day 42. Virtual Ride. Bezieres to Narbonne.

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We left our ride today until this afternoon for the chance of better weather. We got glorious sunshine but also got some very strong cold winds. We did stay dry, so that's a bonus.
From home it was Chatburn, West Bradford, Waddington, Bashall Barn, some looping round the TT triangle and Great Mitton and then home.
Our virtual journey would be leaving Beziers and heading south west on small roads through vine-yards and orchards. This was a short days riding for us in 2011 as we had had to add in another night's stay on the way as we had miscalculated the mileage and it was going to be about 90 miles in a day. So we arrived in Narbonne at lunch time and decided to buy lunch at one of the café terraces in the lively Place de l'Hôtel de Ville, rather than a picnic lunch on the way. The choice of sandwiches was jambon, fromage or fromage et jambon, which is typical of French cafes. However, it was lovely to have a leisurely sandwich and drink knowing the day's riding was done.

Narbonne was once a coastal town but is now 13km inland due to siltation. It was one of the main centres of Roman rule in Gaul. It is dominated by the massive Cathedrale Saint Just, which was started in the thirteenth century but never completely finished. Narbonne is built on the Canal de la Robine, an offshoot of the Canal du Midi. The bridges over the canal are covered in flower boxes which are exceedingly pretty.

On our very first touring trip in 2008 we got off the European Bike Bus in Bayonne (on the Atlantic West coast and cycled to Gruissan Plage on the Mediterranean East coast). We caught the Bike Bus back from Narbonne two weeks after getting off.


Photos show the Palais des Archevêques, a street view of Narbonne, our hotel and enjoying the sunshine.



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