tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-43015313991805066872024-03-13T09:04:18.229-07:00 Georges and Myrtle: The Length and BreadthAt the combined age of 99.75 we decided to let Georges and Myrtle take us on our biggest peddling adventure yet. The plan is to ride from home in Rugby to l'autre chez nous vers Le Muy in Provence following the length and breadth of France.
We will try to keep the journey updated along the way as best we can and as solar power feeds the laptop.
Our draft route has a page link down the right side.
Georges - Giant Roam 2 &
Myrtle - Raleigh Spirit 300Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13553004944939602171noreply@blogger.comBlogger57125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4301531399180506687.post-69517027345825248672014-05-26T00:53:00.001-07:002014-05-26T00:54:12.023-07:00<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><b>Sunday 25th May - Sainte Maxime to Canebieres - What do we do now?!</b><br /><br />Following a luxurious lie-in, we headed into Sainte Maxime for a typical on the road breakfast but as a treat, added a café stop for hot drinks. Bought some simple fresh provisions and set off out of town for the climb on very familiar roads.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br />Saving our steepest hills till the end, it all seemed a little bit of a blur; it was a little hard to believe that the plan made on the 1st Gevrey-Chambertain Day, just over a year ago, had finally been fulfilled.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br />The final tally was 2,152km - we allowed our sweat and tears (of joy) to flow over the patio, tanks just a little empty for now . . .</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br /><i><b>Closed Path</b><br /><br />I thought that my voyage had come to its end<br />at the last limit of my power,---that the path before me was closed,<br />that provisions were exhausted<br />and the time come to take shelter in a silent obscurity.<br /><br />But I find that thy will knows no end in me.<br />And when old words die out on the tongue,<br />new melodies break forth from the heart;<br />and where the old tracks are lost,<br />new country is revealed with its wonders.<br /><br />Rabindranath Tagore</i></span>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13553004944939602171noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4301531399180506687.post-18038511581418473862014-05-24T13:16:00.000-07:002014-05-24T13:16:15.216-07:00<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<b><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Saturday 24th May - Riviera Retreat to Sainte Maxime - Almost Home!</span></b><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Shared the start of the day's trail with Janet and Ron for 10km on the Chemin des Pignes in glorious still sunshine. Then, hugs and goodbyes as we headed off alone again to Sainte Maxime.</span> <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Territory began to get more and more familiar as we passed villages and vineyards that have been our backyard away from home for years.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Just a few tears were hidden under the helmet as we entered Sainte Maxime and headed to the beach for our picnic lunch. We treated ourselves to a beer on the sand before checking in to our final hotel stop. Jane had always wanted to stay over on the coast with the opportunity to indulge with food and wine. We had a great evening out and now, just need to steel ourselves for the 12 mile climb to Canebieres in the morning.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">So, this adventure is shortly to close but it seems some more ideas may be brewing . . . </span>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13553004944939602171noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4301531399180506687.post-45407541151685415462014-05-24T12:56:00.001-07:002014-05-24T12:56:55.154-07:00<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<b><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Thursday 22nd and Friday 23rd May - Retreating in the Retreat</span></b><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">We had two great days of rest and recouperation with Janet and Ron; Provencal mooching on beaches and in towns, marred only by Janet's insistence that we help her hold the sky in place for what seemed like a ridiculously long time!</span><br />
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<br />Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13553004944939602171noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4301531399180506687.post-84212532970673379432014-05-24T12:45:00.001-07:002014-05-24T13:21:59.999-07:00<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<b><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Wednesday 21st May - Le Pradet to Secret Riviera Retreat</span></b><br />
<b><i><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Turns out that Parker's sister Francoise is standing in the European Elections for the Thunderbirds Party (complete with excellent puppet name)</span></i></b><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">A shortish day with a return of the sun but, 40km+ into a headwind on our route to catch up with Janet and Ron. Found the Cheshire Hillbillies well and truly ensconced on their site and ready with the warmest of welcomes!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Ron had been out foraging and had found a very rare lemon nik-nak tree which he proceeded to strip bare. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Janet braved out the faux-pas over her incessant calendar mix-ups and produced a wonderful meal. Ron's beer and wine stocks took a bit of a hit this evening but luckily he was too far gone himself to notice the damage ;-)</span><br />
