John here: Our Ride With GPS rides and routes Collection, so far. Open it to see where we’ve been and the routes for each day. The long red part from Cordoba to San Sebastian was done by van with the bikes stowed in the back. Its distance is not included in the kilometre total. Thank goodness we were able to turn the van in to Enterprise in San Sebastián not Valencia as originally planned.
Patti here: we left Bazas and instantly it was hilly and absolutely dripping with vineyards and chateaus. Huge estates. We were skirting the perimeter of the famous wine-making region of St. Emilion. It is definitely a lot colder now. The next day would be Remembrance Day in France as well as in Canada, and one of the things that both countries share is a memorial in every large city and small town for the young people who were lost in wars.
When we arrived in Libourne, the late afternoon sun was painting everything in gorgeous light. We went for a walk, enjoyed a delicious dinner, and turned in, there’s not a lot to do in Libourne. (Except… John’s hamburger was delicious. The French use a more coarse grind of beef for their burgers and it makes a difference.)
This morning, i.e. Monday morning, we skipped the 20 euro brekkie at the hotel and just cycled until we saw a place that might have coffee. Some of the patrons there had great questions about what we’re doing (what do you do about laundry, is that all of your baggage?). Libourne’s logo is a cyclist. There were great bike lanes and routes and we actually spent about 30 km on a decommissioned railbed/biketrail today. It was fantastic and safe. I liked Libourne.
We happened on the preparations for a Remembrance Day service in the middle of the countryside at 10:30 a.m. but waiting until 11 wasn’t possible. It was cold and we were racing to beat a rainstorm (check out those ominous clouds in the photos below) so we pushed onward, and observed, instead, a “rolling two minutes of silence” at 11.
Happily, we missed all of the rain and arrived here in Barbezieux in time to snarf down a salad and vegetable-heavy lunch. (So appreciated at this point in the trip!) Good thing we loaded up on our midday meal because this whole town has rolled up the sidewalks to celebrate Remembrance Day national holiday. Nothing is open for dinner!!!
We made a quick trip to the LIDL to pick up wine, a slab of cheese and some toast, came back here and called it a night. Tomorrow, rain is forecast so we plan to hit the road really early.
Saturday was 73.2 km., 660 m elevation, 4-1/4 hours.
Today was 73.4 km., 480 m elevation, 4-1/4 hours.
Tomorrow should be 75 km. 774 (ugh) m elevation, to Aubigné.
Meanwhile, in the south of Spain where we should have been today according to our original plans, people are truly struggling. See screenshots, below.
