Boog's Blog

Breakfast on the canal. Tomatoes and an egg. Ate at the hotel as it was good value.

For those with G+ see stitched together gifs of a lock.

A beautiful ride along the canal though rough at times. Many km of single track,badly rutted dirt with tree roots ever present. Wind came up about noon but path is reasonably shaded and protected.

The source of the canal is a bit north of castlenaudy. The canal flows downhill to Toulouse and downhill to the sea from there. Yesterday I was climbing about .5%. Easy but noticeable. Today noticeably downhill.

La Cité is a climb. My hotel is close to the entrance. Agreeable 2 star.

La Cité: This is a classic French Bastide of southern France.

Inside la cité is a full city somewhat reminiscent of st. Jean a Porte only on a grander scale. Worth looking up on Wikipedia la cité.

Carcassonne is bisected by the river Aude. Centre ville is similar to many large old cities. About a twenty five minute stroll, across the river and up a hillside is la cité. A commanding view as intended. A truly impressive medieval city repurposed.

Found a well air conditioned restaurant. The cassoulet was far better than in Toulouse. Far better.

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The canal is nothing like I remember it. Much better for cycling. Maybe not as good for eating.

Forty years ago Sharon and I biked the canal. Rode mostly on roads with traffic and many routiers as eating places,they were wonderful.

Today the path is paved,off road, easy to follow, almost devoid of places to eat, has toilets,water,and is still beautiful.

Much of the old tow path, we rode some of it, is still extant and is a good walking and jogging path.

Porte Laurigais is the first good, commercial, place for a break. Nice setting.

And then paving ended. According to the map has ended got this trip.

In addition to some cycle tourists they are many spandex clad riders.

The path becomes single track and rocky. Minor problem compared to the wind. By late morning it started and grew. By the time I got to castlenaudry I could go downhill at barely six miles an hour, working hard. Like the outer banks off north Carolina.

Notice the picture of the temperature. Maybe teen degrees cooler in the shade, maybe.

Had to take my hat off to walk about town.

Standard French two star. Nice people, minimal comforts but decent WiFi and even CNN.

gazpacho ( the garlic almost knocked me over with pleasure) on the dinner menu, clearly in SW of France. The glob in the middle of the gazpacho is a sorbet of vinegar and balsamic. About 80% pureed. One of the best I have had.

Seeing Spanish influence. Very nice olives with the Richard. The French spoken here sounds quite different. Harsher with possibly more letters enunciated.

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Decided to skip Agen and go back to Toulouse. The park to Agen I'd one that we were on for a while, right along a canal.

Uneventful trip back to Toulouse.

Bicycle is positioned at the start of the Canal du Midi,and its intersection with la Gironde canal. Trip towards Sete starts here.

Avoided the BW hotel and found an excellent alternative right across the street. Friendly,very modern and functional rooms. Good setup for a picnic.

Pictured is dinner and breakfast for the road tomorrow, 20km or so down the road/canal.

Cannot even consider going to a restaurant before 19:00.

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Moissac is an easy ride as long as you get on the right canal. A bit confusing out of Toulouse but a cyclist guided me to a nice one. Not the right one but nice until it was not
Gps got me to the canal de borde Garonne.

Few towns so good was delayed. OK die to cassoulet yesterday.

Picnic lunch in Montech..good fruits at Carrafour.

Now on Le canal des deux mers. Near Moissac there is a canal bridge but not by Eifel. Still nice.

Upgraded to a suite as hotel was full. Great room with excellent view of river. But, third floor and Wi-Fi does not work but intermittently.

Confusing town with canals and rivers. We passed through here on the Camino. Does not look familiar except the central square and its Les Halles and of course the Abby where i waited for QB's arrival.

QB and others who may be interested go to the blog and search on Moissac.

At blog.boogs. net

Paid to go in the Cloitre last time, padded this time.

The town is not much after Toulouse. One comes for the Abby which may have started with Clovis. Finished about 1100.

Organ recital in progress when I arrived.

For dinner I tried to order La Soze. Got nowhere. Spelled it. Wrote it down
Nope. Then she wrote La Souze. Oii?
Clearly it is spelled differently than in Toulouse. No matter how one spells it: it is fine. A bit sweeter than a pastis

Someone: what is it made from?

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Staying at a four star French best western. Not impressed. Most of the two star places have offered much better value. Want to watch news in English? Pay a 7 euro upcharge.; movies included. Shower? Well, a sitz bath with a room flooding showerhead. Breakfast, lesser quality than the ibis budget hotel, 16 euro. Stayed here in part due the good deal at booking. Com. Great location.

Found a nice épicier, on the main square, with a perfect pain aux raisins for less than half the price.

Toulouse may be my new most favorite city in France. Except for the heat and language I could live here.

There will be many pictures today.

The basilica: Note the Roman arches and how different the basilica style is in this area. Reminisces of the pilgrimage.

Took the tourist office walking tour, with a few wrong but interesting turns. Sitting in front of the Roman pont neuf. Sorry that QB is not here to share this lovely city and walk.

The main cathedral, very Gothic, 13-14 th century, st. Etiene. Spectacular rose window.

The first Dominican Monastery was founded here in 1216. They spearheaded the inquisition against the Cathar faith. The monks of the Dominicans became hnown as Jacobians. This part of the 13 th century is generally confusing.

For those who enjoy words,woad, pastel plant used for a very blue dye and the source of much wealth in this area.

Needed lunch after several hours of touristing. Moules frits just the thing.

Cooled off in the refrigerated food section of Monoprix. Gazpacho prominent as expected on this area.

Dinner: un Ricard (got it on first request). Noticed La Suze on the menu. Gender error earlier. Then a cassoulet. Could not finish even half.

