September 26, 2021
Dune Pilât to Ste-Eulalie
It is the second day in a row waking to rain, but it stopped by 8:30 am. The wet tent makes for a slower departure but we didn’t mind as we lounged over second coffees admiring the Dune of Pilat in the clear morning light- white sand and blue sky. By 11 am we were on our way. The path was recently paved, we were in the shade and topped up with coffees, it was another fab day on the bikes.
The path was busy with serious Sunday morning peloton groups, all men. We could see that this route would be a perfect, fast-paced, hilly challenge on a weekend morning if you lived in Arcachon. They were headed home for lunch and acted like they owned the path so we had to be careful and stay clear as they flew by.
20 km into our ride, arriving at Biscarrosse Beach, we had the trail to ourselves again. The trail flattened out by the beach for a few kms before heading inland around a huge military base and back into the hills. We passed more pine forests, rode on more perfect paved trail and cruised by several lovely inland lakes with gorgeous public beaches. We are impressed in France by how much public water access we see with well maintained and appealing picnic spaces.
Perhaps it's because the season is almost over or it's just the French way of closing during the day, but we have been stymied by restaurants closing at 1:45pm just as we decide it’s time for a bite and the grocery stores being closed on Sundays. Our plan was to have lunch after 35 km in the town of Biscarrosse but we were becoming concerned that we wouldn’t make it so we bared down and flew the last 10 km. We made it 1:30 and found the one open restaurant, famished for a delicious lunch of ‘moules et frites’, wine, coffee and ice- cream. Here they were quite relaxed and waited til 3pm to start stacking the chairs to hint it was time to move on.
After our 'extended' break, we cycled at a more leisurely pace to Saint-Eulalie-en-Born, not quite our initial target of Mimizan, but we were well-fed, content and happy to have a light supper before bed. We had picked a municipal campground, which tend to be smaller and quieter with fewer RVs than the big commercial sites with water parks and rowdy neighbours. On arrival the gate was open but the sign at reception said "fermé" les dimanches. However the bathrooms were open and clean so we found a site and set up. If we wanted quiet, this was the right place; we were the only campers! On Monday morning the reception opened at 9 am and madame was happy to take the very reasonable 13€ fee.
Since leaving the beach at Carcans we have been travelling on the EuroVelo 1 route, in France it is called La Velodyssee. It starts at the tip of northern Norway and goes all the way to the Algarve in southern Portugal. It is clearly sign posted, so easy to make your way along this beautiful wild and windy Atlantic coast.
| Heart | 2 | Comment | 0 | Link |
| Heart | 0 | Comment | 0 | Link |
| Heart | 3 | Comment | 1 | Link |
3 years ago
Today's ride: 65 km (40 miles)
Total: 966 km (600 miles)
| Rate this entry's writing | Heart | 7 |
| Comment on this entry | Comment | 1 |
3 years ago