Day 9 - Saint-Affrique to Plaisance - Schnooks Tackles the Tarn - Tandem Tour - Sept 2023

September 13, 2023

Day 9 - Saint-Affrique to Plaisance

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Our weather luck finally ran out today. But even though we got a little soggy, we were able to dodge the worst of it.

After our usual granola bar and coffee breakfast in the room, we retrieved the bike from the small garage area and checked out. The receptionist was interested in our trip and wanted to get a picture of us and the tandem. As we stood there taking the picture, the rain started.

It was surprisingly heavy rain, so after the receptionist scuttled back inside, we took cover under a bridge and waited. The weather radar on Windy (iPhone app) showed that the cell was small and would pass over. And so it was. We were on the (wet) road about 20 minutes later.

We stopped at the Carrefour market on the way out of town to replace the lunch items we had bought the day before and left in the fridge in our room. :). And THEN we were off into the misty moisty morning.

Our route followed a cycle path (with a tunnel!) to the outskirts of town, and then a low traffic road down the valley of the adorably-named Dourdou river. After Le Cambon, we struck out on an even less-traveled road that rolled up and down along the left bank of the river. Great views out over the valley.

At Saint-Izaire (where do they get the names for these saints?), we cut back sharply uphill for the first major climb of the day. About 2km of climbing led us to a small col, from which we dropped quickly down into Faveyrolles, our designated lunch stop.

Not much was happening in Faveyrolles except a light rain. So we ate our Carrefour wraps and apples on a park bench under some sheltering trees. Now it was time for, as they say in the Tour de France, the “major difficulty” of the day.

We decided to break the 6km climb into 4 pieces. Stops at 2km and 4km, and a bonus chocolate stop at 5km. It was a tough, long climb for us, hovering between 5 and 7 percent most of the way up.

Our reward was the cute town of Montclar at the top.

A little spackle and your turret will be good as new!

Montclar means something like “mountain of light” in Occitan, but today there wasn’t much light happening. Mostly it was gray and foggy. We zipped up our jackets and started down the foggy road.

As we lost elevation, we gained warmth and lost the fog. We dropped down into the village of Coupiac, which stunned us with its castle. It looks like it hasn’t been touched since the 14th or 15th century!

Some friendly ladies walking by told us we could leave the bike in the courtyard and visit the chateau. But the stairs were slippery, the bike was heavy, and rain was threatening. So we high-tailed it for our destination, “Hotel Les Magnolias” in Plaisance.

This is a really nice place! Schnooks is overnighting in a true bicycle garage, along with a large collection of road and e-bikes. Our room is lovely and light.

The outdoor restaurant space is beautiful. We’re hoping we can enjoy it tonight for dinner, but there’s an equally adorable inside space just in case.

There’s another beautiful outside area with a pool…

…and that’s where we’re sitting as I finish up this day’s journal entry.

But wait! There’s a bit more to document with words and pictures. We had dinner in the courtyard and it was magical. What a beautiful place!

The lady who runs the hotel and restaurant is South African and specializes in cycling events that she runs out of the hotel. Check out https://cyclingmagnolias.com/ if you’re interested. The local area looks fantastic for cycling and the hotel and restaurant are really sweet.

Today's ride: 46 km (29 miles)
Total: 397 km (247 miles)

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