|
|
all day. But it is great scrubby scenery as we climb across the end of the Montagne Alaric through the heat and hairpin bends to 450m. Finally we plunge down the other side and pass a small lake. At this point Sheila announces we now have to carry out a repeat performance and climb the next hill to much the same height before finally being on the run down to the road into Carcassonne.
The GPS brings us accurately to our B&B in a small terrace of old houses nestling under the medieval walls of la Cité. We are greeted by our hosts – Philippe and Isabelle. A friendly and charming couple. We park the trike in a garage they have borrowed for us in the next street and ask if we would like to come through to the garden for cold drinks – Yes please, SdM&C* will be great. (*Actually Figou for Sheila on this occasion). The house is quaint and turned out in a very arty manner. Later after S& no W (because Isabelle offers to put our kit through her washing machine) we climb the steps into la Cité for a wander around before dinner in one of the restaurants recommended by our hosts. Medieval Carcassonne may now be more restoration “Disney” than reality but it is a great stage set nonetheless. We return and on the way take a couple of photos of ourselves against the turreted medieval city backdrop in the softening late evening sun. Reflect that 5 TPs (well 4 really as Sheila does not wish to be classified as a ‘technical problem’) in 5 days is more than we have had in all of our last 5 tours added together. True, none have been serious nor have upset our holiday, but it would be good to have a few trouble free days Click on any photo to enlarge and scroll through gallery
        Day 6: in CARCASSONNE Sunny and very hot, but much less wind A non-cycling day, so we start with a leisurely breakfast in the B&B garden disturbed only by Zora (the black cat) who is very friendly and would like to walk all over anyone willing to co-operate. We stroll into Carcassonne centre via the pedestrianised bridge in search of a bicycle shop. After our trials with the totally useless chain splitter yesterday we feel we ought to buy a functioning replacement, although we hope not to have to use it. We find the bike shop, but as Philippe suspected might be the case it is closed on Mondays. Return to the main town square and settle at a café table for coffee and a long spell of watching the world go by. Then wander back through the town, doing a bit of lunch shopping in Monoprix on the way and after crossing the river settle on a shady bench in a park overlooking the river for our picnic lunch. While there we watch the habits of pigeons trying to settle on the arched sides of the bridge where there is nothing to grip, and a man throwing a stick into the river for his dog to retrieve. The dog being fairly intelligent is very reluctant to hand the stick over knowing full well what will happen next. We are simple souls easily entertained on a sunny summer’s day when we are in relaxation mode. From there we stroll back to the B&B for a wash and a rest to recover from all the morning’s excitement. Later we climb back up to la Cité, but it is still very hot so after wandering around the walls and lanes for a while we settle ourselves in shade on the base of a stone cross in one of the squares for the late afternoon entertainment. This involves the restaurant opposite taking down its old parasols and replacing them with new ones. Without watching this performance first hand it is difficult to imagine how tricky this is and how many wrong ways there are to attempt to assemble a large parasol in the wrong order, especially when each overlaps its neighbour. When their task is finally achieved we move on and settle in a bar garden for SdM&T. Sheila announces that she is concerned that we will be pushed for time to cover the distance we have to go to get to our rendezvous with the Salviac Tandem Rally next Friday, so suggests missing out Albi, where we had planned to spend Wednesday night, and look for a short cut. John is less inclined to miss out Albi, which is a fine city to visit, and as none of this alters tomorrow’s itinerary it’s a ‘mañana’ decision anyway. Pasta dinner in the courtyard garden of a restaurant. We can’t decide if this is the same garden we ate in 13 years ago, but decide probably not. Very good, but slightly mosquito round the ankles. Not too many, but some thing come up so often in the course of our cycle touring that it is not worth writing them out in full each time: Click on any photo to enlarge and scroll through gallery
       |
