We got an early start and were on the road by 9, to allow time for the long ride to Agen.  We chose this destination after long study, trying to find the best ride across the Garonne  to arrive at our planned base in the Pyrenees, Saint-Jean-Pied-de-Port.  We have almost 400 km to cover in four days.

The ride began with fast downriver miles, backtracking to Cahors - where we fueled up (cheese,nuts, bread, the newspaper) for the long ride to Agen.  We didn’t expect to find much open on this (Saturday) or the next day and we didn’t want to run dry.

After a long, steep climb away from the Lot we passed through miles of rolling high terrain before dropping again into a minor river valley (this must have been the Barguelonne) which we then followed for another 30 km to the Garonne River.  The ride was surprisingly pretty and exceedingly quiet - miles and miles of virtually no traffic, with the only sounds coming from our bicycles and dried corn stalks rustling in the brisk wind.  The weather too was fine, making this a long but very fine ride.

On arriving in Agen we stopped in an open supermarket to refuel again.  I downed a liter of milk, having gotten a bit overheated and dehydrated; and then we went on to the city center where we registered into a surprisingly run-down Logis hotel. 

For dinner we ate at a pleasant sidewalk creperie, enjoying the constant chatter of the birds from a nearby tree.  All in all it was a much nicer day than I’d envisioned, and leaves us well positioned for the remaining distance to Saint-Jean.