We finished the Massif Central portion of our ride and turned west to follow the Tarn and Lot Rivers. Our routes took us from the deep river canyons to the sweeping plateaus of Les Grands Causses, always surrounded by dramatic limestone bluffs and escarpments.
Words (and photos) fail me when I try to describe the beauty of the Gorges du Tarn. It’s a 40 mile limestone canyon formed by the Tarn River with breathtaking geologic formations around every bend. Even after the long ride, I wanted to see more.
All along these routes are historic Medieval villages built into the limestone cliffs, many with the official coveted designation “Les Plus Beaux Villages”. (A great idea for a tour of France would be to visit every one of these villages. Pack well, there are 184 of them.)
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| Lunch is in site! We are often anxiously entering a town hoping to have made their seemingly random lunch cutoff times. |
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| Our post ride drink is a Panaché, half beer / half lemonade and 100% delicious |
The Massif Central mountain bike route we just completed had the most beautiful and varied trails I have ever biked, so I had reset my expectations for this next phase riding along the rivers. I thought we would now be traveling mostly on quiet roads. Turns out there are trails everywhere we go, all very well signed. France is truly a hiker/biker paradise!
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| Sometimes hiking trails aren’t ideal for biking… |
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| And sometimes the trails take us where we should not be… |
A majority of the time I’m so glad we don’t have to maneuver a car through these Medieval villages and struggle with parking. But occasionally a car would be nice - for example, we had just descended from a plateau to our riverfront village and were eating a huge lunch while hiding from the 98 degree heat, when I happened to check the location of our apartment. Turns out it was 20 minutes back up the hill we had just come down, in a remote village with no restaurants or shops. The next day there was supposed to be our first rest day in 19 days. Not quite as it turned out.
Extremely high heat has followed us almost the entire trip, but for this last segment there’s always a river to cool off in at the end of the rides. Now if only these ancient villages could install AC! We learned there are very strict regulations regarding modern changes in these towns, so bring your fan if you plan on visiting in summer.
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The one time I don’t bring a bathing suit is the trip we swim all the time. Fortunately the French don’t mind atypical swimware.
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| Every time I see a waterfall, that song about not chasing them plays in my head the rest of the day (now you’re singing it, right?) |
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| Fields of sunflowers always lift your spirits |
A few of you have asked me what we carry for our bike trips, so here it is (left to right-ish): raincoat, arm warmers, spare tire and basic first aid/replacement parts go in my backpack, toiletries (get heavier every year), plugs and cables to recharge devices, sewing kit, laundry soap sheets (brilliant!), 2 complete bike kits, long sleeve bike shirt, 6 shirts (probably too many but they weigh 2 oz, and yes, I weigh them), bike shoes and sandals, black pants, black skirt, black shorts, black jacket. Dennis carries far less. Fashionistas we are not!
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| Ready to go! The yellow bag weighs 9 lbs. and my backpack with water weighs 10-12 lbs. |
To train my hamster wheel brain to live in the moment, I started counting the many things that catch my attention on our rides. Whether it’s something amazing or just delightful or even “huh, would you look at that”, I easily count 10-15 items every day. It made me appreciate the little everyday things we encounter (and I intend to continue to continue to count them after I return home). Here are just some of the images that caught my eye:
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| Stone huts for storage or protection built from stones cleared from the fields |
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| I would love to know the story behind this life size gorillla in someone’s driveway |
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| View from our dinner table |
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| Swarms of butterflies accompanied our entire journey |
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| Ancient drainage spout |
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Hand hewn slate roof tiles called Lauzes
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12th century cathedral door
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| A pigeonniere |
These bike trips are extraordinary, and I feel fortunate every day I’m able to explore the world from the perspective of this simple mode of transportation. The best sites are those we see along the way, not the destinations; these little daily delights add up to create the true magic of the trip.
Thanks for following out journey. Hopefully we’ll meet again next year in Portugal and Spain!
To see Dennis’ album with more photos from the trip:
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