Simon and I headed for a nearby barn to wait out the worst of it.
We got wet, but decided to push on to Lautrec at 100km (of 120km) and seek shelter. Once there, there no longer seemed any point in stopping, so we road the final 20km into Castres as quickly as we could, the rain having eased considerably by now.
A lot seemed to happened between the above picture, and the next one taken from my hotel room. Most significantly, I showered, washed my clothes, and the sun came out!
It's a quirky hotel (Hotel Renaissance), with themed rooms and exposed parts of the original building everywhere, even in my room.
There is even a funky collection of furniture and clothing in the lobby and adjacent salon.
That's hotel reception through the archway.
And that's me resting my legs while I wait for the others to come down.
Earlier, I took a walk alone to re-acquaint myself with the Castres that I saw 15 years earlier. It's still as lovely as I recall. The river is a cross between relatively nearby Espalion (from another two trips) and Girona in Spain.
And I found the Goya Museum nearby very easily. These are the gardens at the back of the museum.
Back at the river, Trevor and I both thought the "pisoir" was worth photographing - I don't know why now...
But I do know why the square was photogenic - it was a public holiday in France and the sun was shining and the air smelling of Spring. The bars were filling up.
And we were onto our firts red wines, after our first beers. It was sunny, but clearly not quite "balmy" yet.
Michel from the hotel had organised a place for dinner, and most of us agreed it was one of the best we had had on the trip. Here's 8 of us (including me) at one table, and there were another 9 at another table. It was a fun night. Even camper Simon joined us, something that isn't possible every night due to the distance between camp ground and hotel.
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