The pain to Spain tour

[leedude03]

Lee

You make frequent references to "the big gal". Does she realise that is how you refer to her?!!!

Paul i either call her the big gal or big Tanj as her first name is Tanya, the reason for the big monica is that she is massive, standing 4ft 9 inches and weighing in at 47 kilo, most everyone who are close friends refer to her as big Tanj, its not meant to be a derogatory comment, more a term of endearment. and she says thank you for your concern.

 

[leedude03]

we were to spend the next couple of days in and around Broto, before it was time to move on to our next destination Bergerac France, this would be the start of our return journey back home.
Spain had been great, the weather had been very good to us, and i dont think we had stayed at one bad place, they had all been good.
So we set off to Bergerac at about 7.00am in the rain, but by the time we had gone over the col de portalet the rain had begun to ease and by Laruns it had stopped, we were going to try and get to Auch for our dinner stop, google was telling me it should take about 4.5 hours, so that should be ok, and then hopefully we would be calling into Monpazier as we had been told it was worth a look at, and then onto our hotel in Bergerac.
We hit Auch at about mid day, sorted out a place to eat, had our dinner and took a few pics of the cathedral and then set off to Monpazier, by the time we arrived it had started to rain, but thankfully it was just a passing shower.
Monpazier is another one of "Plus beaux villages de France", not as big as Lapoppie, but just as nice in its own way. the place dates back about 700 years and has remained remarkably unchanged during this time.
It is a Bastide town, this translates to (a fortified village or town in France), i would certainly recomend paying it a visit if you are close by. After spending a couple of hours there it was getting late and we needed to get a move on and do the last 30 or so miles to Bergerac.

 

[paul08]

Paul i either call her the big gal or big Tanj as her first name is Tanya, the reason for the big monica is that she is massive, standing 4ft 9 inches and weighing in at 47 kilo, most everyone who are close friends refer to her as big Tanj, its not meant to be a derogatory comment, more a term of endearment. and she says thank you for your concern.

Thanks for the explanation: I can rest easy now!

Have a fantastic time

 

[leedude03]

After the long day we had yesterday, the big gal wasnt up to a day in the saddle today, so we had a short ride into bergerac to have a look around, and would you believe it, another market was on the go, i think she secretly new about it and had used the excuse of being a bit tired, so we would end up there, mind you i will give her 10 out of 10 for coping with the traveling we do on bike, as she very rarely complains or baulks at anywhere i suggest as a destination, and believe me she has done some miles on the back.
Bergerac a typical French town, it has its old part of town, and the compulsory large church or in some a cathedral, and as some are, its situated on a river, this one happens to be the Dordogne. The old town centres around Place Pelissiere which is a lovely square with a number of lovely medieval streets that run off it. You will see the odd statue of Cyrano de Bergerac, but apparenly he has nothing to do with the place.

 

[Kiwi_Mike]

I certainly hope all the people who decide to try this route enjoy it as much as i did, or else i will be ridiculed from pillar to post, I can just hear the cries of call that a route, there was no this, there was to much of that, and there was know where to take a dump, please be aware that some may find this route challenging and tiring, others may think it easy and not that good, I can only point out what i thought of it, and i do hope those that try it enjoy the ride. You could always drop the little man in google maps down on the route to have a look at it, and see if it suits.
I should also point out that there is a section on this route that has a poor road surface not gravel or the likes just poor, the rest of it is very good and you also get to do a couple of sections of the N260.

I did the route you recommended yesterday (clockwise) and thorough enjoyed it. I think any tosser who has made it all the way to Spain with their bike should be able to handle it no problem. It has a nice mix of fast wide mountain roads and smaller forest-type roads with some uneven surfaces and the occasional slippery corner due to gravel. Endless breathtaking views.

I'd done 5 hours in the saddle before I began so was shattered by the end, the fact that you are constantly changing altitude and are in what seems a perpetual corner with almost no straight sections takes its toll. I found myself longing for a duel carriageway in my 11th hour, the temp had risen to 37.5 at 6pm. I got stung by a bee that had found its way inside my jacket just as I approached one of the fast corners which was a first.

Thanks for posting the route.

 

[leedude03]

I did the route you recommended yesterday (clockwise) and thorough enjoyed it. I think any tosser who has made it all the way to Spain with their bike should be able to handle it no problem. It has a nice mix of fast wide mountain roads and smaller forest-type roads with some uneven surfaces and the occasional slippery corner due to gravel. Endless breathtaking views.

I'd done 5 hours in the saddle before I began so was shattered by the end, the fact that you are constantly changing altitude and are in what seems a perpetual corner with almost no straight sections takes its toll. I found myself longing for a duel carriageway in my 11th hour, the temp had risen to 37.5 at 6pm. I got stung by a bee that had found its way inside my jacket just as I approached one of the fast corners which was a first.

Thanks for posting the route.

Mike i must admit that if i had done 5 hrs of riding before then doing the route, (thats hardcore) i think i may have been a little tired to say the least, also we only had a temp of around the 30 mark, so a little cooler, Glad you enjoyed it though, its always hard recomending a route as we all have different tastes.
I remember at one stage my lady was laughing, i could hear her through the comms, i said whats up, she said its like being on the rollercoaster at blackpool only with better views.

 

[Kiwi_Mike]

Not sure about hardcore, more like desperation. Having a wife who hates motorcycles and two young children means I don't get out on the bike much so when I do I try to make up for lost time.

Rollercoaster is about right. I was comparing it to skiing as I was flipping the bike through the turns on the descents.

