Descending to Lodeve on the final day. Spectacular.
Part two of our unprepared/untrained/unorganized Atlantic to Mediterranean bicycle tour. Part one can be found here. The route chosen would take us from St Malo to Béziers via the Loire, Canal Latéral de la Garonne and Canal du Midi, passing through the regions of Brittany, Pays de la Loire, Aquitaine, Midi Pyrénées and Languedoc-Roussillon. We decided to camp along the way to save cash and mainly eat delicate French pastries. We had not ever attempted a ‘longish’ bike ride before, let alone we hadn’t done any training. As always, any questions please contact us.
Day 7
Journey: Bordeaux to Cadillac
Distance: 41km
Time Taken (Including stops): 3hrs
Route : Bordeaux, Bègles, Villenave d’Ornon, Cadaujac, Podensac, Cadillac
Accommodation and cost for two: Camping Intercommunal Piscine – €13.40
After doing almost everything possible (me not wanting to get up mainly) to miss our first train, we made it, packed in with commuters for the morning rush hour. After a quick change we were back in the South of France.
(Saumur – Bordeaux by Train €140 for two persons incl of bike space reservation TGV charge of €10 each)
Bordeaux, I’m sure is a delightful place. Plenty of people have told us so. We however just breezed through and got more familiar with some B roads and questionably safe junctions. We saw a place on the map called Cadillac, so we thought we had to visit. This is where we started to get a feeling that we were in wine country. The corn fields and slate roofed houses that never seemed to leave our field of vision ‘up north’ were now replaced by vineyards and terracotta roofs. After a stop in a small one bar town called Podensac where we were told our plans were crazy by some French guys we followed the road to Cadillac where we were happy to find the campsite was also the local swimming pool. Unfortunately for me the ‘no speedos, no entry policy’ was enforced here and I couldn’t quite bring myself to borrow a pair from the nice man, so we settled for a beer in the town.
Day 8
Journey: Cadillac – Le Mas d’Agenais
Distance: 63km
Time Taken (Including stops): 4hrs
Route: Toulenne, Castets-en-Dorthe (To the start of the Garonne Cycle path), Fontet, Le Mas d’Agenais
Accommodation and cost for two: L’Aire Naturelle de camping “Les Allées” du Mas d’Agenais – €5
Hunting for the start of our cycle path took us off the beaten track to some more ‘middle of nowhere’ spots. Little towns with nothing going on surrounded by fields of vines. It really is idyllic at times out there. Eventually Ollie found a path to Castets-en-Dorthe where we rolled onto the Garonne’s cycle path. We decide on a short day of cycling and head for the quaint little town of Le Mas d’Agenais, and we find a small campsite split in half. One side exclusively populated with tour cyclists and the other side a few French families who seemed to have installed themselves in this little grassy car park for the summer. While the cyclists heated up their tinned dinner on camping stoves and washed their well-worn padded shorts out, the French sat together and enjoyed what looked like yet another evenings ‘apero’ together, before retreating to their respective four wheeled homes for dinner as families. We drank wine out of plastic cups and pondered our route for the next day.
Day 9
Journey: Le Mas d’Agenais-Valence d’Agen
Distance: 81km
Time Taken (Including stops): 4hr50min
Route : Cycle Path – Canal du Garonne
Accommodation and cost for two: Campsite Unknown and would not recommend – €6
Should have probably stayed here: http://valencedagen.net/camping-caravaning/
After a leisurely 81km along the picturesque Garonne we arrived in Valence d’Agen where we rolled into a little bar where we sunk a few frosties and rested the muscles. Ollie found herself in need of a replacement screw for her cycling cleats and found a bicycle shop that time had forgotten. The keeper of antiquated two wheeled accessories was very happy to oblige for the princely sum of 1€. Camping was less pleasing that evening as after an hour of trying to drive tent pegs into concrete like grass nearly bringing us tears with frustration, we were then subjected to French scout troupe who felt it necessary to choose that night to mix their expressive Franco-teenage emotions with multiple cases of beer until around 3am. These bastards were told to “dib-dob off” by many but listened not. A strongly worded letter to the head scout is still due!