Decided to go North tomorrow and head to Moissac. May continue towards Bordeaux after that or head back South to Carcassonne. Such hard choices.

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As the train for not leave until the afternoon took a ride around the city and environs secure in that the gps would take me to the station from most anywhere.

The trains are all running late due to the heat and worth on the tracks.

Great warning on the indication board: due to the heat throughout France it is advised you take water and a spray mister on the train with you. Had to look up brumisateur just to be sure.

A tally of stage one, the Loire. 435 km on my gps. Six riding days,three tourist days,four travel and setup days.

The street names, monuments, signs explaining the route have been dominated by the revolution. That and a mixture of the world wars. Except for the son et luminere and the cathedrals little of the middle ages were evident.

Culturally many Africans, few Asians, few Hispanics. Not too surprising considering the history of France.

The train ride was unpleasant. The place for the bike was far away from the seat, and the bike hard to load. The a/c not working so it was hotter inside that out. The other riders were appropriately fussing to no avail.

Tomorrow will be a tourist day in Toulouse, the red city so called because of the red brick in main buildings.

For dinner, late after the train ride, Piperade!! Back at the edge of Basque country. Tomorrow the cassoulet, perhaps. Will have to skip lunch. Hopefully a small sacrifice.

Piperade is still one of my all time favorites.

Might also try La Suze on Bob's recommendation. The spelling is per le menu.

It is now after 22:00 hours and the streets and restaurants are full. No surprise but a nice change from the early night Loire.

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Wandering city day and some time planning next section of journey. Many good choices.

Many years ago I read a novel set in Singapore. The focus was the heat and how important it is to the culture and how one needs to accept and then cherish it. Not quite there but at acceptance.

Was going to do another picnic when I found a moules frite place with moules Catalan. Tomatoes garlic some chorizo and spices. Joined with a fine rosé,Cheverny, after the nyt article QB sent today. A bottle is the price of a glass in Palo Alto.

The moules were as good as I have had anywhere. Many, small, all perfect. Naturally wine and butter were added, fewer tomatoes than expected.

I asked the server if this dish was popular. Not so much. Most prefer the one with cream.

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Nice ride in a cool morning.

A short stop in the charming meung sur Loire, has a châteaux and is more charming than beauregency.

Orleans is a large city with very easy bike entry. Well marked path to centre ville. the old part is near the path.

The central place is very much beaux arts style.

Salads. Not much yet discussed but mentioned their variety. Picture is just one. Ham,strawberries, shaved parmasean cheese etc.

Took forty minutes to get a train ticket to Toulouse. Riders on the road advised not very interesting to head to Briare so plan to leave the Loire here.

SNCF tried really hard to find a train that would take me and my bike. Many complicated routes with many stops and changes. We agreed that this made no sense. Then he tried Monday. I did not want to stay another day but if no other way…. No better, worse.

He then called his supervisor, I have not said a word except thanks for the effort to which he responded it is normal.

After about ten minutes they realized that if I went to another SNCF in Orleans, about 15 minute bike ride they claimed, I could go direct without changing and without the 90 euro supplement on the other routing. Apparently only certain trains are OK for the rail pass, at least with a bike. They went phew and I said thanks. Six hours shorter and no change and no supplement.

Major cathedral in Orleans. Entered and found a choral concert. All young women and a few who may have been younger. First a string concert with a smaller group and then a much larger ensemble for voice.

Naturally the sound was spectacular but not add crisp as the find Stanford group. Libby would have loved to song here. Do not know the reverberation time.

Picnic dinner. Lots of good stuff. Receipt from store in both euros and FF. No idea of exchange rate varies.

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After the son et luminere I channel surfed to find BBC or CNN. Found, XXL,a very hard core sex channel in French, which starts at 22:30. No charge. No idea how widespread this channel is. A hotel service unadvertised?? Have not seen it before.

Had to pull over twice in the morning. Peletons 30+strong each, I was clearly in the way. All genders perfectly attired in spandex.

As I approached the nuclear power plant the humidity increased very noticeably. Many small bugs seemed to agree. Lasted for about a km in each direction.

Misjudged the distance. Thought that it would be to far too Orleans with the late start this morning. Could have continued the enjoyable ride but had booked a place to stay.

The restaurants, as usual, are full. When the outside tables are occupied clients leave for another place. Few are willing to sit inside. An old Town,11 th century roots due to count of Blois. Old buildings and monuments attesting to the religious wars. Much better for a short visit more a crossroads ville.

A nice bouche amuse of tomatoes and shaved Parmesan. Pizza primavera, the one with toppings I could understand.

Back to oui non Merci after my James Joyce butchering of French. Only ordered monosyllabically. Salad was OK to order. Creme brulé was a stretch. The demi boutile of the local red smoothed the way. I did not try american fries. I have been told they speak only English in Toulouse.

It had been suggested that I should never argue with the French. The peletron paused to pee. I could not help bit to notice that their technique was the same as mine.

Thunderstorms tonight with 50 % chance of rain tomorrow.

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Ambois. Large and popular chateau. Tour bus from Paris as well as many cyclists. A very pretty town to walk about, less perfect with a bike, not comfortable leaving all my stuff unguarded.

Long way from ambois to Blois is via the .large chateau chaumont sur Loire. Better pics on Wikipedia. A couple of hour detour with a pretty if hillier ride. A good break from the flats.

After again seeing these houses, châteaux, the French revolution is in sharper focus. Such wealth for so few.

No moat no gardens perched high above the Loire. 14th and 15 th century opulence. Primary residence of Louis XII

Blois,likeall the towns on this route, had a low scale walking district. Almost every store has one of the following posted prominently. Sale.second markdown third markdown final markdown. As QB observed from the pics the inventory is depleted. Maybe not refreshed.

Son et lumiere tonight. Late night so no early start tomorrow.

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