May 3, 2022
To Melvieu
WThis morning the skies had a heavy overcast and we wondered if rain would be far behind. We asked our host at breakfast about the weather and she said that it does not look good today with rain in the forecast for this afternoon. Further, the weather network indicated that it will rain at our destination of Melvieu at 4pm today. We thought that it would be a good idea to attach the bike fenders that we have been carrying around with us today before we began our ride.
Often we pass on hotel breakfasts that require an additional charge. Our appetites in the mornings are not so large that we can justify the costs. In these cases we will stop at a local store for some fruit and yogurt. But today we welcomed the breakfast at our hotel as there were no other places to purchase food nearby and the restaurant will make us an egg dish. We had scrambled eggs for two and they were a delicious change from our usual meat, cheese and bread fare.
With the bikes loaded and fenders firmly in place, we set off just after 10 am for our first stop, Brousse-le-Château. It was about 30 kilometres up the river. The riding was wonderful as we crisscrossed the Tarn in several different places. In fact, we crossed over the Tarn on seven bridges today! The road was a mix of divided highway and most often on single lane roads where the bike route follows an old railway line. The traffic was very light and we cannot recall a car passing us for at least the first five kilometres. The riding was mostly on flat ground as we followed the meanders of the Tarn and the river was never far from our sight. It has a very remote feel to it as the only village that we rode through on route to Brousse-le-Château was the town of Trebas, about 10 km from Ambialet.
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Brousse-le-Château had come to our attention as it was one of the few places that had a place that you could stay the night on the route between Ambialet to Millau, which is about 90 kilometres away. This is too far for us to ride in a day. The problem was that Brousse-le-Château was too short a distance and we wanted to overnight a bit further along, but there were few choices. After agonizing over this routing decision, we decided to stay in Melvieu, a small town off the river and up in the hills about 55 kms from Ambialet. This is a good distance for us and it splits the disatnce to Millau roughly in half. In the end, this was the right choice but we enjoyed our visit to Brousse-le-Château.
is a very important historic village on the Tarn and also happens to be a "les plus beaux villages". The town is built around an 800 year old castle. We enjoyed our coffee beside a stream that runs through the town. There were very few visitors in the town. As we explored the antient building toward the castle we did not see another soul. Unfortunately the castle itself did not open until 2 pm and we needed to be moving along well before then. The day was warming up and the sun had now appeared making it very pleasant as as we headed back across the bridge to the road.
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We had been looking forward to the next section of the ride as it included riding through several tunnels. In anticipation, we ensured that our front lights were in place before our departure today. I am not sure what it is, but riding through tunnels gives us a bit of a thrill. It is a bit like riding into a cave not knowing what to expect. The first couple of tunnels had coloured lights on the walls and were quite easy to see and to navigate. But the last two, one was 470 metres in length, were completely dark. We both smiled and laughed as we exited them. It was fun to ride along in complete darkness with your lights illuminating the tunnel walls and them seeing, ¨the light at the end of the tunnel¨ as you make it out the other side. Very cool.
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1 year ago
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We found a nice picnic area after the last tunnel when we experienced a very unusual sight. Coming down the road was a man on a tractor leading about 200 sheep and they right passed right in front of us toward the tunnel where we had just emerged. We wondered if they, too, would go through the tunnel but the man took the flock just left of the tunnel to an nearby farm. The things you witness when travelling on a bike!
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With only 20 kms remaining we crossed the river toward Broquiès and began some short steep climbs into the hills beside the Tarn. The skies on the horizon were getting grey and concerning as we rode past le Truel, the last town on today`s route. It was starting to feel like rain and we knew we should hurry along the last 4 kms to Melvieu. But these were not to be easy kilometres as they were about 200 metres of continuous uphill riding without a single flat section. Needless to say, it was at the end of our day! Every once in a while Scott would pull over and Pat would catch up and she would say, ¨this is so hard¨. To which Scott would compassionately say that he understands. Ha ha. So not!!
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The skies were now full of thunder and lighting as we made our way up the hill in our lowest gears. Taking a corner we could see the church directly above us but by road we still had another kilometre to go to reach the entrance into the town. The very steep road into the village of Melvieu required pushing our bikes and it was now starting to rain. We knew we needed cover and to find our accommodation quickly. The problem was that we did not really know where it was located. We had no GPS coordinates and it was not showing up on Mapsme. Ditching our bikes under a covered area we both set out in different directions in the rain to find ¨la Charmeraie¨. Fortunately it was within 100 metres and as it turns out we were arriving by the back door. The last push up the hill was not necessary at all. We met our host and then settled into our guest house suffering only mild dampness. We had arrived in a nick of time, and the time now was exactly 4 o`clock. Soon the skies turned to solid rain.
The host at la Charmeraie is Nadine CARRAT. She was an absolutely delightful lady who spoke very little English and that was an equal match to our very little F,rench. In the end it was amazing how long and involved our conversations were. As La Charmeraie is a chambres d'hôtes, Nadine also prepared a most memorable, over the top, four course dinner which we thoroughly enjoyed before returning to our guest house. Really just another great day.
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Today's ride: 54 km (34 miles)
Total: 155 km (96 miles)
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I'm planning my own trip through the Tarn next month - thanks for the inspiration - and am interested in booking a night at La Charmeraie. You made it sound wonderful. I'm having a little trouble making arrangements - I can book on line but there is no mention of dinner. My gmail address is susanlongcarpenter and it would be great if you could drop me a line with any hints on booking/arranging a meal. Thanks.
And you seem to be having another great tour this year - thanks for sharing.
Susan
1 year ago
As I recall, we really struggled finding a place in this area. Le Truel had nothing available. Covid had a real impact I thought at the time. I believed I found La Charmeraie through google maps. Looking again now here is a link that may help you.
https://www.charme-traditions.com/en/bed-and-breakfast/org/87355/la-charmeraie
We did not book our stay through Booking.com. We booked directly with the place.
Tough hill up but a great stay and a great ride back to the Tarn. Good luck!
1 year ago