September 6, 2019
Bordeaux
We meet the Angel of Bordeaux
I felt a little sad leaving our village house in Sauveterre, we had such a relaxing stay We handed our keys over to Megan and were off. It was through a village gate and straight onto the Roger Lapebie Voie Vert. Roger was a French professional cyclist and champion who had previously won many stages of the Tour de France before he controversially won it in 1937 with the use of the ‘new fangled’ derailor and alleged outside assistance which delighted the French and infuriated the Belgians whose champion had resigned in protest - derailors then became standard. This track traces the route of an old railway and I think it must be relatively new as it is of such a high standard. We hadn’t gone long when I heard the unmistakable sound of a steam train approaching, I could almost smell the smoke.but it didn’t appear. Then through the trees I saw a grape harvester, the harvest had started and the great beast was slowly moving along the rows bringing in the bounty. We were at. first travelling through vines as far as the eye could see, then we would be plunged into forest, it was cold we had our. Coats on and I had to stop to find gloves. Then we were passing through maize, more forest, more grapes and so it continued as we passed through tiny hamlets. Our great hope was Créon the ‘book’ said it had facilities for cyclists in the old station so after 30km with our tongues hanging out we pulled in just to be disappointed - he hired bikes, he repaired them and there were seats and tables but not a single thing to eat or drink so somewhat dejected we went into the town. We found a cafe with a lacklustre woman and had a mediocre coffee. Not long after we came to a pleasant seat in the sun so thought while it was there we had better stop for our lunch of bread, cheese and peaches. It was only about 2km after that we came to a station that had been converted to a cafe - it was full of cyclists eating and drinking - we rode on ( why hadn’t ‘the book’ told us)
The Voir Vert ends 10 or so km before Bordeaux just before you reach the Garonne but a cycle path continues alongside it. We came to a bridge and there were cycle signs leading us up. I found the approach and descent rather daunting, I was accused of being stubborn when I walked up to it. The good thing about this wrong bridge was that it took us over to just near the station and there we saw an Ibis. In I went, the wrong one. About another 200m and the right one. Checking in became very fraught, they had no bike storage of any kind. Oh. There was a place about half an hours walk away - well I certainly cant walk that far. There is parking at the station. Off we went and at the end of the station we saw it secure bike storage. It was shut opened at 2 - well that wasn’t too bad only about 10minutes to wait. It was about to open when along came Matthieu the Angel of Bordeaux and explained how it worked. We had to go back to the station and buy a pass for a month that would let us in. He went with Ken, passports were checked and I imagine criminal records too and the man said he wouldn’t sell Ken one as it was for only one day but we could go in on Matthieu’s pass then come back to station tomorrow, they would recognise us and let us in to retrieve the bikes. Back to the lock up M helped us park the bikes and lug all the gear back to the hotel. But it all turned out to be positive, we dumped the stuff and the three of us went for a beer. We would never have met such a nice and interesting man without all that drama
Today's ride: 58 km (36 miles)
Total: 1,916 km (1,190 miles)
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