Day 44: Bordeaux to Marcillac

May 9, 2018

After breakfast Camille and Julien gave us a hand trucking our bikes and gear down the winding stairs, and looked on benevolently as we arranged the stuff in the street and got ready to go. They sure were a sweet couple, just two more of the young people we have met on this trip who are showing impressive amounts of get up and go.

Camille and Julien, in front of their B&B

As we pedalled slowly toward the river, we were surprised to see today again (and not a holiday, we think!) the lack of traffic in the streets. Some seemed to be reserved for the sleek street cars, and some for pedestrians.Maybe the few remaining ones were just not worth driving.

Trolley in an otherwise empty Bordeaux street

One of the (many possible) reasons we were pedaling slowly was .the knowledge that we would be at a B&B in a small village tonight, and that tomorrow is Ascension, when the whole country locks down tight for the long weekend. So we felt we needed to find and squirrel away a suitable amount of food. The first two bakeries we tried were open, but claimed sandwiches were not ready yet. We finally found success at a "Paul" store, a little out of town. Paul is a chain bakery which often has branches in train stations, and where the quality is surprisingly good. When I get home and think longingly of some French pastry, it will likely be a chausson abricot, from Paul.

As we passed along the river frontage we noticed both the wide and open public space afforded there, and the grand buildings that stand back from the water and for a great distance along the river. We cut "inland" quite quickly, following excellent signage for Royan, or Lacanau. Royan was our target, and to get there we would cross the Gironde before it was very wide. If we were to go to Lacanau, we would be crossing at Soulac sur Mer, which as the name implies, is on the sea.

Wonderful as Bordeaux is for its large number of beautiful buildings and neighbourhoods, no city can escape 20th and 21st century "architecture" in its outskirts. In almost all cases we would describe this architecture with the technical term "bleecch".

What you see 4km from the centre of beautiful Bordeaux

One good thing we can say is that the bike ways were plentiful, and almost perfectly signposted. In many cases the paths were physically separated from the road, and there was lots of green painted guidance on the ground.

With protected bikeways we do often see a tendency to barricade them, as if hoards of vehicles are just revving their engines looking for a chance to encroach on the cycle space. Often the barricades are various designs of turnstiles, and many of these are hostile to loaded bikes, let alone tandems and loaded tandems.

This time around it was a mild form of this protection mentality that could have ended the tour. Dodie glanced over at a car that was waiting or parked somewhat out of place, and in the split second of looking away she rode over an obstacle mysteriously placed to "help us out".

Fortunately she came to it dead straight and in the middle, so she just went over it. A little off centre and it surely would have thrown her. Lucky break.

The bike path obstacle viewed from a slight distance

From this point the ride and landscape went into a bit of a boring mode, with just suburban style family homes, and no agriculture. There was a bright spot, as we encountered a couple who were walking to Santiago, having started in Belgium. We assume they were following the EV3 - the Scaniberique. This will take them into Spain at Hendaye, after which it will be the "Norte", which is not actually the primary route to Santiago. The man was towing an innovative two wheeled cart from a belt around his waist. We discussed the possibility that this could be a "drag" when ascending rocky pathways. These were strong walkers, saying that at times they had been forced to do up to 40 km in a day, when they could not find accommodation. Yikes.

The Camino walkers, have come this far from Belgium!

With the dull surroundings, we were wondering what happened to the famous Medoc wine region. But sure enough it popped up as we skirted the town of Margaux. Here we found large fields of vines, all on the flat. For the first time we also saw workers in the vines, but it was not clear what they might be doing.

What will these workers be trying to achieve?

One of many chateaus - this one is Chateau Malescasse. Note the pointy tower - we saw quite a number of these today.

We had looked at the schedule of the ferry that crosses the Gironde from Lamarque to Blaye, and found that the most likely one was at 15:30, and after that 17:00. We were nervous about making the 15:30 and did not really focus on any earlier sailing time. We reached the town of Lamarque, a couple of kms from the actual terminal, at 12:21. Suddenly we got the thought that there might be a sailing at 12:30, and if so, we had a chance!

