To Mauléon-Licharre

May 30, 2024

From A to B on a most unusual day

The weather has been perfect the last couple of days but last night we again began looking closely at the hour by hour forecasts. The rain has come back and is all around us. Fortunately, today`s ride was very short and we only needed a few dry hours to get to Mauléon-Licharre and not get wet. Most important!

The heart of Arette. It was a very quiet town.

Our hotel in Arette. It was a nice place to spend the night.

The only restaurant in Arette was closed. The paper sign on the door made it look like it was quite sudden. It was bar food for us for dinner last night.

We woke up shortly before 7 am and again checked the weather. It always changes overnight and the reports now indicated that it will be raining at our destination by 10am. We both agreed that we it would be best to skip breakfast and get moving ASAP. We packed and were on the road before 8am - now that is unusual. It was already sprinkling rain as we left Arette.

The ride was completely on the fast surface of the D918 highway and we were pleased that there were very few cars on the road. The kilometres went by quickly and at 9am, half way to our destination, we we arrived in the town of Tardets-Sorholus. The D918 road passes right through the heart of this small town and into the local commercial area. The sky around us was looking much less threatening now. Running low on fuel we stopped at the small local grocery store for some bananas, yogurt and a baguette. Sitting on a bench we watched the town waking up with the cars passing by and shops opening for business.

Tardets-Sorholus. We thought it was very sad that what was once the center of town with likely small local roads, now had the D918 highway running through it. It was a good place to stop for our grab and go breakfast.

The best picture that I could take on the road. Clouds were low in the hills.

Wasting little time we pushed on to our destination and into the centre of Mauléon-Licharre. Right on time with the weather forecast, at 10am it was now raining lightly. One last final check on the directions to our hotel and we set off up a hill above the town. We stayed at the only hotel in town, a wonderfully restored old convent with great views - if the clouds should ever lift. We stopped at the hotel restaurant for a coffee. A lady appeared, confirmed our name, and advised that our room was already available to us - now that is unusual.

On our way up to our hotel in Mauléon-Licharre in the clouds and rain.

Past the cows and the grape vines is the Agerria Hotel. It was our home for the next 24 hours.

The view of the grounds and the town below.

A closer look at the town reveals an old castle on the hill.

The rain stopped and there were some sunny breaks in the afternoon.

Our room in the old convent was on the second floor with wonderful views of the grounds and the town. We spent most of the time on the rainy day in our room and looking at the view out our window as it changed with the weather. In the afternoon when the rain did stop and we walked into town to look around and for a bite to eat. Overall the day was very low key and not our typical touring day. But all worked out well and we will be back on the road tomorrow.

Heart

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Today's ride: 30 km (19 miles)
Total: 936 km (581 miles)

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Jacquie GaudetEvery tour needs an interlude like that, but I’m not sure we could do it with “bar food” for dinner and no breakfast!
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5 months ago

Rachael AndersonThat’s great you could check in early!
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5 months ago