PONS - 15-SEP

 

Today is transfer day as we relocate from Saint Julien in the Dordogne to Pons in the west near the Atlantic. 

"All our bags are packed and we are ready to go" (John Denver - jet plane optional). Everything fit into our SUV with room to spare for the groceries. 

Transfer days are tough because we pack the car, drive to the next location, replenish at the market, find the new house and unpack. Whew! 

Notice the essentials are wine and pastries. A perfect combination. 

Exit the market through these enormous rotating doors. Like other revolving doors you have to move ahead of the chasing door. 

Moulin is "mill". The entire property and buildings were a grain mill operated by a water wheel. Operations were ceased long ago and the dilapidated buildings deteriorated over time. The current owners are British ex-pats who moved here 17 years ago. Michael is in his 50's as we guess is Louise his wife; she has yet to appear. They live here with their daughter and two sons.  

The whole property is surrounded by water with the faint rush of water everywhere. Since the water is slow flowing lily pads flourish. This is our new home for the next 5 nights. 

Expansive weeping willow hangs over the water. 

Monet would feel right at home here. 

Perfect settling for an impressionist water color.

Must be a dam beyond this flat water. Guess you can boat along this section. Also saw someone fishing but not much worth catching.

We can get to this Boulanger through a back gate and over a narrow bridge. We took the road since I could not remember the way through the secret garden.  

A place like this so close to home would be hazardous to our health. Could not bike enough miles to offset the damage. 

Back home again through the iron gates and bridge over the stream,

A well deserved rest and sipping our favorite beverage. Long day but worth the energy. 

A home cooked gourmet dinner. Notice the unique shape of the wine bottle. Rose wine was not bad either.  

JULIEN - 14-SEP

 

Today was our last ride in Saint Julien de Lampon. Unfortunately the low overnight temperatures coupled with high humidity resulted in a cloud covered foggy morning. Forever optimistic we drove to our starting point and waited in the car for the fog to lift and warming temperatures before heading out. We got tired of waiting and decided to drive to our destination - Beynac. The town boasts an impressive hilltop castle (aka chateau) which could not be seen from below. Rather than sitting in the car waiting for the castle to make its appearance we figured this was an opportune time for yet another coffee stop. Good choice since the boulangerie had outstanding baguettes including my favorite - multi seeded. 

Our coffee lingering behind us and still limited visibility so we drove to the top to see what we could see. Impressive even in limited view but only a gray fog panorama. Oh well, another time. 

We drove home but were still craving a ride; even a short one. I hastily created a route up the hill behind our house and down the back side toward the river. The recorded ride showed a maximum grade of 14.5% but my biking computer topped out at 17% as I slogged up to the top. Walked the last 100 meters of the climb staving off cardiac arrest. 

The ride back down was sweet and the remainder of the ride along the river was delightful as the fog lifted and the sun made an appearance. Picture perfect: flat, cool, no cars, with river following us along the way. 

Perfect looking baguette with seeds abounding. 

Perfect looking baguette with perfect looking Kim. 

Old stone church wall serves as perfect bike rack. They thought of everything.

Napolean travels well. Kim's half was bigger.

Table next to us ordered lunch. Burger for him and canard (aka duck) for her. That is one serious burger which he consumed in its entirety. To be young again.

Another unknown crop along our path. A google image search and agriculture consultant could not get a positive ID. Need to get a closeup of the actual grain/seed.  

Approaching the end of the ride. Hope next location is as inspiring. 

ANXIETY - Of all uncertainties planning this trip was the fact that Peugeot no longer makes a mini van so we contracted for their largest SUV and hoped for the best. The challenge was to get our bikes and all our bags loaded inside for transport between locations. So at the end of today's ride we faced the moment of truth. After removing the wheels we finagled the frames behind the front seats, covered them with a tarp, and laid the four wheels over the top. Voila (French word for "there!") it all fit with room to spare leaving space for all our bags, extra food, and assorted biking gear. 

View from side door showing multi layer two bike sandwich. 

JULIEN - 13-SEP

"Rainy days and Mondays get me down" as the Mamas and Papas so aptly put it many decades ago. Well, today was not Monday but it sure was rainy. This meant that Plan "B" was another day of touring. Not so bad since we had already decided that the ride to Rocamadour was beyond our hill climbing ability. So a road trip would be a suitable substitute which the photos will justify. 

Along the way we pass one of the numerous duck farms scattered throughout the Dordogne area. You can stop and visit the farms, but why would you want to. This is the raw material for "Canard Pate de Foie Gras". 

A short note on the humane treatment of breeding animals. The traditional method of creating ducks with vastly enlarged livers was to force feed each animal three times a day with feed that made their livers grow to ten times their normal size. This technique has been outlawed in a number of countries and California. The birds are kept in cages that restrict their movement in the most inhumane way possible. As the photo shows these birds are "free range" and not force fed. The end is the same - they are killed for human consumption - but their lives are vastly different. This is not the place to debate the case for an animal free diet, but as devowed carnivores we intend to continue our love affair with meat of all varieties.  

