From the Atlantic Ocean to the Med. - Day 4

Day 4: Lombez to Montgiscard

After eating a typical (overpriced) french breakfast of tea, coffee, croissants, jam, and some stuff that looked like baby food (which we didn't eat) we bought some more chewy bars and looked for some elusive oil. It was already very warm and sunny, so we sped off on the D632 in the direction of 'Le Mona' which we thought hugely appropriate as he was here with us in the shape of Barry. Unfortunately we didn't get a photo of him alongside the village sign, but here's one of him actually smiling...

He's smiling because, for some strange reason, Shaun had volunteered to swap panniers with him and carry his heavy load for the duration of the day. "My legs are tired" said the blue-blooded one and Shaun, having been promised a knighthood or something, gave in. We insisted on discarding the top-hat, hip-flasks and his ornamental dagger collection and duly set off. Shaun more slowly and Barry noticeably faster.

"But how am I meant to function adequately without my mini-fridge and  decanter?"

Following the D632 we went through Bragayrac, Ste Foy-de-Peyrolières and then North-East to St Lys. Here we had a coffee/tea next to the imposing church and Lord Young found some bananas and some precious oil.

 The flans that we had carefully carried with us went into the bin at this point. Refreshed, we cycled off onto the D12 to Muret. This was originally to be Day 4 stopping point, but as we'd made Day 2 to Marciac quite a bit longer, we chose Montgiscard to be our stop for tonight. At Muret we found a bar to eat lunch - a plate of 'charcuterie' and a not very good steak with pasta. This time however, we did find a river nearby to sit and rest for a bit in the shade.

Cyclists, bike, horse

After our break, we set off South East on the D12 to Lagardelle-sur-Lèze, taking the D74 through Les Maurices, the D68 for a bit to Pouze and on to Montgiscard. All very hilly roads which were made even harder under the blazing sun. As we were seemingly cycling vertically most of the time, the views are just stunning. Even Barry had to admit that the effort of grinding up each hill was well worth it for the tremendous views we got when up there, and it really did seem that we were very high up.

So when we reached Montgiscard, it was quite disappointing to find out that there were no hotels or B&Bs there at all. A huge church and a bar/restaurant, but no lodging. Luckily the bar owner took pity on us and phoned a friend who runs a motel in Donneville, North of there. Shaun had assured us it was 6 kms away, so Barry and I then assumed that, as Shaun was completely unreliable when it came to distances that it would be more like 10. Strangely, it was only 2kms away on the N113, a big bonus when you've already cycled over 70kms in the heat.

Donneville was right on the Canal du Midi, which we'd planned to cycle on to Castelnaudary, Carcassonne and on to Narbonne. The motel was just that - a separate restaurant with 'pavillions' or little chalets in the grounds of it. Our chalet had two beds and a fold out one that we eventually managed to work out how to put up and Shaun volunteered to have that (we made him, as he's the youngest).

The nearest open restaurant was a longish walk up the road, so we walked alongside the canal to it only to find it didn't open for another 30 minutes (it was 7pm). In fact it was a very nice, spacious place, but I can't for the life of me remember the name. We did have a lovely 'soup de poissons' and lamb though. All washed down with a bottle of this...

We managed to walk home in the dark along the busy road without incident and found our 'pavillions' lit up like a brothel in green neon lights! At least people notice it I suppose. Even though the chalet was very small, we had to bring the bikes inside with us over night - not trusting to leave them outside.

Distance: 74 kms