Montauban to Agen

September 28, 2023

Is day two or day three harder?

Leaving our great apartment in Montauban, we retraced our ride back out of town crossing the Tarn river over Pont Vieux. The bridge was originally built in 1304 and is undergoing some restorative work. With only one sidewalk available, we walked our bikes across the decorative stone pathway. It was another beautiful day in late September day with just slightly chill in the air as the day began to warm. Scott started the ride in just a t-shirt and Pat had a few additional layers that she quickly shed. Our departure time has improved from yesterday by 15 minutes but we are not by any means early starters! Scott found a stash of espresso coffee capsules and made good use of the machine provided in he apartment. We again had yogurt and fruit for breakfast that we had picked up the day before. Pat went out to a nearby patisserie to buy a sandwich and pain aux raison for the road.

Our wonderful home a block away from Montauban`s town square.

Ours is the door on the right. We could just roll the bikes in and out fully loaded - so convenient!

We were prepared for a bit longer ride to Agen today. Our planned route followed the Tarn River toward the north and then we turned west for about 20 km riding past across farmland. We later connected with the canal just before Castlesarrasin. From there we completed the ride along the beautiful Canal des Deux Mers.

Crossing Pont Vieux at Montauban, Scott stopped at a building that had the appearance of a fresh food market or a Les Halles as known in France. On closer inspection the building had been converted into a micro brewery and was called Brasserie de la Halle. It looked like a great place to visit and would be another reason to return to this Tarn-et-Garonne region. Scott had a quick look around inside. It is very nice that the craft brewing or Bières artisanales appear to be growing in popularity in a land where wine is king.

The bar inside the old Les Halles building.

We rode on a mix of roads including a short stretch of busy roadway before we joined the canal just before Castlesarrasin. Crossing to the other side of the canal, we noticed that there was a street market was just up the road we were on. We headed toward the market and found ourselves getting a stern talking to by the local police for riding the wrong way up a one way street. C’est la vie.

We love these pop up markets that rotate daily to different towns. Looking at the wonderful cheese, butcher and olive kiosks Scott was a bit disappointed that we had already purchased our lunch for today. We took a couple of chairs at a café for our morning coffee stop and watched the market goers pass by.

Fresh garlic at the market. It looks very good,

Pat`s cappuccino came with a massive amount of delicious whipped cream. She is sure the calories will be gone by the time we reach Agen.

Leaving Castlesarrasin, we continued north toward Moissac and to the Pont Canal aqueduct. This amazing bridge supports the canal above the Tarn River. However, instead of riding across the aqueduct we crossed the Tarn a couple of kms downstream at Pont Napoléon . The Garmin operator dude believed that this routing may have shaved a kilometre or two off our travel. We passed Moissac on its fringes. It is a fairly large historic town, with roots in wine making and river transportation.

Pont canal at Moissac. That bridge is actually an aqueduct.

The Tarn is a big river at this point where it is about to feed into the Garonne.

The remainder of the ride to Agen closely followed the canal. We passed a number of cycle tourers and played leap frog with locals who would stop and go along the route. Every one was so friendly and it really was a most enjoyable ride.

Incredibly large plane trees along the canal path.

Using my bike for scale, this is a large plane tree.

Our lunch stop on a shady bench. By this time of day it had become too hot to sit in the sun.

There was more marine traffic on this section of the canal. People on this boat had to duck down to clear the bridge.

This was a very pretty tree beside a lock. Can anyone tell me its name? I would like to see if it would survive in Vancouver.

A very nice old lock house that has been converted into a hotel and restaurant. We tried to book the La Poule a Vélo but unfortunately the host indicated she would not be available for tonight.

Agen is a large centre of over 30k people located on the banks of the Garonne river. Entering the town we crossed a bridge over a large rail yard and then made our way directly to a pedestrian friendly shopping street. The street had multiple misting poles that were quite refreshing after our long ride. We were both feeling a bit fatigued. Although the canal riding is flat, there are few opportunities to coast and your legs seldom get a rest. As well, often the tarmac on the path is not very smooth and therefore requires more peddling effort. Anyway, those are our excuses for feeling tired. Maybe it was just day two.

There were a few outdoor cafes located at one the end of the pedestrian mall. We decided to stop and have a beer and get our bearings before carrying on to our stay for the night. We both noted that we are definitely back in a culture where smoking is the norm. Our small hotel was easy to locate and our host was quick to show us the convenient bike room which had a door access right to the street. Again, we could easily roll our fully loaded bikes right into the room.

After showers we went out and explored this area of Agen before having dinner at a nearby pub. Afterwards, we went on a pursuit for ice cream that took us back into the main part of town and down a brightly lit street of restaurants set up for outside dining. Unfortunately, the hunt for the ice cream was unsuccessful and we had to retire for the night.

Sunset from the pedestrian bridge over the Garonne River looking toward the Pont Canal - Agen. It is also an aqueduct for the canal.

Interesting timber-framed building in Agen. Unfortunately, it was one of the few pictures that I took in this town.

Tomorrow we will be riding a short distance to Nérac. We are thinking that day 3 should be easier than day 2.

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Today's ride: 78 km (48 miles)
Total: 137 km (85 miles)

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Rachael AndersonThat’s a long day, that explains the tired legs!
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7 months ago