Same view - different time of day - never boring!
It will be difficult but once we are going I am sure it will feel absolutely normal very soon and the road has great views and a bike path for much of the way so in that sense will be a gentle return to travelling.
Sitting here now on a terrace overlooking the med, our first full day cycling in France seems an awfully long time ago. We had the luxury of a campsite and made the most of that both washing our clothes and our bodies. We set off, well and truly now on the road to Carcassonne. Looking at the map we never really thought we would get there within three days but it soon became apparent how much more quickly we could travel on the flat. Initially we were heading for Pau - we didn't quite make it there by the end of the day deciding probably quite sensibly to opt to camp at a council owned site about 20 km away. We still had had a fantastic day's cycling, fully appreciating the lack of hills and the striking back drop of the Pyrenees to our right.
Not only did we manage to camp for free, have one of the hottest and most appreciated showers so far but we also met Maurice who was a factory worker living on the campsite full time. He welcomed us warmly, lent us his patio table and two chairs to eat on and very kindly bought us some bread to accompany our dinner and some pain raisin for our breakfast. He had been severely affected by the economic crisis having been laid off for 7 months from the factory and said he was contemplating moving back to his home town in the middle of the country. He told us he liked the English because he used to have an English girlfriend who used to live in Southend in Essex which was why he was able to speak the language so well.
Much rested we decided we needed to head of into Pau in time to find somewhere to access the Internet and to find a new fuel pump for the stove. I had broken it a couple of days before and we were tiring of cold food and no warm drinks.(And yes I was initially distraught when I realised it was broken) Sometimes you just know it's going to be a great day. On cycling into the outskirts of Pau one of the first shops we passed was an outdoor shop. Great news. It wasn't open for half and hour but it gave us time to shop at the nearby supermarket. Now at this point I was nervously excited - finding a shop was an unexpected relief but it didn't mean they would actually sell MSR spare parts.
Half an hour later I was in the shop and looking for what I needed. No luck. Couldn't see it anywhere. It looked though as the shop was winding down from the ski season and getting ready for the summer season. So with this in mind I tentatively asked the shop assistant - just about able to make myself understood. Off he scurried and back he came with exactly what I needed. Unbelievable luck and enough to put me in a good mood for at least a week. If that wasn't enough we then cycled into Pau city centre (in glorious sunshine) to find the Tourist Office had free wifi. Even I was prepared to stay and linger a while in such a beautiful city while we emailed home and sent off requests to couchsurf in Carcassonne and beyond.
I was well aware that as good as this day was turning out to be there would be many others at the other end of the spectrum and it was important to be very Kipling about it. I was determined to welcome the good fortune without getting carried away expecting every day to be that good. So after a great morning we left Pau slightly concerned that maybe we should stay and take a look around - we didn't want to become obsessed with the journey and forget about appreciating the places we travelled through. But we also understood that as a cycle tourer you couldn't stop at every pretty town or village unless you has unlimited time and that the joy was that at least you got to cycle through these beautiful places which otherwise you would never even have seen. To check we were making the right decision we asked ourselves if we were ever likely to want to return in the future.
We then set off cycling in earnest but writing this two weeks later I confess I forget exactly what it was like and lets be honest no one needs to hear about every inch of every road we travel. We made it as far as Autrive - a fairly long day and we camped wild half way up a hill in a field just off the road and out of sight. A great location we thought. Nice view, flattish grass field, open without a gate so no clear indication we were trespassing. We still didn't put up our tent but instead prepared and ate our dinner. Half way through we heard a huge noise and about thirty seconds later a quad bike and a motorbike came storming off the road and through the field. Luckily they looked at us as they passed but them continued on into a wood on the other side and proceeded to ride up and down there. We continued sitting, waiting for them to leave before pitching the tent, thinking with good reason we thought, that they must surely leave before it gets dark. And they did just about. Of course it meant I spent the night worrying, thinking that if they knew we were there they might come back during the night - to do what ..? To rob us, abuse us, move us on. I think I flattered us, how we looked and what we had with us. Needless to say nothing happened other than not getting a great sleep and waking up early. At some point on this trip I will get over this and stop telling you about nights spent camping wild where nothing happens.
