Hallelujah! It's cloudy and cool this morning. I get out of the tent and at once I notice that the temperature has dropped into the reasonable zone. The program for today is the annual picnic, but I'm going to skip it as the food is usually mediocre, and a picnic with 15000 participants just doesn't seem like a light hearted thing to do. And I'll avoid the traffic jams that are sure to happen. Instead, I'm going for a ride in the north of the department of the Tarn. I take the train to Carmeaux to leapfrog the other cyclists, and head off from there toward Pamplonne.

The roads are empty. The sun comes out, but it's not the hammer it was yesterday, and the teperature remains relatively cool. I see a few other cyclists have had the same idea, and we wave greetings to each other, perhaps somewhat guilty at not following the crowd, but all happy to be out on a beautiful day. Pamplonne is a sleepy town with a splendid view of the countryside. I fail to photograph it though, as I organize my own picnic on the village green. A slice of Cantal cheese, two peaches and three plums, and a can of orange soda. I have company, a three-legged dog joins me trying to cadge a bite, but I don't give home one. Two little girls are playing in the park, and one of them breaks into the bel-canto from Mozart's Magic Flute. Am I dreaming this? No, there are giggles after the aria. This is touring bliss. And this is where I decide to leave the Semaine Federale. How can there be moments of joy like this, unexpected and unprogrammed, in a crowd of 15,000? The crowds are for other joys, and other pleasures. But I like this, maybe because I'm selfish, but maybe because I'm a bit of a loner. And now I know what I'm going to do next.

I return to Carmeaux to get the train back to Albi. I stop to photograph the statue of Jean Jaures, the politician whose assassination probably contributed to the outbreak of the First World War.

Heart

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When I get back to Albi, I buy a ticket for Figeac. Tomorrow, I'll head north, away from the crowds and the heat, and into the cool of the Massif Central.