West
La Tremblade - Rochefort
4 juillet 2020
Go through the Grève, the hotel manager tells me. Yes, it’s prettier... but I don’t really see a clear road... I don’t have a pedal boat ! So I go through the oyster-farming area but I finally reach my initial route quite quickly.
From Marennes, the track curves in the marshes. A pretty landscape and occupied only by a few fishermen, and an image hunter equipped with an ultra-powerful zoom.
At the exit of the marsh is a disused railway line that has been transformed into a bike path. It (…)
Saujon - La Tremblade
3 juillet 2020
Fabrice with his bike accompanies me on the first kilometers of the course. We continue to chat all the way except when a car passes us (only one !).
Then I ride on Royan with threatening clouds that will fade at the end of the morning.
I take a dip in the beach of La Bouverie, not yet watched and a little dangerous with baïnes. It wasn’t this beach that the lady of the hotel had indicated to me on the phone : it was the one of the embellishment, there I could have swam.
Arrived at La (…)
Bourg - Saujon
2 juillet 2020
Today’s stage took me from my old friend Guy in Bourg to my chess friends Fabrice and Lucas, and Fabrice’s wife Nathalie in Saujon.
I was able to leave Bourg early on a grey morning but finally without rain. I arrived in Mortagne around 1pm to have a bite to eat. Lunch in the shade because the sun made an appearance.
Very pleasant track when leaving Mortagne... but I have to climb the cliff and I’ll put my foot on the 17% slope.
Arrived at the top a grain obliges me to put the rain gear (…)
Bordeaux - Bourg
1er juillet 2020
Last night we visited the Bordeaux docks, which have been completely transformed. It’s hard to imagine how they were in the 70s given the animation that reigns there now.
This morning passing by the new Chaban bridge, then Lormont. Below the Aquitaine bridge, the sailing club where I had learned some rudiments of dinghy sailing still exists. Then Ambares before crossing the Dordogne at Cubzac les ponts... Remembering the traffic jams during the holidays when I was a kid !
Then small (…)
Sauveterre-de-Guyenne-Bordeaux.
30 juin 2020
Last night my host showed me around the pretty little village of Castelmoron d’Albret. The smallest village in France !
This morning I left quite early for a quiet stage on the Roger Lapebie cycle track, named after a Tour de France winner from the Gironde region. The track is on an old disused railway line.
Big break in Créon where I start by having a coffee, then hang out until noon and I end up eating in a small restaurant...
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Toulouse- La Reole - Sauveterre-de- Guyenne
29 juin 2020
At last the start !
This morning a little earlier than I would have liked to take the time not to forget anything... At the last minute I check if I have masks... Don’t find any, take some new disposable ones in the box... When I arrive at my host’s place tonight I will find the masks already arranged... well, at least I won’t miss any !
TER to Agen, snack break, a coffee and then TER to La Reole.
The journey really starts, but quietly to reach my first WarmShower accommodation in (…)
In the west, vélodyssée and Brittany
In the end, the health crisis will have overcome my plan to travel to Spain and Portugal : it has been postponed until next year. So this year I’m going to do something I also wanted to do and discover places I don’t know... but in France. The opportunity to see beautiful things that have so far escaped me but also to meet people and see friends again...
The journey will be shorter, about 1800 km over 6 weeks. A few days of rest, visits and sometimes very short stages between two points. (…)