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<br />Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13553004944939602171noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4301531399180506687.post-48349221449997807682014-05-22T09:28:00.005-07:002014-05-22T09:28:54.541-07:00<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><b>Tuesday 20th May - Cassis to Le Pradet - Var Matin</b><br /><br />Cassis turned out to be as hilly to leave as it was to enter but luckily, was the hardest part of the day’s ride. Before the morning was out, we entered the Var; a special milestone for us as this is the Departement of L’Autre Chez Nous.<br /><br />Another milestone for the day was the passing of 2,000km travelled since home, before we had lunch near Bandol on the coast.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Our only seeming hurdle remaining for the day was the crossing of Toulon. This turned out to be a bit of a dream with dedicated cycle routes and lanes for most of the way. Exited the city on a voie verte where ‘Goats do Roam’.<br /><br />News just in on the culinary front, the Snack Monitor has been awarded ‘3 Stockpots’ by Monsieur Pamplemouse.</span>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13553004944939602171noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4301531399180506687.post-78573196579800778322014-05-22T09:25:00.002-07:002014-05-22T09:26:07.969-07:00<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><b>Monday 19th May - Martigues to Cassis - French Connection 2014<br /><i>• Unconscious Uncoupling!<br />• Popeye Doyle where were you when we needed you?</i></b></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Things suddenly began to get steeper!<br /><br />Pretty tough ride to Marseille, with some wind and rain. We had a ‘bit of a moment’ on a downhill stretch through the Marseille outskirts when, much like one of those Pink Panther cartoon sequences, Myrtle’s trailer uncoupled and careered across the opposite carriageway in a seeming overtaking motion! To our great good fortune, despite the otherwise busy road, no cars were present in either direction as it happened! A split-pin had failed but Bicycle Repairman managed to sort a fix which still holds.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">If you ever wake up one morning thinking “today, I really must cycle through Marseille”, take our advice and go back to bed!!! Think of the worst city ride you can imagine and then, make it a whole lot worse.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br />The really big hills came after the delights of Marseille and gave us our latest day finish so far. Made it to our planned destination of Cassis where, it was all we could do to pitch the tent and fall into bed!</span>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13553004944939602171noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4301531399180506687.post-91995796962934963662014-05-22T09:17:00.000-07:002014-05-22T09:18:01.243-07:00<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><b>Sunday 18th May - St Mitre to Martigues - Ping!</b><br /><br />Today was to be our passage through Marseille however, Georges threw another spoke relatively early in the morning and, as it was Sunday, no bike shops would be available for 24hrs. As we’d caught it early, we decided to stay the night in Martigues which meant a cheap hotel stop in these parts.<br /><br />Not too down heartened, we took advantage of the sunshine, the attractive port, the French Rowing Championships and an excellent lunch on a quai.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Caught up with the Archers Omnibus online as we dozed off with wifi.</span>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13553004944939602171noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4301531399180506687.post-55305509618781267662014-05-17T13:03:00.002-07:002014-05-17T13:03:16.553-07:00<b><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Note to Teresa</span></b><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Back to work now, you're not being paid to read this rubbish!</span> ;-)Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13553004944939602171noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4301531399180506687.post-55528312665776394502014-05-17T12:57:00.002-07:002014-05-17T22:20:35.718-07:00<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<b><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Saturday 17th May - Saint Marie de la Mer to St Mitre les Remparts</span></b><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">A great morning's ride across and through the heart of the Camargue; generally very good riding but just with a few wind-blown sandy sections that needed a little ploughing through!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Real pink flamingos in evidence today. Some</span> <span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">fast busy roads followed the crossing of the Petit Rhone by Bac but, tails were up today and we finished ahead of our notional programme at Camping Sarl Felix de la Bastide.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Dutch owned and inspired, it has possibly the best atmosphere of all the sites we've stayed at and, probably worth a revisit for the hospitality alone!</span> <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Our traveling exploits seemed to quickly circulate the site and local celebrity ensued.</span>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13553004944939602171noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4301531399180506687.post-68935873979469002462014-05-17T12:45:00.003-07:002014-05-18T08:49:02.256-07:00<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<b><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Friday 16th May - Aigues Mortes to Saint Marie de la Mer</span></b><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">As we were just ahead of our original programme (and after the previous day's trials), we</span> <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">decided</span> <span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">to have a leisurely morning in Aigues Mortes (walled city blah blah blah - but beautiful ;-)). </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">It turns out, Lot's wife was a much bigger girl than any of us could've imagined! </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">There was a moment when Andy was desperately trying to helpfully remove himself from a German lady's photo shot, only to finally realise that as she continued to pan around, he (or more likely his ludicrous luggage) was her chosen muse ;-)</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Turned out to be one of our best cycling days yet. Saint Marie de la Mer appeared to be having its own version of the Appleby Horse Fair</span> <span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">so, campsite options without a chrome encrusted caravan were somewhat limited but, it transpired that for others, there was a fantastic site down the road where a pink flamingo would spit into your swimming pool at no extra cost!</span><br />
