The weather continues to be nice spring conditions for our ride today to Cordes-sur-Ciel. It is a short 30KM ride, so we have decided to take a later breakfast and visit the town market before our departure. This will also provide lots of opportunity to see Cordes-sur-Ciel.
Local markets in the small towns of France are always interesting and would be a great way to get your fresh vegetables for the week. Pat is usually sad that our tight packing leaves no room in our panniers for any non-consumable purchases.
This is the view out our window where we are staying . The bridge is the major crossing of the Aveyron River at Saint Antinon Nobel Val and our way out of town today.
The rotisserie chicken is popular at the market. The potatoes roasted in the dripping chicken fat must be so good but so bad for Scott. Our diet lately has not been very heart smart. It is a shame that foie gras is not good for you. It is so yummy!
View of the town`s main gathering point on market day morning. The musician`s instrument is very interesting and provided a wonderful background sound to the whole event.
Our home for the night. The hosts Mimi and Patrick were wonderful and so nice. Not the best picture so I want say that the animals in the window are not real but Pat is!
We said good bye to our hosts, loaded up our bikes and headed over the bridge out of town around 11 am. The riding conditions were perfect as we took our time following the Aveyron river heading east.
The low road beside the Aveyron River on the south side runs right beside the D15 and started out paved for the first few kilometres but turned into farming road. We decided the D15 was better and the traffic was very light.
Not far from Saint Antinon Nobel Val, this bridge took us back across to the other side of the Aveyron in search of a cafe and into the small town of Feneyrols. But the best part is we really we just like the name.
Leaving the D15 and turning to the south we note that we are now in a new district as we head toward our objective - the Tarn. But we will have one more stop before reaching the river.
Scott has been taking a fair bit of time trying to become more familiar with his new Garmin. It has many different settings that can create some confusion when all you are really interested in is following a map and keeping some ride data. It is way more sophisticated than our simple needs require and he has turned off most of the features. But he was surprised when a screen popped up and told him it was time to eat! So we followed Garmin`s advice and had a snack before heading up the hill to our destination!
Seriously?? That`s our destination?? Pat needs to pay more attention when Scott says, "it's a hilltop town tonight."
Pat had the location of the evening`s accommodation marked in ¨Mapsme¨ on her phone. Arriving at Cordes-sur-Ciel, Pat checked the hotel location and it appeared that we had passed the mark by 1km back down the road. So we began to backtrack and discovered that it was back 1km but first we needed to go up this very steep hill to the medieval village. Of course, that only makes sense.
Cordes-sur-Ciel is in the exclusive Les Plus Beaux Villages de France club. There are 156 of these special villages in France. The southern departments of the Dordogne and Aveyron have the most number of member villages, with ten in each. We have been to a few before and they really are special if you get there before the tourists arrive.
Upon reaching Cordes-sur-Ciel, it was a bit of a struggle to locate our hotel for the night and when we did, discovered that it did not open until 16:30. So, we found this very convenient spot just outside the door, locked up our bikes and set off to see the town.
The town of Cordes-sur-Ciel seemed fairly quiet on this Sunday afternoon. It was easy to get a coffee at at table in the main square and enjoy the late afternoon sun. Finding a place for dinner was a bit more of a challenge. In the village, there seemed to be only one restaurant open....and that was at 8 o`clock. So we thought it would be worthwhile to try our luck down by the highway where we arrived. After a steep walk down we asked the local bar keep if there were any restaurants nearby. He muttered something and waved his arm in a direction down the road. Off we went but could not find a thing. So back up we went with our empty stomachs and were pleased to be received at the only open restaurant where we enjoyed salmon and salad.
