June 4, 2018
Day 1 - Limoux to Lairière
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To get to the Gorge de Galamus, we would need to strike out east and south from Limoux. The problem with this is that there are very few opportunities for lodging in this area, and even fewer opportunities for evening meals.
So I decided to start the trip with a short hitch to the east. In a village called Lairière, there was a Chambre d'hote that promised a "Table d'hote". This is where you eat the evening meal with your host. Without this, we would have had to ride back to Limoux to find a place to eat!
Preparation for the ride was calm and easy. We're kind of getting the hang of this!
With only 30k to ride, we were not in a hurry to get going. We rolled out of the garage at 1:00PM and headed up the valley through St. Polycarpe. This is a road we know very well.
It was pretty warm, so we made a few stops for hydration and cooling.
We had to cross 3 good-sized passes to get to our destination "Les Jourdets" in Lairière. The heat made the climbing tough - we ended up walking part of the last one. We then had a screaming descent into the village. We stopped twice to cool our drag brake. After some confusion due to poor signage, we found Les Jourdets and the nice young owner installed us in our "gite".
The location of the Chambre d'hote was beautiful, and the owner was charming. We had a great meal of Toulousian sausages and forest-picked mushrooms and slept like rocks. We awoke to birdsong in the morning.
Today's ride: 30 km (19 miles)
Total: 30 km (19 miles)
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