Mont Saint-Michel to Cherbourg

Sadly the last 107 miles in France today. 

It was a beautiful morning and we had our last croissants in the sunshine. The drive up the Cotentin peninsula followed the Stage 2 TdF route - I would have loved to have cycled it but not enough time today.

Today is Tashie's birthday and we had a nostalgic lunch at Barneville Carteret where just over 28 years ago, she had her first French holiday and we had our first assiete de fruits de mer.

The Hotel des Isles is now super stylish and does a very good lunch.

We are now on a high speed catamaran heading back to Portsmouth

This has been such a fabulous trip - 852 miles cycled, tonnes of prawns demolished, plentiful patisseries devoured and multiple mozzie bites endured. 

I would love to do it all again tomorrow...

Pornic to Mont Saint-Michel

Another 146 miles to drive today, starting with a huge bridge over the Loire that height hating hubby was dreading - I offered to drive the van but apparently that was even scarier!

We eventually made it to the campsite near Mont Saint-Michel where we watched the Tour de France time trial in 2013 with Stu and Jan. This year we just missed it but you could tell where it had been..

We did a 13.3 mile bike pootle to the Mont and back, it is such a magical place, with the added fun bonus of ruining numerous selfies as we weaved in and out of tourists

Deja vu - for the last time :(

St Palais sur Mer to Pornic

From one seaside campsite to another today and a 158 mile pootle in the van.

As there was no rush to get going this morning, I exercised the rather stiff tree trunks with a 23 mile ride around Charente Maritime. There are bike paths everywhere and much quieter on a Monday morning!

We stopped in a Decathlon en route to get Bob's redundant mate mended. Last week a delightful white van driver narrowly missed smashing our van's wing mirror but caught the bike on the back, damaging the front wheel spokes.

A delightful young man sorted it out for €10 - bargain!

Rusty then had no excuse so was dragged out for a 6 mile pootle around Pornic.

Sadly our accommodation this evening isn't here...

but here - the French camping equivalent of Butlins....

In future I will only be booking campsites in the middle of nowhere!

In other news, Rusty is continuing his campaign to turn into a crevette gris...

Carcassone to St Palais sur Mer

Poor Bob had to be strapped to the back of the van today for a rather dull 286 mile drive. The good news is that French motorway service stations are so much better than they were in the 1990's when we used to drive down here with the girlies. The really good news is that we no longer have to listen to 'the wheels on the bus go round and round' on an endless loop!

We eventually arrived at the rather nice campsite right on the seafront at St Palais sur Mer, where the Gironde meets the Atlantic.

There is free wifi so Rusty settled down with BBC sport and Bob and I went off for a coastal pootle. It was probably the most dangerous 10 miles of the entire trip - a cycle path full of French families wobbling and toddling!

Sadly it's a rather grey day but presumably the naturists were warm enough...

And yes, the feeding frenzy continues!

Evening walkies...

Narbonne to Carcassone

The first part of the ride today was rather bumpy but good fun, along a coastal bike path. Fortunately Bob copes well with bumps!

After 10 deserted miles through stunning scenery, I arrived at the seaside and it was time for Bob's last pain au chocolat

I then unfortunately turned north west and guess where the wind was coming from.. 

It was a 40 mile battle against a brutal head wind and the tree trunks are now utterly knackered.

I took one photo but really just wanted the ride to be over. 61.8 miles today with only 1331 ft of climbing but the wind made it feel like I had climbed a huge col!

After a reviving shower, devouring of food and a beer, I had recovered sufficiently to go and explore Carcassone.

It's certainly impressive...

And that's the end of the cycling part of the trip :(

Prezzie from hubby to show the 3 stages I have cycled parts of - so delighted for Cav today :)

Tomorrow we start the drive home via the west coast, hopefully there will be time for Bob and I to do some exploring.

The blog va continuer...

Castres to Narbonne

I can't say I enjoyed the crappy, loud disco music we could hear until 1am but it did bring back memories of teenage holidays and campsite boites!

The bike ride started with more bumpy cobbles through the centre of Castres

This was followed by a lovely flat ride along a voie verte (cycle path)

I could see the Black mountains and knew the climb was coming!

It was a fabulous climb - 1071 feet in 3.9 miles - shaded, deserted and beautiful

The view from the top was pretty good too

The descent was good too, next to a gorge and past beautiful villages

I decided Bob and I needed a few more calories today so we stopped for a poire belle helene- yum

The scenery is definitely more Mediterranean now

I managed to get well and truly lost trying to find my way around the outskirts of Narbonne, so my total mileage was 72.1 miles with 3448 ft of climbing.

Sadly the campsite is typical of this area so not our most scenic stay

But the knackered tree trunks have made it to the Mediterranean :)

Villefranche to Castres

A bit of a rude start to the day with an immediate 855 ft climb - ooof

The view at the top was pretty good but the roads today were generally busier.

My planned boulangerie stop was beautiful but mostly closed so onwards and upwards.

I found a lovely cafe (and an open boulangerie) at Cordes, another impressive fortified medieval town.

The route then went up and down (lots!) through vineyards - the Gaillac wine region.

Bob's photo shoot today is by the river Tarn - I had already eaten the patisserie du jour!

The undulating went on and on and it was quite a relief to see the award winning village of Lautrec  - it meant I was about to descend!

This evening's campsite is on the edge of  Castres, known for its rugby team apparently.

Quelle surprise, we are next to a river...

Also unsurprisingly, the tree trunks are really aching after 75.8 miles and 4580 feet of climbing.

Here is their reward...