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<br />Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13553004944939602171noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4301531399180506687.post-39589564847193156362014-05-17T12:29:00.000-07:002014-05-17T12:29:31.435-07:00<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<b><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Thursday 15th May - Marseillan Plage to Aigues Mortes</span></b><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><i>(Confessions of an early rising camper)</i></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Getting up early can be a bit of a chore sometimes; this morning I rose to see a member of the campsite staff (oblivious in their chalet) preparing for the working day ahead. Ordinarily bathrooms have opaque windows but such luxuries may need to be spared in straitened economic times</span>.<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"> In her naked mode she applied her make-up in a small retracting mirror, while the peripheral vision remained mine to behold :-)</span> <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">(She was a little less blousey than as she appeared later on reception)</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Great start to the ride on a voie verte to Sete (a boardwalk for Otis Redding to be proud of)</span>.<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">A head wind gusting 40-50mph thereafter provided a little more focus for our potential 'f'ing and blinding!!! Hence the lack of photography for the day!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Later, dodged a snake!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Ultimately, arrived at an excellent campsite where reception thought we looked a little knackered! </span>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13553004944939602171noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4301531399180506687.post-52686011864431062472014-05-14T13:01:00.005-07:002014-05-14T13:01:56.954-07:00<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><b>Wednesday 14th May - Mirepeisset to Marseillan Plage - Club Med 50-51</b></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">This was to be our final day on the Canal du Midi proper (in parts). En route to Beziers we linked with the canal a few times but also took advantage of some swifter and smoother road options to keep progress moving along.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Approaching Beziers we linked more fully just before its fabled Nine Locks. Now we all know that guide book writers need to inject some hyperbole along the way (how else would their toil be recompensed) but a 'great wonder' of the canal might be stretching it a little. Very fine, relatively impressing but, certainly nothing that Foxton Locks couldn't knock into a cocked hat (and have a couple of pubs up its sleeve to boot!)</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Branch out UNESCO! </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Heard our second "he's loaded" comment of the trip from a British tourist; how some people can read blood/alcohol levels at a distance I'll never know - I was certain the bottle of Pastis had gone down un-noticed at breakfast!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Largely great riding through to the Med from Beziers save for those moments when obstacles conspired to put back muscles out!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Reaching the Med has felt like one of the biggest milestones of the journey - close to home but with a few of the toughest days yet to come. There was a certain mathematical symmetry with our campsite location; 50m from the sea and 50 miles from anywhere that you could get a tent peg in the ground!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">We took the little liberty of toasting ourselves on the beach ;-)</span><br />
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13553004944939602171noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4301531399180506687.post-61640687656916518392014-05-14T12:25:00.001-07:002014-05-14T22:52:46.298-07:00<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<b><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Tuesday 13th May - Carcassonne to Mirepeisset</span> - <span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The Rough with the Flat!</span></b><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The canal route out of Carcassonne was much as the guide books had suggested; pretty good surfacing (in the relative context) for the first 15km then 'chemin as you find it'. It was a great day's riding on reflection but, some of the hardest going we've yet experienced through seemingly level terrain. When we stopped for lunch at a lock, we found that in the 'snack-bag' on the trailer, vibrations on the trail had been such that the lid had come off the salt pot and every grain had been thrown out of the holes.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">That the Canal du Midi is beautiful there is no doubt, that it is a promotable cycle route there is a little more doubt, that it is a UNESCO World Heritage Site is in no dispute - that UNESCO is headquartered in France is no coincidence?!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">We left the canal about two-thirds through the day, in part because our obvious camping option was off route but also due to the atrocious surfacing and the need to concentrate entirely on the approaching metres of terrain.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">It turned out to be a blessing in disguise, as the canal can fix you in a very narrow visual corridor; the 'escape' into the countryside was a real additional treat. </span>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13553004944939602171noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4301531399180506687.post-17900461138948225132014-05-14T12:13:00.002-07:002014-05-14T12:30:49.422-07:00<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><b>The Road to Royan</b></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">We have a few video clips of the trail in the can but have struggled to get them uploaded while en route.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Our Cinematographer back home (thanks Budge) has passed this fit to share. We'll try to add more when we can but that might end up being at journey's end.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">You can paste the YouTube link - http://youtu.be/XINwb6xDulE</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">The link has also been added as a page on the blog so you can hopefully link directly from here.</span><br />
