Bordeaux or Bust...Almost

May 29th

Weather today was a little iffy for our last ride but we persevered.  We drove to the town of La Sauve and parked right next to the trail near where we left off yesterday.  There is an old train station there with very peculiar passengers (see photo below).  The Roger Lapebie trail ends in Bordeaux so we headed off in that direction.  As we got close it started to sprinkle so we stopped for a cafe and bathroom break in the town of Latresne, 9 km from Bordeaux, where we actually stayed 10 years ago.  With the clouds looking ominous we turned around and rode until we found a picnic bench for lunch.  A cute little European Robin joined us and hopped around the table and on our bikes waiting for a crumb or two.  Just as we finished our sandwiches the sprinkles started up again so it was time to hightail it to the car.  We made it back and the rain never really materialized which we were thankful for.

Since we are leaving for Montauban in the morning we began to pack up.  First folding the bikes and getting them into the bike bags, then rounding up all of our items we have strewn around our AirBnB.  We will be sad to leave this fantastic apartment but not sure we will return to Langon. We've had difficulty finding a restaurant that is open for dinner so have visited the same one three times.  Not a bad thing really, good food and drink was abundant.  There also aren't many cafes where you can sit outside and have a pre-dinner glass of wine and people watch.  We revisited one last evening and two dogs got into a fight which caused me to jump and my glass of unfinished wine fell to the cement...bummer!  I apologized but the server was kind and just shrugged as if to say..."Ca va"...all is well.

Smooth Riding 

May 28th

The last two days of riding along the canal on a very bumpy surface sent us searching for smoother terrain.  I remembered riding on the Roger Lapebie trail 10 years ago nearer to Bordeaux and we discovered it was only a few miles north of us.  Off we went to the town of Sauveterre-de-Guyenne.  There is a sign at the trail's beginning commemorating Roger who won the Tour de France in 1937. We only rode about 20 some miles the last two days but because of the wonderful trail we were able to do 32 miles or about 50 kilometers. I love watching the kilometers click by...so much quicker than miles. In addition the scenery was absolutely gorgeous! We rode near small villages and through vineyards much of the way. The rolling hills were covered in vines as far as the eye could see.  It was interesting to us that the vines themselves seemed lower to the ground and smaller than those we have seen in Burgundy.

At our lunch stop we met up with a couple from Victoria, B.C. who have been riding from Paris to Bordeaux for the last 10 days...impressive!  A group of school children passed by us all waving and saying "bonjour"...so cute!

We encountered an area where the vines were being taken out but we weren't sure why.  The foliage did look a little sick so perhaps there was some disease in that particular vineyard.

We spotted a lawn robot...roomba for your yard!

Dinner was again at Au Bureau because we couldn't seem to find any restaurants that were open.  Many were closed until Wednesday or Thursday.  Some just were open until 5pm or even earlier. Such a conundrum? 

Biking along the Canal Latéral de la Garonne

May 26th and 27th 

During the time of Napoleon many canals were built to further commerce.  The barges moved goods all through France more easily than by horse and cart.  We have been the recipient of the development of these canals because the tow paths they used to tow the barges have, for the most part, been paved and maintained now as traffic free bicycle routes.  We embarked on 2 sections of "Le Canal des 2 Meres a Velo" which is a route that runs from the Atlantic to the Mediterranean.  We began at Fontet and ended in Le Mas d’Agenais for about a 25 mile roundtrip ride the first day and then onto Damazan for another 20 miles the second day. The trail is sometimes rough with tree roots popping up and has a little bridge over the canal about every few kilometers.  Plane trees line the canal and as beautiful as it is it does get a little monotonous after 20 or so miles. C'est la Vie! 

Sunday can be hard when trying to find a restaurant that is open but we managed to drive by the bar restaurant Au Bureau.  Bureau means office and so Au Bureau may mean "I'm in the office"...clever.  My salad was superb and Jay opted for another burger he said was great as well.  Normally ordering "American" food is not on our agenda here but the burgers are really very, very good!  

Monday was another challenge in finding a restaurant so we decided on a little pizza place nearby with good reviews.  The pizza was good, the wine...not so much...but hey we were happy and well fed once again.

We parked our cute little Reault Arkana in front of a beautiful old church in Le Mas d’Agenais.

We hope to find smooth riding tomorrow and perhaps a wine tour on Wednesday since this is a huge wine region.

To Market to Market to buy a...

May 25th

Before leaving Saumur we had to wonder through the Saturday Market.  It is a colorful feast for the eyes!

The sweetest strawberries...oh my!

Arriving into Langon after about a 4 hour drive we wound our way through the streets and found the little lane where our AirBnB is located. The owner Eric, and resident in the home adjacent, met us there to introduce us to the property. The Gite behind his home is only a year old and he told us his wife was the decorator. I recognized many features and items from IKEA which I think is wonderful...I love IKEA!

The owners house across the lawn from our Gite

Eric recommended a nearby restaurant for dinner so we unpacked walked into town for an aperitif and then headed for the restaurant Le Grandgousier.  It is a fairly upscale place for our locale but prices were reasonable and the fare was very good.

White Asparagus and Burrata

White fish wrapped in Nori

Duck Carpaccio

That's it for our travel day. Bonne Nuit...💤