Montauban

August 31, 2019

Very easy riding

We went out into the square for dinner last night. At 8pm it was still hot, we had a lovely meal sitting and chatting to Sheila and Phil. They are English and have retired to a little village near Bayonne and are loving their new life though naturally they are rather worried what will happen when Brexit kicks in particularly as regards health care as Sheila is not well.

It was fantastic to be back on the bikes today, so mush more relaxing than on trains.Two small problems resulting from the adventure the bikes had yesterday immediately came to light. Ken’s bell had been irrevocably broken and my front mudguard was rubbing on the front wheel. The first thing that happened was that we ran into John and Jessica. They had arrived on the overnight train from London, they are on a 10day cycle trip thinking perhaps of riding from Toulouse to Beziers. What a lovely bright young couple they are, exactly the type of people that the UK needs as it goes into the future.

This is exactly were the bikes were when the thieves attempted to get them yesterday

With John and Jessica- have a great trip

From there we were onto the cycle path which is perfectly paved and follows the canal lateral to the Garonne. We were to follow dedicated cycle paths all day and it was easy, the heat being the only difficulty. As you ride out of Toulouse you come first to an area where homeless are living. We had walked this way about 14 years ago and I thought there were fewer today. The canals are such a wonderful asset to France. It concerned me a bit today how few boats we saw actually moving - only about 6 in 60km, and John and Rosemary unlike in the Burgandy area there was lots of water in the canals. The tow paths are used so well. Of course their are the cyclists, today we saw lots of touring cyclists but there are lots of others on day trips, often family groups with some tiny little cyclists, and those out just to get their daily exercise. There are runners and walkers and those lucky dogs out on their daily expedition, mainly of them keen for a swim. Getting a coffee along the way is not particularly easy. We went into one small village just to be disappointed, but we did get something to eat at the boulangerie, never mind we had a bit of a rest.

At Montech we left the main canal and took another which was to take us to Montauban. Montauban is on the Tarn River which is a tributary of the Garonne that arises in the Massive Central. Riding the original canal the land had been very flat and the locks far apart, now the land was going down so the locks are close together. Approaching Montauban we left the canal and rode along the river a little before crossing a bridge into a lovely town with a vibrant pedestrian area and an easy hotel to find.

A fine old Dutch Barge in need of restoration. How about it John ?

Today's ride: 61 km (38 miles)
Total: 1,666 km (1,035 miles)

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