Grand city grand town, grand coutryside
Up and out. We saw no one this morning as we merged from 'la cave' at 8am and headed for the middle of Bordeaux.
We followed the sat nav which took us through the city on cycle routes. These are always fascinating because the route is off the beaten track to stay on the quiet roads. You see the non-tourist side. And then, suddenly we found ourselves in the middle of a very impressive square with the cathedral, an immense hotel de ville and several chi chi cafés. We stopped at one and had coffees for a very chi chi price! We then followed the grand river Garonne seeing more amazing squares and impressive buildings before crossing the river and re entering the 'behind the scenes' part of the city again.
I thought the route was going to be quite flat today so was surprised as well as apologetic when things took a nasty turn out of the city. Upwards! We climbed for what seemed an hour but that's probably an exaggeration.
We left the grand city and entered grand countryside. This is the land of the Bordeaux grape - a favourite of ours. (When it's fermented a bit) This was also France as we know it from regular visits to the country. Vineyards, sunflowers, sleepy little villages on yellow stone which ages so gracefully. Chateaux which were evidently still family seats. And of course, all villages, however small, have the Marie residence, a bar tabac, a boulangerie (open from 6am to 9am) a pharmacie and a minimum of three hairdressers. All the above are shut for most of the day....
We arrived in the grand town of Libourne, having crossed the second mighty river of the day, the Dordogne. The square in Libourne was stunning. The French seem to proportion buildings so well!
We decided to make good choices today, having been caught out a bit yesterday. We then had one of those contre temps which it's so easy to have when everything is different. It always strikes us that when we are not doing normal life, we learn lots about each other. Even now. I won't bore you with the details but in the end we both sat down and had a very mature discussion about how we both felt. As a result of this impressive connecting time, we agreed that we would make sure that we didn't buy the same food for lunch and for the evening meal. So we bought ham and cheese in the supermarket then went straight to a bar tabac where we bought ham and cheese baguettes. We might as well have not connected and remained immature. It's what we do best.
The rest of the ride was beautiful. Apart from a very short piece of dual carriageway, we cycled little lanes all the way including one which was so tiny it only just qualified as a lane and looked a bit worrying at times but as Kate reminded me, we have done the West Highland Way so we can do anything!
We arrived near our accommodation an hour before we could actually turn up so found a shady spot in the little village of Le Pizou and sat contentedly trying to read from a large collection of books which populated an ex phone kiosk - as you often see in the UK. Except that these were in french....
Our accommodation is fantastic. For the same price as the grim static caravan, we have a wing of a beautiful house. Breakfast is included. They speak very little English but the hosts had learnt "would you like a beer?"
Today has been extremely hot. 30° at a guess. My, abstein from alcohol thing evaporated and we sat in their lovely big garden sharing a beer. As Kate said, "We could almost be on holiday."
Tomorrow is a long ride and the weather app assures us that we will have rain and thunder. But tomorrow is another day and there's another beer in the fridge. Grand!
Sounds like such a beautiful ride - I'm almost envious. Well done being such grown ups!🤣
ReplyDeleteAccommodation looks fabulous, well picked! The Marie building in Libourne looks huge, I know they like to be flamboyant to reinforce the status of the Marie! You are doing so well, keep on pedaling!
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