Montauban...A Brick City
May 30th
Montauban is one of the three "red brick" cities in the Tarn and Garonne department. The other two are Albi and Toulouse. The old historical center is filled with beautiful buildings made with red-orange Roman brick. It is actually the oldest medieval city in the southwest of France. The streets are lined with shops and restaurants frequented by locals and tourists alike.
We arrived late in the day with just enough time to walk around and make a few dinner reservations at restaurants recommended by Romain, our VRBO host. We will discover more in the next few days I'm sure. Our dinner was at Du Bruit en Cuisine...a wonderful french restaurant with great artwork on the wall. The paintings were out of our price range but we managed to get some snapshots of them. A wonderful meal of supreme volaille (chicken) for me and lamb for Jay preceded by a shrimp appetizer and accompanied by fabulous wine, of course.
Another canal...another bike ride 🚲
May 31st
There are many rivers and canals in France but it seems many are concentrated down here in the southwest of the country. There is the Dordogne, Garonne, Gironde, Lot and the Tarn to name a few. We rode along the Canal de Montech today until we reached the Canal Lateral a la Garonne. We rode along on a great surface from Montauban to Moissac for about 56km or 35 miles. Just 2km before reaching Moissac we had to walk our bikes across the Cacor Canal Bridge for 356 meters or about a quarter mile. Here the Canal Lateral de la Garonne crosses over the Tarn river. It's a beautiful structure with 15 arches of red-brick.
We tried to catch the train but miscalculated the timing and ended up riding to the next town to catch a later train back to Montauban. These little glitches seem to happen to us occasionally but we manage to go with the flow and come out ok most of the time.
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| Crossing the Tarn |
Our VRBO host recommended the restaurant Little Italy which was just a few minutes walk from the square. The funky design up on the terrace was a fun place to dine. We were greeted by the owner that we met when we made our reservation. He seemed to really like Jay and the waitstaff took very good care of us. He picked out a delicious Chardonnay to go along with our meal...also extremely delicious!
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| Carbonara and Pasta with Thon |
Another fantastique day in France!
Market Day in Montauban
June 1st
Before riding today we walked through the market to purchase a few items for lunch and the next few breakfasts. As usual this market was colorful and buzzing with activity. I love the markets in France with all the locals purchasing their items for the week. The long lines at some of the vendors tell you that you must stand in line there to buy whatever they are selling. I guess you don't mess with what is a known product?
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| The sweetest strawberries ever! |
Sometimes plans go a little sideways like today. Instead of catching the train toward Toulouse and riding back along the canal we had to reverse the route because the trains were fully booked. This had never happened to us before so we were a bit shocked. Nevertheless, we rode south, stopped for a picnic lunch, rode further, stopped for coffee and finally rode past our train stop and had to turn around to catch the train back to Montauban. After another 53km day I was ready for a glass of...anything!
As we walked toward "Jay's bar" it began to rain...hard. We ducked under a doorway and put on rain coats and opened the umbrella and waited for it to let up. Luckily it abated enough to continue on our trek and Jay found us a table under an umbrella that was dry enough to sit and enjoy our aperitifs. People watching at the cafe is so fun...little ones playing in the fountain, people struggling to find a dry place to sit, a tandem bike couple circling around the square trying to decide where to eat, etc. The rain let up but it was getting windy and a little chilly so we walked down the alley to "my" wine bar and went inside. The owner, Simon, greeted us and we chatted about his wines. He chose a wonderful Viognier for us and about the time he was pouring Jay discovered he'd left our backpack at the bar. Off he went in a dash to hopefully recover our pack. Voila! He returned successfully and we resumed our wine tasting and ordered a petit (?) charcuterie planche. The cute guy serving us kept slicing one kind of meat after another, then cheese, pate, peppers and tomatoes until we were glad he stopped. After we had eaten half of our "appetizer" it became apparent we were not going to need dinner. However, my sweet toothed husband insisted on dessert. A nice little cafe on the main street served up a gigantic profiterole to my smiling, happy camper.
Visiting the medieval village of Bruniquel
June 2nd
The village is a picturesque mixture of old pink stone and red tile with medieval gateways and defensive walls. Two medieval castles dominate the village and the valley. The "new" castle was built in the 15th century while the "old" castle in the 12th. The name Bruniquel came from a German princess that lived to be 69 years old at which time her great-grandson had her executed...nice guy, huh? The village is perched on a cliff overlooking the river Aveyron. Walking up to the hilltop was the best part of the day for me. The little alleys with old doors and windows surrounded by vines and flowers was a sight to behold. I love poppies and they are in abundance this time of year in France. These bright happy flowers pop up everywhere along the paths and stairs on the way up to the castle. I can't possibly put all of the photos I took of this enchanting place but below is a small sample.