<br />Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13553004944939602171noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4301531399180506687.post-43914427435801822982014-05-14T12:05:00.001-07:002014-05-14T12:05:49.877-07:00<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<b><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Map Update</span></b><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Just a little visual update on trip progress to Carcassonne; hopefully just two days from here to our first sighting of the Med!</span><b><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> </span></b>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13553004944939602171noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4301531399180506687.post-40528643254859833202014-05-12T08:32:00.001-07:002014-05-12T08:32:37.068-07:00<br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">We have loaded quite a few more photos to Flickr but we've heard that the page link hasn't been working properly recently and so, tried a Google Photos link page too (this may require you to have/setup a Google Account to view them.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The original Flickr Photostream is still out there somewhere and pasting this link into your browser may renew access - www.flickr.com/photos/117011107@N08/</span>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13553004944939602171noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4301531399180506687.post-8083554038457494702014-05-12T08:17:00.002-07:002014-05-12T08:18:16.368-07:00<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<b><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Sunday 11th and Monday 12th May - Carcassonne</span></b><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">This started with our shortest measured ride as it was less than 3km from the city campsite to our Hotel du Chateau. Once checked in in the early afternoon, we were straight into our laundry duties again!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Knicker Case Update - the missing knickers were found at the bottom of a sleeping bag - for legal reasons and those of continued trail harmony, the sleeping bag owner cannot be identified at this time!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"> Had a great evening in the city; bumped into the French trail riders in a bar just as we were heading for our chosen pizzeria (it'd come 4th in the World Pizza Championship 2012 - we didn't ask the number of entries, nor there position relative to Dominos). As it turns out, one of the best meals out in years and, some promise of a repeat visit was made (and may well be stuck to this evening - Monday). </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Monday has been a glorious day and for a change we'll just leave some more photos to cover our strolls around Carcassonne. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The afternoon closed with the whole expedition team by the pool :-)</span><br />
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<br />Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13553004944939602171noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4301531399180506687.post-30997022994262400442014-05-12T07:42:00.000-07:002014-05-12T07:43:45.055-07:00<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<b><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Saturday 10th May - St Martin Lalande to Carcassonne</span></b><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Great start to the ride through beautiful countryside for the first 10km as we made our way back to the canal. The surface hadn't changed much since the point we left the canal previously in Castelnaudary (and was going to get considerably worse before the day was done. We persevered for most of the way to Carcassonne with the trailer ploughing its own furrow through the undergrowth (it really has performed superbly throughout the trip). The final few kilometres were completed on the road as we awaited our first glimpse of the city walls.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">They came into view with just a kilometre to go to city campsite; a pretty good big site which seemed to have its own live in nightwatchman (a kind of mini Fagin but with a more friendly disposition), how were we to know we'd pitched near his tent and had no option other than to have him as a constant companion on site ;-) To be fair he was extremely friendly, greeted us instantly with sweets and steered us to yet another bike shop, as we planned to replace some worn tyres.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">We had a little time in the evening to make our first foray into the medieval city but wanted to save some of its treasures for the following days as this was our originally planned holiday break within the trip and a 4 star hotel awaited us for the following two nights.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Running through our trip calculations, we've now gone over 1,000 miles and also, pretty sure the distance has eclipsed a certain ride to Northern Spain 33 years ago!</span>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13553004944939602171noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4301531399180506687.post-32163225737105926702014-05-12T07:15:00.000-07:002014-05-12T07:18:43.118-07:00<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<b><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Friday 9th May - Toulouse to St Martin Lalande - Commencement du Canal du Midi</span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Before hitting the canal we stocked up on even more inner tubes and visited the most ornate Orange shop to add some connectivity to Ming Li. Via a few more monuments, we joined the Canal du Midi for what would turn out to be a frustrating long morning; the puncture protection inserts that we'd bought earlier seemed to ironically be causing more punctures than they were preventing. Today we began to fear, perhaps for the first time, that our day's target wouldn't be reached.