Blogs from Albi, Midi-Pyrénées, France, Europe

Bonjour à tous, Ça y est c'est parti pour la première étape, dans des conditions de temps épouvantables. comme en 2014, lorsque je partais pour la Colombie Britanique et l'Alaska. Cette année là j'avais eu plus de 60 jours de pluie sur 78. L'Espagne n'est pas l'Alaska, j'ai bon espoir que ce mauvais temps ne sera qu'éphémère. Ce matin au départ de la maison une douzaine de degré, de la pluie, des bouchons, le périph de Lyon à l'arrêt. Comme d'hab Lyon St Étienne saturé. 1½heure pour être à la sortie de St Étienne un peu plus de 60km, et près de 3 heures pour me rendre au Puy en Velais pour 135km. J'en étais à me dire à ce rythme je suis parti pour 6 mois. En arrivant au Puy, léger rayon de soleil, comme ... read more

Today was our last day of riding hills, and not to be outdone, I ended up adding some extra. Not on purpose. Leaving Millau proved dirt simple, and involved neither hill climbing nor traffic - in fact we descended again into another beautiful morning. Having decided to do the alternate route - even though it added a mere 5km to the nominal distance - I once again set out on my own, and promptly did some extra climbing by misinterpreting what 'continue straight at the roundabout' meant. We had been alerted we would travel under the famous (except to me) viaduc de Millau, and I chose to take the optional side trip to its related Information Centre. I hadn't appreciated that would involve several kilometres of very steep climbing, though, but once started felt compelled to ... read more

Leaving Olonzac and the the south behind I said I would like to drive north our second week on country roads not motorways all the way...ahem !!! First bit of the journey into the mountians with views of the Pyrenees was stunning - and we planned a route to avoid the Tour de France ( roads were closed) - we motored through Castres - lots going on as the bikers had just left - lots of old houses bordering the river - very nice. And then we arrived in Albi - the red city it is called because of the red brick - well trusty Sally took us to a carpark right by the cathedral ( magnificent made of bricks in 13 century ) ..we had a quick walk about admiring the old buildings and a ... read more