Day 5 94miles Toulouse to Vares

We set out at 6.30am this morning desperate to get ahead on our toughest day yet and break the back of it before the sun was at it's most fierce. After navigating through the streets of Toulouse we soon found ourselves back on the Canal du Midi. Nonetheless, inspite of the early start and the shade offered by the trees, we could already feel the sun's true potential.
We made really good progress for a few hours encountering only one detour (which we ignored) and made our first pitstop around 9.30am. A pain au raisin and coffee for me (delicious) and another macaron for Max. We pressed quickly on - the plan being to get as many miles under our belt before midday at which point we'd decide on our lunch strategy - supermarket dash or proper plat du jour.
By midday we'd clocked 63 miles - good progress but nonetheless we decided to go for a quick lunch knowing that the worst of the climbs still lay ahead.

The afternoon cycling began with us navigating through a busy town in blistering heat, it was energy sapping to say the least 😅. Eventually we turned off into a much quieter lane but that could only really lead to one thing - the start of a series of challenging climbs. Up we slowly slowly climbed and then downhill we raced, each time savouring the few minutes of cool breeze and zero peddling. We did this several times passing through several very pretty villages along the way. Beautiful scenery which we tried to enjoy whilst questioning each time whether it had been worth the climb 😂
Finally, after 95 miles and 800 metres climbing, we arrived at our destination for this evening. It was definitely worth it, its an idyllic location, a fabulous room, swimming pool, charming hosts etc etc. We've had a swim, had a fabulous meal from all garden produce (yes including the chicken) and now we can hardly keep our eyes open.
Luckily we get to do it all over again tomorrow 😂. 

Comments

  1. Mick2 June 2022 at 09:41

    Good work. You are so lucky to do that everyday. Currently camped up near Calais for return to blighty tomorrow. Boohoo.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Sarah2 June 2022 at 09:56

    Thx Mick. I'm starting to enjoy it but my hands aren't quite up in the air yet. Max says he turned himself inside out today to make it for plat du jour 🤣 Luckily we made it and it was the best we've had yet 😋. Safe journey home. If Max wants to do another trip next year I'm voting you in 🤣

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Mick2 June 2022 at 10:11

      Not sure I will be able to make it that week. When was it again?

      Delete
    2. Sarah3 June 2022 at 01:04

      Ooh I'm not sure no is an option 😀. We can be very flexible on dates 🤣

      Delete

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