Day 4 62miles Carcassonne to Toulouse

Another fab breakfast today - the best croissants and coffee I've had so far this trip - and a charming host.
We set off around 9am and managed to navigate rush hour in Carcassonne without too much hassle. We passed through a couple of nice small towns but soon we were in the countryside. We knew that the climbing started just after Castlenaudry but were pleasantly surprised to reach the town around 11am - which meant we were making good progress. The climb was tough although thankfully relatively short but the real challenge came when the route suddenly took us down a dirt track that forced us to dismount pretty sharpish (even Max wasn't brave enough to take it on!). We were relieved to get back to the main road after 30mins which was a country lane across rolling hills.
 However our success was shortlived as we soon hit another diversion which in France we've come to realise simply means "you can't come down here so find your own way out...".
We decided to do a supermarket dash for lunch today. I think it was Max's attempt to toughen me up for the big day tomorrow!

So after a short pit stop we set off again in the hot afternoon sun.Luckily for us, with the climbing out of the way, we soon found ourselves in the shade of the Canal du Midi which was a beautiful afternoon's ride. We even passed the first tandem we've seen this trip.
We arrived in Toulouse around 4pm but couldn't check in until 5pm. We looked for a cafe but couldn't see anything so Max left the bike in my capable hands to go in search of refreshments. He had barely crossed the road when he heard a big crash, I'd dropped the bike! It weighs a ton and Max walked off in disgust but thankfully a nice French gentleman helped me out 😂. Max came back with the most delicious giant macarons and peaceful relations were resumed 😋

Our B&B for tonight has exceeded expectations again - lovely hosts, a great shower and a washing machine 👍. 

We've found another fab local Vietnamese restaurant which we're about to venture out to try. 

Comments

  1. Kerry31 May 2022 at 15:52

    That would have been the bit of the Canal du Midi that we cycled all those years ago. Did you recognise any of it? Bet you wished you had your mountain bike today! Loving all the food. Xx

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Sarah1 June 2022 at 03:19

      Yes, well remembered. We were trying to recall what year that was and I said you'd remember 😀. Bits of it certainly looked familiar 😀

      Delete
  2. Kerry1 June 2022 at 10:28

    I'd have to guess at 2005 or 6. It would have been before we got married in 2007 but after 2004!

    ReplyDelete

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