Our sole destination was the cliffside town of Rocamadour.

To see the town perched on the side and top of the cliff is to wonder how it was built without the aid of modern machinery. Obviously it employed an endless supply of cheap labor (ala the pyramids). It reminded us of Meteora in Greece where celibate monks desired to live in total isolation around the 10th century. This town is like Meteora on steroids built on a massive scale.   

This photo speaks for itself. We were glad that we drove rather than biked. 

This year the Tour de France (men's) stage 20 ended in the town after an insane climb at the end of the 133.5 km leg. Insane!

Getting there and back was an unending snake of windy roads and impressive ups and downs. When our stomachs settled we stopped in a lovely town for - you guessed it - coffee and pastry. As evidenced by the long sleeved jacket the rain cooled the temperatures to a mild 60's and the welcomed cloud cover required a long sleeve jacket. 

Not as exhausting as hours on the bike but it was nice to relax at dinner with a bottle of bubbly, pate (canard pate foie gras) and fresh baked bread.
Viva la France. 

 

JULIEN - 12-SEP

Our first destination today was a guided tour (fortunately in English) of the Caves at Lascaux.

The caves were discovered in 1940 by some teenage boys exploring the hills outside of town. Inside this circuitous, meandering cave were extraordinary paintings left behind by the local inhabitants about 20,000 years ago. The caves we explored are an exact replica of the ones found years ago complete with visitor center, restaurant, and obligatory gift shop (yes you do exit through the gift shop).

Notice the massive visitors center which is a very recent addition. 

This is a replica of the replica; Kim is the real thing!

Even though the caves are a replica the lighting simulates the illumination the inhabitants used. It was probably animal fat lamps that did not produce soot which would have covered the paintings. So, no photography while meandering through the cave. There is an extensive display in full light of what you see inside. 

We look much better in full light in front of the iconic rock wall bull. 

Stop two is the medieval town of Sarlat - pronounced sar-la with the ending t just for show in the French style.  

Like so many towns of the same period it burned to the ground during the 100 years war but was rebuilt to last entirely of limestone from the surrounding hills.

Finding parking in the town overrun by tourists (present company excluded) is hard enough but paying for parking is a challenge in a league of its own. This French local showed us the way - Merci.

Hard to pass up a flying buttress but not of Notre Dame acclaim. 

A typical village street scene and Sarlat was no exception. 

A perfect lunch spot just before it closes at 2:30. Five minutes later and we would have gone hungry.

We shared beef and frites, and duck (aka Canard) which is what is left over after salvaging the liver for Foie Gras (fatty liver). They have everything foie gras except foie gras ice cream (or we might have missed that).

Very old stone building. Some stone is older than dirt.

A flower of some kind.

We are addicted to The Amazing Race. In 2022 episode 7 took the contestants to the Dordogne. We may not have hit every location on the race but the "holy grail" was to find Panorama which is no easy feat since there are no signs anywhere. They were directed to Domme which is at the top of a very windy, steep, and obscure roadway (which we did bike up on a previous day). For us it was easy peasy since we made it here before and were able to follow the car GPS (not available to the teams). 

 

The Dordogne river and valley below.

A panorama shot from Panorama overlook!

As far as the eye can see.

The overlook.

Kim found the spot - but no Phil or clue box.

The end of our quest.

Panorama in Domme!

After a long day of touring and lots of driving the end of the day deserves our just desserts. 

 

JULIEN - 11-SEP

Today's ride started at the house which allows us to sleep in for another 30 minutes. Due to the very high daytime temps (not Phoenix hot, but hot for us) we get on the bikes shortly after sunrise. 

Route planning is critical to get the climbing behind us before the beating sun drains our energy. An overcast day is a blessing as is a shade covered road along the hillsides. 

At the highest point of the ascent we enjoyed this expansive view of the Dordogne river valley below.

The descent to the river took us down this windy, narrow road.

I go first to scout the steep decline beyond the arch. Sure glad we have hydraulic disc brakes. 

This area is known for its walnut trees which are everywhere. It was once a vine area centuries ago which was wiped out by a blight, so the hearty walnut tree replaced the grapes. We prefer the fruit of the vine over the fruit of the tree.

Chestnuts are not as common but often line the roads dropping fruit in our path. Important to ride around them and avoid a dreaded puncture. So far no flats which really sours a ride.

Welcome to the Dordogne and flat, meandering path along the river. 

Quick stop in Saint Julien for life's essentials. A daily fresh baguette is a French law. Oh so civilized!

My bike is more beautiful with colorful flowers in the photo.