May 16, 2013 - Bordeaux

We spent the morning wandering around the centre of Bordeaux, which is not far from our B&B. The historic part of the city is on the UNESCO World Heritage List because of its outstanding 18th century architecture. It is very beautiful, with a lovely large park and many pedestrian only streets. In the afternoon, we drove to Bourg to visit Chateau de la Grave (http://www.chateaudelagrave.com/index.php). We had a very interesting tour of the winery from the owner, and enjoyed tastings of several vintages. It was a very enjoyable visit. The...

May 15, 2013 - Avranches to Bordeaux

A long drive from Avranches today, about 6 hours driving time. We stopped in La Rochelle for lunch and arrived in Bordeaux about 1700. Despite all the sitting, we managed to get almost 14000 steps in because we walked to and from a restaurant that was about 45 minutes away.

Sep 16, 2012 - Agen

Cold start this morning, left around 8.15, and it was 9.2 degrees, hey Ros, lucky we had done some winter rides! It was quite misty which was a bit scary on the narrow roads, so very thankful for our little flashing lights. About 10kms back to the cycle track, then the whole way from there on the path beside the canal, so good not to worry about traffic. The occasional rider going the other way, or a few walkers was about it. We were a bit worried about food as we realized that nearly everything was closed as it was Sunday, lucky we had...

Sep 15, 2012 - Marmande

After leaving the beautiful Campellii this morning headed out of Langon, got stopped by Police, riding up a lane the wrong way, (he must have been the only person up at that time) very helpful as soon as Lisle opened his mouth and knew we were lost. Langon interestingly has part of the AirBus assembly plant in France where one part of this European jet is manufactured, this was one of the landmarks to pass to get out of Langon. After 12 km of rolling hills we found the Canal Lateral cycle path - which runs in parallel to the Garonne, built...

Sep 15, 2012 - Free day in Sarlat

No sore shoulders! Didn't have to go anywhere today so slept in until 8:10 and breakfast about 8:45. Luxury! Enjoyed visiting with folks until 10:00 when we returned to our room to work on the blog. Ivan was on the computer so I went to the glass day room where I could spread out my papers and work on composing blog messages. About 1:15 we set out to find a lunch spot and then sightsee this old city with cobblestone streets and yellow stone and stucco buildings. It was evident this area is known for foie gras and duck. Signs everywhere...

Sep 14, 2012 - Cave; Canoeing

After another hour of riding through lovely countryside with crops and forests we arrived at a very large cave for an underground tour to see prehistoric art. The privately owned cave, Grotte de Rouffignac, does not allow photos and only takes a limited number of people into the cave on electric trains each hour. There are over 5 miles of cave with several areas of either engravings or paintings or both. Our guide, a grandson in the family business, gave us an excellent tour. The 250+ pictures/engravings were mainly of mammoths, some...

Sep 14, 2012 - Langon

We left early, thankfully got thru Bordeaux & across the river (Garonne ) without too much drama in peak hour traffic. Met by a very heay fog next to the river on our way to the Roger Lapebie cycle path, a long steady climb toward Creon. Stopped at a cute bistro at Lignan, had very funny WC signs particularly directed to males in the unisex toilets. Temp along this early section was about 11C but warmed up after Creon, got to about 25C rest of the day brilliantly clear blue sky. Had a wobbly attack at Creon now realize French breakfast's at...

Sep 13, 2012 - Bordeaux

We spent today on foot, no riding bikes, just checking out Bordeaux, and some tram rides.. It is a shame the Central Coast or Sydney does not have a transport system like Bordeaux it is fabulous, apparently it has only been operating for 10yrs. The trams arrive nearly every 5 min most of the day. It has made a huge difference to the city less traffic congestion & pollution etc, though parking appears still problematic here.. Lisle, had his 1st drive of an all electric car today, a tiny Citreon which our host (Jean Pierre) uses, he pays...

Sep 13, 2012 - Mortemart; WWII village; Sarlat

Six hours of riding today. One of the most interesting tidbits was the origin of the word, limousine. Would you believe it comes from the large, strong reddish-brown breed of cow that was once used to pull wagons and carriages? Those cows are called 'Limousin'. In the very tiny village of Mortemart (pop. 124 according to the lady mayor who came to greet us and thank us for coming) we had a great picnic lunch. Patrick bought some delicious French foods for us to try: rabbit and pork pates, 4 kinds of cheese, 2 kinds of tapandades (olive...

Sep 12, 2012 - Lacanau Ocean & return trip to Bordeaux

Well we made it there & back, Lisle dipped his toes in the Atlantic surf was better than expected although all straight handlers some 6ft sets / all close outs (Mark T would have been right at home) like Wamberal on nasty day. Apparently they have artificial reefs along this section for board riders. The bike track was really good 70km od tar smooth dedicated bike path, although hard slog with very long straights thru the pine tree forests, luckily head wind not too strong, harder going near the coast. Made to the accommodation after a few...

Sep 10, 2012 - Arrive Bordeaux

Hi All Great train trip from Paris on the TGV 1st class, nearly 3hrs very pleasant way to travel , leaves our Ozzie trains for dead, very fast and extremely quiet. Note to Laura , that clumsy gene you thought came from my side definitely comes from your mum's. She did a Laura, spilling a whole cup of black tea over her lap, thankfully the money belt , her new pale blue pola fleece (which now has pale green sleeves) saved her from severe burns!!! This all happened at Montparnasse station waiting for the train, very embarrassing for me...

Sep 6, 2012 - Bordeaux

We have pretty much been under the pump lately, hence no postings. Paris was fantastic. We went to the Lido Club to see an amazing show -nthe same type as Moulin Rouge but apparently better. It lived up to it's name. It was a very late night and we were up early the next day to explore Paris. We visited Notre Dame, The Louvre in which we saw the Mona Lisa and a few other great painters. Then we explored the city for a couple of hours. The day ended in an authentic French Restaurant with singers etc. It was a great night with everyone...