Day 10
Journey: Valence d’Agen – Toulouse
Distance: 97km
Time Taken (Including stops): 5hr10min
Route: Cycle Path – Canal du Garonne
Accommodation and cost for two: Hotel Le Royal Wilson – €60
The Garonne is a great ride for a beginner cyclist as its flat, full of signs and very, very beautiful for the most part. A fantastic addition was a variety of randomly placed art projects installed along the way, ranging from straw models to a full size pink Star Wars X-wing suspended above the canal.
With no time Toulouse (sorry) we headed for one of our favorite spots in France, the Ville Rose. Toulouse. We had only just visited a few weeks earlier; you can read my father’s guest post on the sunny city here.
The last stretch in Toulouse was a big push for us, just shy of 100km along the flat where we found the path a bit samey and boring. Very industrial and bleak looking but an easy ride. So many other tour cyclists of all ages littered the path on our way but we were in the zone that day. As we passed a gaggle of British ladies who I suspect were some kind on some kind of public sector bonding excursion, the town was in sight. It felt like a homecoming for us and soon found ourselves in our favorite bar visiting our favourite lethargic barman and aloof pub dog, while we enjoyed some pricey ‘demis of Belgian beer’. A day to rest our bones, and a chance to visit a lovely little restaurant called Le May for some steak and wine was much needed.
Day 11
Journey: Toulouse – Castelnaudary
Distance: 65km
Time Taken (Including stops): 7hrs
Route: Cycle Path – Canal Du Midi
Accommodation and cost for two: Camping Municipal Castelnaudary €11
Bellies full of steak, pizza and beer with bodies full of sleep we set off to check out this Canal-du-Midi everyone wants to visit so much. As we reached the city limits, my rack decided to snap, so back we pedalled to Decathlon to search for a replacement. After a quick fit on the street out front we were off, rolling past canal boat city and off south to warmer climes.
We were struck by the difference between this and the previous canal, as this seemed much rougher, older and ultimately busier. It sounds strange, but our fellow cyclists were less friendly here. No ‘brother on two wheeled head nods’ or even a cheeky bonjour along this path. Lucky the scenery was so pleasing.
We rolled into Castelnaudary where we found a picturesque campsite surrounded by sunflowers and inhabited by not only cyclists and speedo enthusiasts as normal but also a group of medieval re-enactment types who along with offering some ‘smithing’ lessons were serving an overpriced cassoulet for dinner. A visit to the supermarket for bread, cheese and beer was a better option for us as we planned our route for the morrow.
Day 12
Journey: Castelnaudary – Trèbes
Distance: 55km
Time Taken (Including stops): 2hr40min
Route: D33 to Carcassonne, N113 to Trèbes
Accommodation and cost for two: Ville de Trèbes Camping €16
Canal Du Midi… Canal Du Midi… Canal Du Midi. Everyone bloody bangs on about wanting to cycle down the bloody Canal Du Midi. I don’t get it. The Garonne doesn’t seem to get a look in. I’ve stumbled onto a Guardian article where a lady with more money than sense paid £3,000 for a week cycling along the Canal Du Midi. As we would soon discover and from what you can probably tell from my tone, even though the Midi is older and has much old architecture, our preference lies with the Garonne.
After the tour cyclist friendly path ended around 15km before Castelnaudary the previous day and turned into a mud track, we decided to leave it altogether. We soon found our way onto an amazingly flat and straight old roman road where we zipped into Carcassonne in no time. The fantastic old castle sitting proudly on the skyline as we headed to the center of town for a beer and visit another of our ‘old haunts’ for a refreshing demi. As we had previously conquered the castle on our last visit we jumped back on the road and found ourselves in the delightful little town of Trèbes.
The price of camping was steep, but it was yet another wonderful spot by a river. We ventured off to explore the town and found a little spot by the canal to drink some locally made white wine and watch the end of the Tour de France.
