Finally a sunny and warm morning today. Scott started his ride without a jacket and it was not long before Pat tucked her jacket away, too. We started the day by slowly riding up one of very steep roads in Lapopie toward the main access road to buy some pastries and sandwiches. We were leaving Lapopie from the opposite direction that we came into town, down a long hill. It would have been a tough ride up in this direction, too. With our brakes firmly applied, we kept a slow roll as the views looking back at the town were really quite spectacular.
Perfect staging point right in front of our hotel to hook on the bags and prepare for departure. Pat keeps her jacket on as she knows the first long downhill will be cool.
Our helpful and patient shop keeper. Everyone is so helpful as we sometimes struggle with language. Pat does quite well, Scott not so much. But he does try un peu.
Saint-Cirq-Lapopie waking up in the morning sun as we head down the hill. Really a very picturesque village. The large fortified church is L'église Saint-Cirq-et-Sainte-Juliette and it was built in the early 16th century.
At the bottom of the hill we reached the river. There were roads on both sides and we selected the road on the southside as it was the quieter of the two but neither was busy now. It is just that the southside had no traffic and we were able to ride side by side for long distances.
A bridge. Lost track of its location. I think it crosses the Lot at the bottom of the Saint-Cirq-Lapopie hill. We did not cross it.
One of the few vehicles we encountered on this part of the road.......and it is a street sweeper! Sweeping a very remote road as the highways are already spotless. Pat and I laughed at this.
Working the locks. This team is preparing for a boat to enter. We saw a number of places you can rent boats and travel up and down the Lot. You can see the rapids they have to bypass in the background.
Inside the L'église Saint-Étienne à in Calvignac. Of course it takes the highest ground in the village and we had to push our bikes up there. This simple church was built in the 13th century but some elements may date back to the year 1000. The doors in the center are from the mid 1800's.
A real "route barrée"! We had planned to come down the road from the top of Calvignac but did not want to risk having to climb back up if it was not passable, so we detoured. This was a significant slide across the road above.
The ride today was about 20 kilometres along the Lot before we turned in a southerly direction to Villefranche-de-Rouergue. Other than a short ride up to Calvignac there were no stops until we reached Cajarc, where we arrived hungry and reaching the end of the lunch period. After circling the town, we selected a busy restaurant but left when we could see that it was very popular for lunch and most of the daily specials were already sold out. Back on our bikes, we rode along to a place that was not a full scale restaurant and offered much simpler fare. It was really a much better spot for us and we shared a delicious smoked salmon tartine and a large salad.
We exited Cajarc to the bridge and said good bye to the Lot. We both really enjoyed the 100 or so kilometres along this river and now we were headed in a southerly direction toward the Tarn River. We began with a short distance of very pretty road along the Ruisseau de Lantouy, a tributary of the Lot, and then we began to climb up a long hill and ultimately connect to a highway leading to Villefrance de Rouergue. Although busier with some car traffic, it was a welcomed fast, seven kilometre downhill all the way into town.
Last crossing of the Lot. The signs direct velos to the outside and there was barely enough room to fit a bike with panniers!
Our check in time was not until six o'clock so we had a beer in the town's main square beside the church. The square had a small water park feature with shooting streams of water into the air but there were few people here. Certainly warm enough to play in the water. The only establishment here was a pizza place but they did have "pression" beer and some tables set up in the relatively barren square. We enjoyed our post ride beer!
At six, we met Pierre, our host of La Maison Pago. After a quick shower, we headed out for a nice pasta dinner - needing a carbo load for tomorrow, and we wandered around some of the streets. This area was very quiet and we called it a day without seeing too much of Villefrance de Rouergue.
Today's ride: 52 km (32 miles) Total: 462 km (287 miles)