 

[Jockser]

Great write up Lee, thanks for posting

I don't know why you would have thought the route you suggested might have attracted criticism. It's a cracking way to spend a day
I'm out there every October with 3 friends, when the weather is (usually) dry & not as hot and I just love riding those roads. We base ourselves just south of Tremp & spend a couple of days riding in the mountains.

If you're ever out that way again the C13 going south from Tremp almost to the junction with the C26 is a very scenic road but it's really fast sweepers so difficult to concentrate on both ! On the opposite end of the spectrum is the L511 from Isona to Coll de Nargo which is just tight bend after tight bend on a brilliant surface. And neither road has much traffic.
What's not to love

Now, get on with the report

 

[leedude03]

Jockser thanks for the comments and the info, i will make a note of the roads you suggest for the next time we are over there, regarding your refference of attracting criticism, and It's a cracking way to spend a day, i could not agree more, but there may be folks that will dispute this for whatever their reasons.
And yes i must finish this.

 

[Anaid]

No problem. Great pictures. Thank you.

 

[Timolgra]

Nice report with some familiar photos and looks like you scored with the weather

 

[leedude03]

Nice report with some familiar photos and looks like you scored with the weather

Thank you for the kind comment, the weather was indeed very good, i think we had about 25hrs of rain that we actually rode in and 6 of those were in the uk.

 

[leedude03]

The Area surrounding Bergerac has some very picturesque places to see and explore, villages, towns, and chateaux in abundance, it would be a good central location for any one planning to visit this region of france, and once out into the countryside there is very little traffic to hinder progress.
The next place we chose to visit was little town of Issigeac, and as luck would have it there was something going on that i had not seen or been to in a good while, it was a good old honest to goodness record fair, (remember , those 12inch or 7inch black round things you used to have) it was like going back in time to my teen years, i could of spent a fortune there had i been in a car.
After having had a good browse down memory lane it was time to have a look around the village and as with most it did not dissapoint, the place is delightfull full of character and charm, maybe not as big as some of the other places we had been to but never the less still well worth a visit.

 

[leedude03]

And a couple of chateaux we passed by on the ride out.

 

[Jockser]

but there may be folks that will dispute this for whatever their reasons.

The brigade

Right, back to your update....

 

[leedude03]

Two more places were tucked under the belt today, Beaumont and Cadouin.

Beaumont is a bastide (fortified) town, that was constructed in the shape of a H, It was founded in 1272 by Edward I of England. Take a wander around the streets and alleys and you will see various examples of houses dating from the middle ages, and on the outskirts of the town you can see the Tour de Bannes which is part of the original defences of the town, and believe it or not it hosts a massive antique fair, how do i know? because it was in full swing when we arrived, every street and every alley chocked full with people and stalls, it was to say the least, busy, but also very interesting. This must have been about the 6th place we had visited where there was something going on, i was begining to think the big gal had it all planned.

Cadouin, famous for its very old abbey Founded in 1115 by a hermit, and its cloisters, both are on the unesco heritage list, there is also an old corn store in the square outside the abbey, this was being utilised for dinner by a car club that had a gathering going on.

 

[leedude03]

Cadouin

 

[leedude03]

Well we realy enjoyed our stay in Bergerac and spent the last couple of days there, just riding around taking in the sights of the area before it was time to move on to our final destination, this would be Caen, as on the last night in Bergerac i had booked a ferry from Ouistram to portsmouth to take us home.
We had been to Normandy 3 times in the past but never actually visited Caen, and as its close to the port it seemed like a good place to base ourselves for the last 4 nights of the trip, and it was local enough to take in a few places we had not seen the last time we were in Normandy.
So we had a route of 370 miles and all day to do it in, we would be going via Angouleme,Poitiers,Saumur, Le Mans and finally into Caen.
We arrived at the hotel in Caen at around 6.30pm, it had been a long day of around 9 hours including a couple of good stops for food and petrol, we unloaded the bike got showered up and made plans for the next day, and then settled in for the night.
Had a lie in this morning, we were only going into Caen for the day, and that was a 7km ride so there was no rush and it also gave us time to let the morning rush hour traffic clear.
Caen its a fairly big city, and its hard to believe the pictures of what it was like during WW2 when you visit now, but its a fact that applies to many hundreds of places that were affected during the wars.
We started with a visit to the castle, and then made our way to the last remaining medieaval street in Caen its only small and if you blink you will miss it, and from there through the city visiting a few of the churches and abbeys of which there are many, its not called the city of a hundred bells for nothing, these buildings never fail to impress me, with the work and detail that was put into there construction. We had a really good day in Caen and i was impressed with the place, and the way it had been rebuilt from the ruins.

 

[leedude03]

Today we took a ride out to Carentan a place we had not been to before, and on the way we called in at La Cambe German war cemetery another place we had not been to. We had done many of the war cemeteries before on previous trips, but had never been to a german one, it seemed to have a very different feel to it than the others we had visited, i dont know why, maybe because all the stonework is a dark grey colour, it made it feel more sombre in some way, if thats at all possible. Anyway we left just as a coach load of german school kids were arriving.
Next stop was Carentan, where first we had a bite to eat and then had a walk around the place, I was surprised by the size of the marina its a good size, plenty of boats about as well, including a landing craft from WW2 and a replica viking long boat, The Cathedral was very good, it felt like it had not been touched or cleaned for years and there were birds flying around inside, you could just imagine people praying and sheltering in there during the war.

 

[leedude03]

a couple more