We booted it down to the terminal, basically abandoning the e-assist, which cuts out at 25 kph. In doing this, I found my bike to be a real dog, sluggishly increasing speed only to 35 kph, which was the fastest I could make it go. Actually, it's a false complaint because in past years I found that 25 kph was the fastest I could make my loaded Bike Friday go, pedaling flat out.

We arrived at the terminal before 12:30, to find that the boat had sailed at 11:30. Eerrph. Of course, it made sense to us in retrospect. Who (not staff, not passengers) would sail in the sacred 11:45-2:00 French lunch time! But ok, we had an answer. If you can't beat them, join them.

So we installed ourselves at a nearby restaurant and went for the three course mid-day deal. Not only was this very yummy, but sitting at the covered terrace and with the right number of hours to kill, our enjoyment increased and our blood pressure dropped. In fact, I am typing this bit there now, and Dodie is having a bit of a nap. The family that was at their table two hours ago when we got here is still there. What's the rush? Take time to enjoy life! At least, that's our story until the ferry looks like it is coming. Then we will elbow them into the Gironde (if necessary) and let's get this boat moving!

We strolled over and entered the ferry lineup, and were soon joined by two other cyclists. This was Louise and Dean, from New Zealand. They had rented bikes and gear after having done some trekking, and were now doing Bordeaux to Montpelier, not by the canal but overland. We both confirmed for each other that our home countries were not good places for cycle touring. That accounts for why we are all here, of course. For us it is mainly the problem of few cycle paths, while Louise focussed also on the bad attitude of New Zealand drivers, even mentioning having had things thrown at her on the road.

The ferry was quite large for the length of the crossing, but it was stuffed totally with cars. The boat was surprisingly powerful and did some spinning around and blasting off that had us a little dizzy. The cost was meant to be about 4.50 each, payable on board. But no one came around. Dean, showing some kind of good New Zealand ethics, went to try and pay. But the staff seemed to think it was too much trouble to collect the cyclists' money, and said forget it. That long lunch must have been really relaxing for them!

The ferry was quite a large boat, bigger than it seems here. Perhaps 25 cars were loaded through a ramp at the side, front and exited via another ramp at the side, back.

This ocean going boat near Blaye is a reminder that we are almost at the Atlantic.

Once off the boat in Blaye, we were able to hop on a rail trail all the way (about 14 km) to Etauliers. That is all still part of the EV3 route. But at Etauliers we struck off for a further 8 km to Marcillac. This is where Dodie had found a place to stay, once again in a former chateau. The owner, Michel, suggested that we might prefer to stay in a separate building that he has, featuring both a kitchen and bedroom. Both rooms in this little apartment are large, and we are enjoying sitting at a big round table , eating the supper we brought along and playing with our computers.

There is a citadel at Blaye, built in the late 1600's under the direction of the famous military architect Vauban.

Michel has suggested a route for tomorrow that may be shorter or better, and perhaps we will go for it. No matter how we get there, we have made reservations for Royan. After that, we will start up the Atlantic coast!

Today's ride: 67 km (42 miles)
Total: 2,887 km (1,793 miles)

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Keith KleinHi Steve,

Umm, I think the town is called Blaye not Braye. Unless you've developed a strange accent......

Cheers,
Keith
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5 years ago

Steve Miller/GrampiesTo Keith KleinLet's see, what can I say about this:
(a) I did get it right once in 5 tries, not too bad?
(b) Maybe my QWERTY keyboard does not like ell's?
(c) I will trade you Blaye for "La clef"
(d) I'm glad someone is still reading this blog!
(e) Languishing now in Cobble Hill, it was great to have a reason to revisit the Bordeaux area!
(f) OK, I fixed it (them)
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5 years ago