Friday June 30, Buzet-sur-Baise

Beautiful countryside.

I know I was complaining about the heat last week, but now I would really like to see a sunny day. We have had wind, showers, heavy rain and a little bit of sun today, and not much more than 17 degrees.  Guess I can’t be satisfied!

Today our destination was a cycle path I had found from the town of Condom (yes, that is what it is called!) to the town of Lagraulet. With Ian having a few issues with walking, we are now looking out for cycle paths on our map and enjoying being able to get on our bikes and see different parts of the country. We are certainly driving to different areas than perhaps we would have done, and all so enjoyable. There is something so wonderful driving through the French countryside especially at this time of the year with fields of sunflowers popping up everywhere.

A different take on a topiary.

The bike trail passed through quite a few oak treed avenues.

The bike trails have tunnels going under main roads,
the painting of this one was very clever.

I bet this town is the brunt of many jokes.

The weather was not very good with intermittent showers but headed off anyway. Found a place to park beside the trail near Gondrin, and after bit of lunch we set off towards Condom. We started off in light rain, but it soon cleared as we road along the tree lined old rail trail for quite some time before coming out into an open area of farmland. With hardly anyone else on the trail it was a great ride, blew the cobwebs out and arrived back at the van just as the rain came in again, with 30 km’s done.

Decided to head to an Aire we had found that was at a port on the Canal of Garonne where the Baise River meets. And more importantly there are very long bike trails along the canal in both directions. What a peaceful spot, with lots of boats moored and great facilities. Looking forward to having a good look around tomorrow but tonight happy to chill out as quite a few squalls go through. 

Tonight I wandered down to the marina and got chatting with Erma and William from Holland. They have traveled from their home through to the south of France in their rather beautiful boat, a great way of life.

Erma and William, canal travelers.