The Top 5 - Gorging in France ...Then Basquing in the Pyrenees - 2023 - CycleBlaze

The Top 5

Riding and Dining

As we’ve done with our other long tours, each of us picks our ‘top 5 days’. The criteria is wide open, it’s whatever makes the day stand out in our memories. Sometimes they are obvious ‘Type 1 Fun’ days, sometimes they are definitely ‘Type 2 Fun’ days, but they are all very memorable to us.

This trip is proving to be the hardest yet to distill the ‘top 5’. For that matter,  picking the ‘bottom 5’ would be impossible as we didn’t even come close to that many days that weren’t great. The top one or two are relatively easy to pick, after that we’re almost at the point of throwing darts at the calendar.

I guess that’s a good problem to have.

To complicate matters a bit more, we’re throwing in another ‘Top 5’ category - and that’s dining. It’s pretty clear that ‘gorging’ on this trip had two meanings, and that was built into the trip plan from the start. We knew we were going to be going through some of the most amazing and famous culinary regions in the world and we had to make a really good effort at experiencing this, and we did.

So, here they are … the Top 5

Top Days

Kirsten

  1. Col de Nargo to Sant Llorenç de Moruyns  -  I was sending photos to my sister all day as we cycled as I wanted to share it as it happened.
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  2. Day Ride to Combe Laval - so hard to pick, the dart landed on this one. Jaw dropping
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  3. El Pont de Suert to Tremp - the climb was great, the downhill was even better. Days like this confirm why we cycle tour.
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  4. Aix les Bain to St. Pierre d’Entremont - gruelling day but the scenery was out of this world. First small gorge as a prelude of what was to come and we experienced the kindness of strangers.
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  5. Florac to le Rozier - enchanting magical atmosphere, incredibly dramatic scenery and chance on-the-road meet ups
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Lyle

  1. Grenoble to Pont en Royans - gorges de la Bourne. Three months later I’m still pinching myself when I think about this.
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    ann and steve maher-wearyAnother place on our list.
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    9 months ago
  2. Day Ride to Combe Laval - This would easily have been number 1 if we had not ridden gorges de la Bourne the day before. Jaw dropping.
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  3. Col de Nargo to Sant Llorenç de Moruyns- a fantastic climb, then four successive small cols and a great downhill run to end in a beautiful village we saw rise from the dead.
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  4. Tremp to Col de Nargo- two cols, road zebra’s, Boixols, great downhill This day had it all!
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  5. Florac to le Rozier- la Gorges du Tarn. This was the area that inspired the entire trip. When I saw the Tarn Gorge in other CB’ers journals we knew we had to do this, and the rest of the tour grew from this … and it was everything we thought it would be.
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Top Dines

This one was really hard. Each one of us came up with a ‘short list’ of over 12 places, a significant chunk of all the meals we had! As with the Top Days, what made a ‘Top Dine’ was a whole combination of factors; the food of course, but also the place, the service, our mood and our expectations. The last one really allowed for us to be wowed … it’s a harder task for a place with a Michelin Star to really astonish you because you’re going in with an expectation of something amazing. There’s actually a higher risk of being disappointed, although that didn’t happen on the two occasions we dined at a stared establishments. Walking into a place ‘off the street’ and leaving amazed is the real unicorn experience.

Kirsten

  1. El Motel, in Figueres -The whole package. We had real corn-ball discussions about it in the lead up to our arrival, just because of the name, but it was a wonderful experience. Forty years to dial in old school perfection, and they did. It also gave us the best song of the day video!!
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  2. La Pastora, in Uncostillo - This was my unicorn. We received and e-mail the night before we arrived saying that they were normally closed on Tuesday but would serve us dinner because we were arriving by bike. They provided a menu and asked us to pick what we wanted ahead of time, which we did. Zero expectations on our part for the night. The evening turned out to be a wonderful private dinner party with Dany and Val.
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  3. La Racine et la Moelle, in Figeac - Fantastic food and a fun positive energy.
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  4. Doscuiners, in Mataro - great food served with real passion and no pretensions
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  5. Hisop, in Barcelona - exquisite food, service and company. No better way to finish our trip.
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Lyle

  1. Coin Coin, in Sarlat - This was my unicorn. As our trip progressed I kept using our night at Coin Coin as a point of reference. I guess that says it all.
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  2. Doscuiners, in Mataró - Another unicorn. It did have a Michelin bib, and only a single euro price icon, a real rarity, but this was in a ‘throw away’ town. The only reason we were there was to catch a train into Barcelona. It was the only ‘meh’ day of cycling we had …. But the dinner here, the total package, knocked our socks off .
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  3. Cipresaia, in Girona - a perfect night. This small place was just around the corner from our apartment in Girona. It was our ‘Spanish Coin Coin’, small plates, great wine, great staff, very casual (in a professional way)- although it did have a brand new Michelin recommendation, and very well deserved.
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  4. MalaGana, in Sant Lloreç de Mourunys - yet another unicorn. The ride into Sant Llorenç was in both our Top 5, but unfortunately we rode into a ghost town and had to scrounge for sub par pintxos at the only open bar in town. The next night we stumbled into MalaGana. Outstanding in every respect - the best single taste of scallops I have ever had.
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  5. Hisop, in Barcelona - we didn’t even have to book it! This was arranged by Callum and Brennan on our last night. A very small place that had a Michelin star for 10 years, and there’s a reason why. High expectations? Yes. High delivery? Absolutely, and we got to share it with more than just the two of us.
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    ann and steve maher-wearySo many amazing meals! Hope to get to some of your favourites on future trips.
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    9 months ago

That's it for this trip. For those who are interested there's a bunch of trip numbers on the last post.

Our next multi-month trip won't be until 2025. I'd mentioned in an earlier post that we would be getting another service dog puppy to raise when we got back. 

Levi arrived yesterday!

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Rachael AndersonHe is so cute!
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9 months ago
Lyle McLeodTo Rachael AndersonYou will get to meet him! ( btw this is K writing)
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9 months ago

He's a very sweet guy, eight weeks old now, and he will be our focus for the next 14 months or so.

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Scott AndersonI loved reading this and recognizing and remembering our own experience on nearly all of your respective top five rides. I’d love to ride the Col de Nargo again - really, I’d be pretty happy to ride the entire Spanish side of the Pyrenees again if I thought I could. It’s one amazing day after another.

I can’t say I feel the same about the restaurants though. Maybe if I could taste or smell I’d feel differently.
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9 months ago
Lyle McLeodHi Scott,
We will definitely be back in the Pyrenees again (maybe the French side?) and thank you and Rachael for exposing us to it. It was reading your Bilbao to Sete journal that put it on our radar. Each day of riding cycles from sublime through to spectacular, and for us the food in Spain was incredible. The best of both worlds
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9 months ago