Day 13
Journey: Trèbes – Capestang
Distance: 65km
Time Taken (Including stops): 7hrs
Route: Trèbes – Homps on and off the Canal du Midi path as very rough. Homps- Capestang via D124 and D418
Accommodation and cost for two: Camping Municipal de Tounel €13
Heads a little sore to say the least after one bottle of delicious wine too many we set out along the Canal-du-Midi again, to give it another chance. It was a foolish choice with our setup. If you have a mountain bike and no luggage, I would suggest you go for it. Cycling over waterlogged and mossy Roman aqueducts and through muddy tracks is not something you want to be doing when you have all of your worldly possessions on the back of your thin two wheels.
Deciding to come off was a fantastic choice as we soon found some back roads taking us through some ‘fantastically French’ towns and fields. Capestang is another little choice spot and attracts a few tourists on four wheels as well as two. The huge church tower makes the town seem like a medieval fortress from the distance as you approach. The town itself has no shortage of watering holes and another expensive campsite to accompany.
Day 14
Journey: Capestang – Ceilhès
Distance: 35km (Capestang to Béziers)
Time Taken (Including stops): 4 hours (To Béziers)
Route: Capestang – Colombiers D11 and D162. Colombiers to Béziers – Canal Du Midi. Beziers to Ceilhès – Train (€1 Each!)
Accommodation and cost for two: Camping d’Arbousses €16
A long day planned but we are determined to save cash and get up into the hills so we set off along the back roads towards Béziers. Feeling like we should give it one more chance, we decide to hop back onto the Canal du Midi for the last trip into Béziers. It was rough, but not as rough, but involved a tantrum or two.
After rolling past the iconic 8 locks of Fonserannes we found ourselves trying to stay alive on the unaccommodating roads into town towards the city center. Béziers is not a nice place for cyclists. Large hills and traffic-clogged roads. We sought shelter in the park for a little lunch and rest before hopping on our train into the hills.
The train was pretty empty, and we soon realized why. We were heading into the middle of nowhere. Our stop arrived, and not only were we the only people to get off, but we were the only people around. Not even a platform at this station. After pondering our choices in life that led us to this place, we set off and stumbled upon a little Dutch run farm where we sought shelter for the night in a field.
Day 15
Journey: Ceilhès – St-Etienne-de-Gourgas
Distance: U/K – About 25km
Time Taken (Including stops): 5 hours
Route: Up a big hill and down a bigger one
The last day, and it was going to be a hard one. You couldn’t drag us out of that tent. The world was cold, wet, windy and grey. Getting out of that tent would mean that we would have to ponder why we had chosen to come and live in this awful dreary climate when the Mediterranean was only down the hill. But we finally managed it…at 11am.
Up…Up…Up! What a hill. I don’t know the exact height or distance, but we were as near vertical you could get at times. People passing us in their struggling cars were looking at us and for once we were those people. Those ‘nutters’ you see out there. We carried on climbing for near two hours in the grey and wet afternoon and soon found ourselves covered in cloud. And then…we reached the top and soon needed to apply some layers for the descent.
What a difference a hill makes. As we rolled down the hill the landscape opened up to us as did the sunshine, bathing the bountiful green hills in warm glow as for as we could see. Lac de Salagou, 30km away was in sight as well as collection of other rocky terrains for exploring in the near future.
Down…Down…Down! What a hill! Into sleepy Lodève for a quick coffee before we set out for St-Etienne-de-Gourgas, which will be our new work away home for the months ahead.
So, was it worth it? The aches and pains that we didn’t know we had? The poor night’s sleeps? The never ending oil stains? Starting every morning by packing up a tent and fighting with the pannier bags? Pulling on the cold and wet Lycra shorts every morning after applying cream to your nether-regions? Of course it was. In fact, I quite like the stretchy shorts now.
After exploring a continent via bus this was a welcome change. A fantastic way to immerse yourself into your surroundings and find some unexpected gems. I would suggest if you are thinking of it, and are worried you are not fit enough or don’t have enough experience, then just do it. You get fitter as you go, and if all goes terribly wrong, you can always check into a hotel and then fly home with the bike. Just get on your bike and give it a go!
Our final stop…for now.
hop on the good foot 