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> The first 50km of the canal was excellent (much more variety than the Garonne) and on pretty well surfaced piste. Met a couple of very friendly French guys touring the canal at just the point where the track really started to deteriorate. Having lost some time earlier in the day, the final quarter came with greater effort from tired legs, frustrated minds and rough riding. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The tourism season seems to start late in these parts so,</span> <span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">the campsite target was a few miles away from the canal which gave us a timely reminder that the entire landscape doesn't have to be flat! Camping a la Ferme at the Capelle turned out to be a reward in itself though.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">It was a perfect campsite, relaxed, fantastic location and friendly</span> <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">fellow campers</span> <span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">keen to chat about our adventure.With one older German couple, Jane managed to get a casual 'D-Day</span>' <span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">mention into the conversation without any discernible reaction (almost in her dad's "Fire Torpedo 1 engagement in the otherwise calm waters of Port Grimaud forty years ago). The campsite owner scuttled about on his golf-buggy and came delivering our wine just as the food hit the table (he would be back again in the morning with our Brioche Maison :-)).</span></div>
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<br />Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13553004944939602171noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4301531399180506687.post-19787387687816720922014-05-08T13:19:00.000-07:002014-05-08T13:19:22.904-07:00<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Another photo batch has been loaded to the link</span> :-)Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13553004944939602171noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4301531399180506687.post-39473250587256116902014-05-08T13:14:00.002-07:002014-05-08T13:21:36.096-07:00<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<b><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Wednesday 7th & Thursday 8th May - Toulouse - Tu Win</span></b><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The ride into the city from the north certainly didn't show the city's reputedly beautiful face as Camping Deux Rupees gave way to Sans Papiers Homesteads</span> . . .<br />
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. . . <span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">but it turns out that Toulouse does have a beautiful face too</span>! <span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">We have had a great day and a half slowly strolling around the streets (not least for its retailing blast from the past ;-)) </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Jane fears that she may have lost a third of her knicker supply so, down to less than one pair then!</span><br />
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<br />Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13553004944939602171noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4301531399180506687.post-84203160830700347982014-05-08T13:01:00.002-07:002014-05-08T13:02:25.689-07:00<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<b><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Tuesday 6th May - Moissac to Outskirts of Toulouse</span></b><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">A little cloud and the wind returned today; at times in the morning it was like riding into an on-coming falling snow of horse-chestnut blossom. Eyes dusted and teeth gritted we pushed on through the wind until things began to ease and the sun made efforts to force its way through the clouds.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Today seemed to have the least inspiring stretch of the canal and things were pretty quiet and uneventful until a Gendarme shakedown at our lunch stop</span> <span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">(nothing to declare). After lunch we bowled along merrily until hit by yet another puncture c.5km from our planned camp stop at Camping de Rupe on the outskirts of Toulouse.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">'De Rupe' . . . wouldn't have offered them deux rupees! Possibly the worst 3 star campsite we've seen but easily rating 3 Squeals on the Hillbilly Rating. Perhaps we should have been reassured by the presence of the police helicopter overhead in the evening and the following morning ;-)</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Our plan had been to stay for two nights and take another city break from here into Toulouse but, we didn't feel comfortable with the idea of abandoning all possessions for a day while heading into the city on the metro. Bit the bullet that evening and booked a two night stop in the city for the following days. Surely the Rose City of Toulouse could beat its northern outskirts for charm?! </span>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13553004944939602171noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4301531399180506687.post-35383624229416058562014-05-07T11:13:00.001-07:002014-05-07T11:13:14.416-07:00<div class="tab-content active" id="poem-top">
<h1>
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">The Road Not Taken</span></h1>
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<span class="author">By <a href="http://www.poetryfoundation.org/bio/robert-frost"> Robert Frost</a> </span>
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Two roads diverged in a yellow wood, </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">And sorry I could not travel both </span></div>
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</span><div style="padding-left: 1em; text-indent: -1em;">
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">And be one traveler, long I stood </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">And looked down one as far as I could </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">To where it bent in the undergrowth; </span></div>
