Geo: 43.3988, 1.71558It's our last day in Toulouse and Janet wanted to take in one last public market before we left France. We decided to head to the town of Villefranche, just 40km away. We arrived in centre ville to find another bustling square filled with all the usual vendors, plus a lot more clothing merchants. Janet picked up a few last minute gifts while I found some interesting pastries to have with our coffee at a table nearby. We headed back to Toulouse after a few hours, taking the “D” route instead of the freeway for one last pass thru the French countryside. Although the weather was still overcast, the scenery was enjoyable. Outside of town we stopped at a car wash to clean three weeks of road dirt and bugs off the BMW. The ... read more

Geo: 43.6043, 1.44367Deb and Guenther packed up and were on their way back to Barcelona via Andorra right after breakfast this morning. We hated to see them leave. It seemed like the ten days we had spent together had flown by too fast. Our original plan for the day was to head back down to the Pyrenees to catch today's stage of the Tour de France. After seeing how crowded the course was the day before, combined with a weather forecast of temperatures in the 90s, we decided to hang out in Toulouse for the day and research a good place to catch Le Tour the following day. We headed back downtown to the Carmes marketplace in Toulouse, an easy metro ride from our house in Les Minimes. We had lunch in a cafe we had ... read more

Geo: 43.0863, 1.876 Yesterday (Sunday) we decided to take a day off the bikes and headed into Toulouse to explore more of the town. We had mastered riding the Metro and easily navigated our way around town and back. Monday, July 16, was Janet's birthday, so she picked the route for the day. After morning birthday wishes we headed southeast towards the country of Andorra, to the walled city of Mirapoix for market day. This was another large one, taking in about four square blocks of the Medieval town. Just like in Sarlat there were all types of vendors. Something new though were live poultry vendors. We watched a lady buy a pair of live ducks which she took home flapping as she held them tied by the feet. We also found a vendor selling hens ... read more

Geo: 44.0548, 1.66391 Today we visited some of the 'Plus Beaux Villages de France.' These small villages receive this distinction because of their unique charm and passion for preserving their heritage and authenticity. The weather was bright and sunny for this ride through the beautiful countryside north of Toulouse. Our first stop was Bruniquel, a picturesque village of stone-built, half-timbered houses perched on a cliff with turrets and flower-bedecked streets, doorways and window boxes which boasts two castles: the old castle, which dates back to the 11th century and the new castle which dates back to the 13th century. We toured the castles, walked the streets and enjoyed grand cafe creme out in a sunny courtyard. Next we visited Castlenau-de-Montmiral, a fortified, hilltop village which overlooks the Vere valley. When we arrived, we were greeted not ... read more

Geo: 42.5245, 3.08232Over ten years ago we visited the Mediterranean coastal town of Collioure on one of our first trips to France, and Janet wanted to spend time there on this trip. So we reserved a room at Les Relais des Trois Mas, a wonderful little hotel along the cliff overlooking the harbor and waterfront. We left Toulouse and headed east along the secondary roads, past Carcassonne and Narbonne, where we stopped for coffee. From there we got on the A9 and headed south, past Perpignan, and crossed over the Pyrenees again into Spain. We found our way to Figueres and rode east towards the Mediterranean coast to the little village of Portbou. From there we hugged the coast north, back into France along a spectacular highway, thru a number of coastal villages and resort towns. ... read more