Roquefort

September 24, 2000

This was another day where we anguished over destinations. We couldn’t see many towns at the right distance away that seemed certain to have a hotel. On a whim I asked our hotelier if there was a hotel in Roquefort, a small town 80 km to the southwest on the outskirts of the Landes. He gave us a guide to all of the Logis hotels and then made a reservation for us at the one in Roquefort. It was a great comfort to know that we had lodging waiting for us at the end of the day’s ride.

At 25 km, we stopped at a read for a WC break and to enjoy the attractive views along the Basie River. Catastrophe befell us here when I locked Rachael into the WC (a smelly, Turkish toilet variety) by closing a door on her that had a latch but no handles. 15 minutes later, after carving away enough of the wooden door with my Swiss Army knife to expose the lock mechanism, I rescued my very distressed friend and we quickly moved on.

(This is possibly our most-told travel tale of all time. I closed the door on her after she called me over to stand guard because she’d left it open. I misunderstood the problem and thought that she just couldn’t close the door, so I closed it for her by simply pushing it shut. A poor choice, since there was no handle so she couldn’t reopen it. Panic ensued while I assessed the situation, wondering how we could get assistance here on this quiet Sunday afternoon. )

It’s nice that I still have this photo of the old bridge over the Basie in Nerac. I’m sorry though that I can’t find the photo I took of the outhouse door that I ruined at the park nearby.

West of Nerac the terrain quickly leveled out as it blended into the vast pine woods of the Landes region. For mile upon mile we pedaled down arrow-straight empty roads. The primary enrichment to the ride came near the tiny hamlet of Losse, where a male teenaged cyclist passed us and then stayed teasingly close in front of us for about four miles before allowing us to catch up; and then engaged Rachael in a sprint race for about 100 yards. A bit further on he stopped to visit with a friend on a motor scooter, allowing us to move ahead. A few minutes later though, he sped past in the tow of the scooter, then thrust his arms aloft in a declaration of victory.

The race is on! I’m sorry this isn’t clearer, but it’s the best I could do back then taking a photograph while biking.

Roquefort had few compelling sights, but it did have an acceptable hotel and offered us a decent dinner.

It took me awhile to discover where this was taken. This is the Lisse Chateau, west of Nerac. It was listed on my photo log, so I looked it up.

This has to be the same chateau. It looks like they’ve removed the ivy sometime in the last 20 years.

Today's ride: 90 km (56 miles)
Total: 786 km (488 miles)

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