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Wednesday 24th June 2015 Villefranche de Lauragais to Carcassonne It was only 40 miles today but once again it was sunny and in these latitudes that meant it was very hot, uncomfortably so for any cycling later in the day. I started as usual just after 9.00 and for the first five and a bit miles the canal cycle-path continued as before, well-paved and easy to ride along.
Then it changed and became a 'chemin de halage' which as we all know means a towpath - in this case just an unsurfaced footpath, thankfully dry for if it had been muddy I would have been slipping all over the place with the road tyres on my bike. As it was the narrow track required more concentration and the tree roots, ruts, potholes and stones I encountered meant my progress rate plummeted.
It was too difficult to do another 30 miles on that so I reverted to my pre-programmed road-based route at the next escape point. At about 7-8 miles I came to 'Le Partage', the highest point on the Canal des Deux Mers, where the flow starts going downhill instead of up, but at this point I was about to leave the canal behind. I bought a 'tarte aux pommes' at a Boulangerie and ate it on a form somewhere, not bothering with a proper lunch today - well last night's stay had cost 97 euros with breakfast / dinner / wine / tea so I was probably feeling a bit overspent.
Anyway I was soon on a 'brown' B-type road which was excellently surfaced and as the terrain was largely flat, in a slightly rolling sort of way, I was flying along, making excellent progress. Unfortunately so were the cars. It was not an overly busy road but enough so to make things a bit less comfortable. Most drivers were very good, slowing when necessary before overtaking me, but inevitably there were the ones who'd chance it and squeeze by at a rate of knots, happy in the knowledge that they had a ton of metal and a few airbags to keep them safe from harm. I thought it best to find a new route so left at a convenient side-road and then used the wonderful GPS to find back roads - it involved zigzags and the odd extra mile but it was a lot more relaxing and it was obvious that I was going to arrive at Carcassonne in plenty of time anyway.
I rolled into town sometime just after 1.00, cycled round a bit to see what hotels were available but in the end chose the first one I'd seen, the Logis Montsegur, at 72 euros per night. Before checking in, however, I thought I'd top up the calories at a sit-down boulangerie in the square - a sort of French greasy spoon. Once again, however, I found myself picking bacon bits out of my Tartiffle - I'd thought it was fromage, onions and potatoes but I didn't hear the 'lardons' bit which the lass must have added when I asked her what was in it. Made me feel a bit queasy but the tea was ok, by French standards.
The Montsegur had air-conditioning which made up for its broken lift (I was on the the 2nd floor) and after checking in and having a shower I collapsed onto the bed - it was just far too hot to do anything outside. I knew there was a chateau but it would have to be copped the next morning when it was cooler, or maybe skipped altogether. I just couldn't slog up to it in this heat. After having a cup of tea at the hotel and doing the usual chores I asked the receptionist where I, a vegetarian, could get something to eat that evening. To my surprise she scratched her head, looked at the ceiling, examined a chicken's entrails then told me she thought there was a vegetarian restaurant up the street. I wandered off in the direction she'd showed me and surprise, surprise… there it was.
Well it was a restaurant and it had vegetarian options. I had a fried tofu and chutneys starter, a main course involving pineapple sauce, peanuts in dough, rice and vegetables - very nice it was, especially for someone who had survived mostly on cheese omelettes for 3 weeks! Pudding was a mango smoothy with cranberries in it - a bit of a step down from the first two courses but overall I was very happy to have found the place; 'L'Amandier' it was called, and my main dish was entitled 'Gadogado Indonesien'. A couple of women were dining outside but I was the only one inside and no-one followed me in. A pity as the place may go out of business at that rate and doesn't deserve to. How nice it was to eat something 'á votre gout', as we say here. Bike computer: 40.38 miles GPS: 40 miles (15 + 25.8 - a route change halfway reset the statistics) 12.5 mph avg (part 2 of the route only) 27.9 mph max - ditto - 613 ft ascent - ditto - English miles: 117.8 French miles: 813.5 | ||||||||||
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