To Lagrasse, France

June 10, 2025

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Remember the good old days when a $20. bunk bed in the hostel was just the thing? In Aspen, CO of all places! I used to ride up there multiple times every fall and spring. I was always the only woman in the female dorm. Bathrooms down the hall were no issue. Now I'm old and set in my ways. I definitely need at least one night time bathroom run. We had a nice room at a gite run by a lovely young woman. But, the bathrooms were in the hall. I'm not so much into getting dressed for a 2 AM bathroom run. Especially when my neighbor got up first and woke me up!

We were at breakfast at the appointed hour. We had a nice conversation with the young female owner. Her English was mostly adequate, and we used an app on the phone as needed. She answered two questions that might be of interest. Some of the town name signs are turned upside down. We thought it might be poor maintenance. But there were too my upside down. She said that is to show support for the struggling farmers. Locals don't have enough money, so they are buying cheap produce rather than the organic, farm raised fruits and vegetables from local farmers. I also asked her about the water we've seen running in ditches in the main streets. It seems to me those would be a potential danger, especially if you were coming home in the dark after a few drinks. She said that the water is used to clean the big vats at the wineries, then the release the water for people to use to irritate their gardens. She was allowed to use the water between 8-10 PM every night.

We were out the door by 10 AM. It was already warming up. Today we had no trouble at all with navigation. I'd like to think we are getting better, but the towns were really small. I had Komoot loaded on my GPS, and Jacinto and I were doing the same thing all day. That's good? I still miss my familiar RWGPS app. But the hike a bike experience is too fresh in my mind.

We had one larger climb, which didn't surprise me to see a col sign at the top. But we kept collecting them like they were playing cards! We ended up with four cols with only 1,675 feet elevation gain. We had a running conversation about what is the difference between a pass and a summit. Surely col means summit? I had to write both Alison and Scott for confirmation. No matter, Jacinto will not be deterred.

He had unwanted excitement today. On one of the downhills, on a blind corner, a propane delivery truck suddenly appeared. Jacinto fell into the rock wall to avoid being hit. It's a good think he fell that direction, and not towards the truck. It's also good there was a rock wall, and not a long drop off down the hill. Now Jacinto says he prefers roads big enough to have center lanes.

I had messaged our lodging tonight, asking if we could get an early check in. We were outside, when the man opened the shutters of a room upstairs and said he was still cleaning. We could go to lunch and come back. That sounded like a good idea. We want to keep full on food. There were 5-6 restaurants on the main drag a few blocks away. We stopped at the first one. We hadn't ordered yet when a loaded cyclist stopped and talked to Jacinto. His English was excellent. Jacinto thought he was German, and at least in his 70's. Jacinto said he was all bones with a little skin, and the bike probably weighed twice what he did. I wish we had gotten a photo. The man was camping. He had been touring for eight weeks, and had eight weeks more to go.

We ordered the menu del dia for 19E each. In Spain that comes with a drink, but in France it doesn't seem to. I was so hungry I ordered for both of us while Jacinto was talking. I told him he could take whatever he wanted. He chose the pork over the cod. We were both happy with that choice.

Our host was ready for us. The bikes went through the breakfast area and into the garden for the night. Our room was up a set of very steep, very white painted stairs. We have a king size bed tonight. No AC, but the fan is going.

I took a nap. We looked at our route for tomorrow t Carcassone. Jacint would like some extra miles. I'm good with that, except I don't want to ride in the heat. Temperatures are 92 degrees, 20 more than normal. Tomorrow I splurged and we have a full apartment inside of the city walls. We talked about riding the Canal du Midi. But I told Jacinto it seems that people ride a few miles on it, and then get tired of the dirt. I'm definitely Leary of dirt at the mement. We tabled the routing discussion and walked to dinner. We fully expected to choose one of the 5-6 restaurants we saw open for lunch. Guess what? Not a one was open for dinner! This food thing is tough in France. We ended up down the street further at a place we should have made a reservation. It was more upscale, as were the prices. We just wanted food. They had some. We waited forever. It was fine. I know we didn't appreciate the care the chef took in preparation. Ah, well. We did get some protein, and in the morning we have a 'sweet breakfast' for 8E. That means muesli, yogurt, bread. No eggs or meat. I told Jacinto we needed to get to town in time for lunch or to stop for lunch along the way. He was not in favor of stopping along the way.

A big thing for me on this trip is walking as many ramparts as I can. Carcassonne is a famous rampart city. We are staying in the old town. I told Jacinto maybe we could go right before dusk. That's what we did today to see the abbey. It was still miserably hot. I think our best plan is to hit town, eat, and hole up in our full apartment until it cools off in the evening. Let's see how we work it. I'd rather have heat than the cold in Babb, MT.

8:30 breakfast is the earliest tomorrow. It's going to be a warm one!

If only I could save some of the morning chill for the afternoons.

Breakfast was extra appreciated after our lack of dinner last night.

Another couple stayed at our gite. We saw the husband’s bike and saw them riding off, but we didn’t speak.

Jacinto is now in favor of two lane roads.

I love a sign as a reward for the climb.

Bill identified this as invasive broom plant. It’s all over. The fragrance was in the air all day.

This structure has a cone shaped top. Does anyone know what it was?

I called Jacinto back to see a chateau. But it was the wrong one. There’s a limit to how many chateaus we can see in a day.

I think this is the one I wanted to see, but there was no sign for a turn, and I didn’t want to go back.

Jacinto didn’t even see this sign, but said we didn’t deserve one. It wasn’t enough work.

It wasn’t much of a climb, but even this man wanted his col photo.

We were so happy to get lunch that I didn’t think to take a photo until dessert. I thought I ordered something with pears, but this is cake.

I don’t know what this tower in Lagrasse used to be.

By the time we finally got dinner, I had no smiles left.

Families were cooling off in the river under the abbey.

Today's ride: 23 miles (37 km)
Total: 197 miles (317 km)

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