To Murviel les Beziers, France

June 12, 2025

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Our ever so nice apartment had an odd layout. The bed, shower, and bathroom sink were upstairs. The toilet was downstairs, tucked under the stairs. The stairs were slick marble, and there wasn't a hand rail. You know I had to use the bathroom in the night. I went down the stairs, both feet to each step before continuing, all while trailing my hand on the wall. Of course I was wide awake by the time I made the round trip. I woke up for a second bathroom run at 7. Or so I thought. I had done several tasks before I looked at the clock, only to discover I had gotten up at 6! The better to get out the door. Perhaps cooking breakfast will wake Jacinto up. No one moves slower than Jacinto on a touring morning. He can get up and get rolling for work, but bicycling, he needs to ease into the idea. I pointed out it was going to be hot, we had long miles, we had a hard 3 PM deadline to arrive (or we had to wait until 6 PM). Jacinto said we could just pedal faster. That might work for him, but I have a maximum speed before my engine starts to sputter and fail.

We retraced our steps out of town. I pointed out to Jacinto that Carcassonne has a really good bridge we should see, but I didn't push the idea much. I want into our room before the host goes on break.

Komoot routed us right to the Canal du Midi. There were loaded cyclists everywhere. We saw one group of 6-8. All had Ortlieb panniers of different colors. We hadn't gone any distance at all before the surface turned to sharp gravel. I didn't like this. I made it about two miles before I called it. We found the first opportunity to route back to the D road. Ironically this was a dirt hike a bike road. it wasn't too long. The D road was busier than we expected. no shoulder. It even had semi traffic. I don't think I've ridden with semis in Europe. It was all fine, but not when we've experienced the past few days. Komoot kept trying to route us onto the Midi. Beep, beep, beep. Turn here, turn there, turn again. We were parallel to the Midi for about 30 miles. We could see riders on the path from time to time. Jacinto asked me if I wanted to give it another try. No, not so much. Especially because it was spitting rain. What would the path surface be like if it really started to rain? This might be busy on the D road, but it didn't feel unsafe.

I kept one eye on the clock. Jacinto stopped at a big grocery, saying he could go inside and look for peanut M&M's. I didn't have the time to spare.

Finally we routed off of the D road, 15 miles before Murivel. We both expected a small road that went straight to town. I told Jacinto to get rolling and get us into the room. What a surprise to both of us when we were routed onto a bike path. At least this path was of crushed limestone, which was easy to ride on. In the end, we had a large variety of surfaces. We had short sections of hike a bike (a steep river bank down to a bridge, and back again), and everything in-between. Pavement, overgrown brambles, etc. You name it, we had it in the 15 miles. No cars. We saw . . . . two? . . . . bicycle riders. We were really getting down to the wire. I told Jacinto to go ahead. He could probably ride seven miles in 25 minutes. I would muddle through on my own. It shouldn't be too bad? Murivel is a small town. Those were famous last words. My best three miles of the day were at the end of the bike path, with a down hill into town on a paved road. Then I took a left into the labyrinth of town. I seriously think this town was built as a labyrinth to keep people from finding the chateau! Of course it's at the top of the hill, on old cobblestone streets. Alleyways, really. I pushed up almost every street I tried. The houses were so close together that my GPS wasn't reading well. It told me that I have arrived, except I hadn't. Finally I sat down on a retaining wall, and called Jacinto to rescue me. I could hear him talking. He was just around the corner!

Jacinto had made it to the chateau right at 3 PM. The hostess was outside at her car, but went back inside to register him. We had carefully gotten cash money last night, but she didn't take money yet. She did give him a whole tray of cold drinks, which we sat in the courtyard and drank. I was not too proud to pass up last night's leftovers. The only method we had of carrying them was a ziplock baggie. IDK why that seems like a new low. To be eating with a fork out of a baggie. Maybe you do that camping? I've read of boiling bag meals for less muss and fuss.

Finally we wandered upstairs. The lady was gone. We left our bicycles parked to one side in the courtyard. Jacinto said the closest place to eat was pizza, and they opened at 6. We headed out at 6:15. The hostess wasn't back yet, but Jacinto had the code to get the big entrance gate (it wasn't a door), open and closed. Jacinto joked and asked me if I wanted to lead, since I'd seen so many streets. I told him I'd better not, if he wanted to eat this evening! We found the pizza place. It was roasting inside with no AC at all. Had there been another convenient choice, we would have taken it. Their pizza oven was a big round affair right in the middle of the room. When he put in our calzones, we could see them going round and round in front of a fire. I ordered a Mediterranean salad that was excellent. Perhaps that took the edge off of my appetite. I didn't like the calzone at all. We easily could have shared one. Instead we have leftovers. When I cut mine in half, the egg yolk burst and ran all over. I've never had a calzone with an egg inside. Their credit card machine was out of order. But we have cash!

We were back to the chateau at 7:15. The hostess still wasn't there. Imagine if we had been checking in late! I guess we will pay in the morning when we get breakfast? Our bikes must be okay where they are. I walked around a little and looked at the different areas. The chateau looks like the real deal, with stone steps, dramatic art work, and everything.

Now we need to look at routing CAREFULLY for tomorrow. I'm totally done with dirt. Thank you very much.

We finally found the silverware drawer - under the stove!

Jacinto topped off my tires. I only had 40 pounds in the back. I hope that’s not a problem.

Leaving our very nice apartment at Carcassonne.

I thought gf t the turbines should be moving, with the headwind we had.

Canal du Midi. The path is on the right.

Many towns have entries lined by plane trees. I always appreciate the shade. Today it was cooler and misting rain.

We took a chance on the bike path the last 15 miles. These gates were spaced annoyingly close,about every mile.

This looks photo shopped, but it is as I saw it. There’s some gay pride out in the middle of nowhere.

Typical path for the last section. This crushed limestone surface is easy to ride.

Now I think every bridge is a Roman bridge.

I gave up finding the chateau and sat here waiting for Jacinto to find me. I was only around the corner.

Every respectable chateau needs a coat of armor.

Today's ride: 51 miles (82 km)
Total: 270 miles (435 km)

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Rachael AndersonI’m sorry you didn’t get a better meal! Fortunately, I’ve never encountered a raw egg on a pizza. How awful!
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