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</span><div style="padding-left: 1em; text-indent: -1em;">
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Then took the other, as just as fair, </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">And having perhaps the better claim, </span></div>
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</span><div style="padding-left: 1em; text-indent: -1em;">
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Because it was grassy and wanted wear; </span></div>
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</span><div style="padding-left: 1em; text-indent: -1em;">
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Though as for that the passing there </span></div>
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</span><div style="padding-left: 1em; text-indent: -1em;">
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Had worn them really about the same, </span></div>
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</span><div style="padding-left: 1em; text-indent: -1em;">
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">And both that morning equally lay </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">In leaves no step had trodden black. </span></div>
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</span><div style="padding-left: 1em; text-indent: -1em;">
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Oh, I kept the first for another day! </span></div>
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</span><div style="padding-left: 1em; text-indent: -1em;">
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Yet knowing how way leads on to way, </span></div>
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</span><div style="padding-left: 1em; text-indent: -1em;">
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">I doubted if I should ever come back. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">I shall be telling this with a sigh </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Somewhere ages and ages hence: </span></div>
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</span><div style="padding-left: 1em; text-indent: -1em;">
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Two roads diverged in a wood, and I— </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">I took the one less traveled by, </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">And that has made all the difference.</span></div>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13553004944939602171noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4301531399180506687.post-46472343576816381522014-05-05T08:59:00.001-07:002014-05-07T11:08:34.712-07:00<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><b>Monday 5th May - Moissac - Tout Calme au Cloitre</b><br /><br />Over 50th birthday patisseries last evening we revised plans a little in the light of a fixed hotel booking we have coming soon for a break in Carcassonne. So today turned into our most relaxed day so far.<br /><br />No ‘alarming cockerel’, the passage of morning time beyond inner condensation, dismissive glances at unpacked panniers and raspberry ‘jaffa’ cakes for petit dejeuner ;-)<br /><br />Strolled into Moissac across the Pont de Napolean over the Tarn and headed for a very leisurely lunch in the square by the Abbey. Excellent food, local beer and a chilled and very rosy pichet of rose.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Moissac appears to be something of a confluence for a number of French trails heading for the Camino on the pilgrimage to Santiago de Compostella. One of the focal points here is the abbey cloister. Cool, tranquil and calming, intricate carving and wonderful peace.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Back at camp, a quick visit to the piscine and a little more of the fabulous ‘Confederacy of Dunces’!</span>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13553004944939602171noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4301531399180506687.post-21751412675554433002014-05-04T10:25:00.001-07:002014-05-07T11:10:25.323-07:00<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>Sunday 4th May - Boe to Moissac - Saga horizons open to all!</b><br /><br />The second birthday morning of the week was greeted by clear blue skies and another wash which didn’t reach the scale of needing a towel! Just a few cards and presents had made it on the trip and were gratefully received as the travellers hit a combined 101.<br /><br />A beautiful stretch of the canal awaited us and most of the planned miles would be knocked off by lunchtime so that the birthday could be celebrated at a more leisurely pace. Mid morning coffee came up at Valence d’Agen where we unexpectedly wound up in a bric-a-brac market - none of our tat was sold but, temptations for a purchase ran high until we were certain that the Edith Piaf tribute act in the square wasn’t actually for sale.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />The campsite at Moissac turned out to be a superb one so, we managed to pitch early before heading into town for a relaxed afternoon. An earlier birthday text had advised that memory loss can kick in pretty quickly in the 50s so, I’d better record here (lest I don’t recall or believe it later) that I actively chose to handwash my socks and pants as a birthday treat (for others, if not for me).</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Into Moissac for the afternoon, definitely another place to add to the list for a return visit. A beautiful small old town with a majestic abbey church and cloisters. A number of birthday drinks were taken while the hitherto 'Snack Monitor' made a pitch and submitted forms for a re-grading to 'Chef de Mission' - an ambitious Macaroni Cheese was to be the test case and her hopes were high for an entry in Le Guide (Monsieur Pamplemousse to report in a later installment).</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">A fantastic birthday to rank with the best of them</span>!<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"> Thanks to all for the best wishes.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Bonne Nuit</span>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13553004944939602171noreply@blogger.com0