August 31, 2024
Day One - Limoges to Artigeas
It's been pointed out to me what the point of this trip was, so I'll add this here.
I've cycled in France on a couple of trips now, the roads are smooth and the drivers are respectful. If only that were the case in the UK! There's plenty of France I hadn't explored yet, and I do love climbing hills, so of course I wanted see some of the French Alps, specifically some famous climbs. Top of the list was Alpe D'Huez, Mont Ventoux and I also found an interesting extinct volcano relatively close to Limoges - Puy Marie. I've been cycling as a hobby for over a decade now and I'd cycled up Ventoux and Huez on Zwift, so I wanted to give the real things a try. I decided to attempt Puy Mary with luggage, and do the other two without.
Let's see if I can actually write a full travel joural after two failed attempts since my successful go on North Coast 500. I woke up this morning rather early on the ferry, but then I'm not really sure I got much sleep anyway! The mattress was relatively comfortable along with the pillow, but for some reason I just didn't feel like I properly got to sleep. Still, it does mean I have my tent to look forward to this evening. I've managed to avoid falling asleep on the train I'm currently typing this on, so that's something. I think it's trying to read a book (Slaughterhouse 5) on my Kindle. I think I'm enjoying it but it's a bit morbid in parts. So it goes - I swear, the book ends every other paragraph with that phrase!
I'm wittering a bit already. To my irritation the ferry staff wanted me to vacate the cabin before according to them I was allowed to access my bike. I wasn't even sure I could carry all my luggage at once. It turns out I can, so that's a small victory for the day. The tannoy announced drivers were allowed to access their vehicles, but not cyclists, yet. Do they know how long it takes me to get my bike ready to move again when I'm on holiday? I suppose not. As soon as drivers were able to access I followed them towards my bike. I like the bikepacking kit I've got but good grief, it can make getting ready to leave places a bit of a pain. My pannier bags just clip on without much thought, but this Tailfin Aeropack (think rackbag + pannier rack in one) is a bit awkward to install.
By the time I was ready to get leaving the boat with my bike, the other cyclists had already arrived and the staff were ready for us to leave. This time I couldn't be bothered the potential hassle of ignoring ferry staff and riding off the boat (unlike the night before) and walked. I asked why we have to walk, the man said the surface can be slippery when wet (it wasn't wet) and some of the obstacles on the ground pose a hazard to cyclists...but not to motorcyclists I guess? I think what frustrates me is other people telling me what's risky. Maybe at some point they allowed cyclists to ride off and there was lots of crashes...I'm not convinced!
Once I got on the bike and started cycling, as per usual the appeal of this endeavour re-emerged. Sitting onboard trains and ferries doesn't really do it for me, but my Orbea Orca has nice new tanwall tyres, fresh brake pads (both lessons learned from last year's trip, oops) and is riding perfectly. The cycle track from the port to the railway station was very smooth and well maintained.
The only real issue I had up until this point was activating my eSim for mobile data. Usually I would use the roaming extra thing I can buy for my vodafone contract. I think it gets me about 15gb of data for two weeks, for 14 pounds, but I'd found I could buy an esim for 20 euros and get 50gb of data instead. Given I've got a dynamo with me so should not have to worry about my battery, I'd quite like to listen to some live radio, so this bigger data allocation fit the bill. Anyway, that's all a bit dull. Here's the thing that I suppose makes sense but I found out too late - you need a data connection to activate the eSim! D'oh! I thought I'd activated it the night before, but seemingly not. Not the end of the world, places have free wifi still, so I decided to ride on to Caen railway station. I go to BBC Sounds on my phone to load a downloaded radio program. Nope! Can't access it (downloaded, remember) because I have not internet connection. Bonkers! Well at least I had some downloaded albums on PlexAmp. LCD Soundsystem it is.
Cycling along I'd spotted a Lidl, they probably have free WiFi, right? Yes they did. I managed to activate my esim there after logging on to their network...but it didn't seem to be working despite being activated. My rail tickets weren't loading either. Not ideal! Well, I've got the route to the station, so off I continued hoping things would improve. I could have spent a further 14 pounds to get the Vodafone roaming extra but I'd rather not. I had an hour to kill at the railway station and in the end switching airplane mode on and off again solved it...phew! Getting aboard the train wasn't much hassle, but having to hang the bike up was a bit frustrating. I can just about see the bike from where I'm sat. To my surprise this train doesn't seem to be stopping once between Caen and Paris. Suits me, not much chance of my bike going missing!
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Paris here I come - a short ride across the centre to catch my train to Limoges, once I've bought some lunch.
Cycling through Paris was a breeze, they've done a great job of making it cycling friendly. To top it off I saw a Hase Pino tandem, which is a bike I have too. They had a trailer too...so good luck on the train!
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Good grief that train to Limoges was bad. The interior seating was modern but the carriages themselves seemed decades old. Two or three steps up to the carriage from the platform edge, it felt a bit like a black and white movie with the parting lovers as the loco steams away. Our loco was a bit less interesting however I'm sure. As we were leaving Paris I witnessed a child panic as he thought his mother wasn't on the train as it was about to leave - I think he was about 9 or 10 years old. Scary! She reappeared just as the train was about to leave and they had a hug. A big apology from the mother I hope! It didn't help that the platform was only announced twenty minutes before setting off (flashbacks to London Euston!), on what appeared to be a very long train.I say the seating areas were modern, but of course the bike storage wasn't! Not only was I getting far too much cold air from the ceiling, I even had to move every time someone walked past. Frustrating. Very noisy too, fortunately I have my earplugs.I could tell it was getting warmer between two carriages, a space where an unfortunately placed drop of the phone could leave it dumped on the train tracks! I did say the train was ancient.
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Once I arrived in Limoges I started to wish I'd got off a few stops earlier - over 30c, too hot! Before leaving the station I witnessed some road rage thanks to a poorly designed drop-off space outside of the station preventing one driver from leaving. I was tempted to shout "J'adore le velo" and cycle off with a cheerful grin on my face but I suppose that would not have helped.
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Cycling in the heat wasn't too pleasant but the surroundings were picturesque and the drivers were considerate, so I made the most of it. I knew I needed to get to the shop I was aiming for by 7PM so the time pressure wasn't pleasing, but I made it. The final approach involved at least 30 minutes of cycling on a surface dressed road, which was not much fun. Ended up buying some veg ingredients for fajitas. I'm not sure it was any cheaper than eating out but there hadnt't been time in Paris and there certainly wasn't a restaurant next to my camping spot.
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Speaking of which, I had chosen a beach next to a river. It even has a sink and urinal! What luxury. I arrived expecting it to be deserted, but there were some other people there it turned out. Surely they were not staying the night too! I got set up to cook my meal, I assumed no-one would have issue with me doing that. I prefer to set up my tent as soon as I arrive somewhere but there's not much incentive to do so when others are watching and you're probably not technically allowed to camp there. The fajitas were good although a bit basic. I doubt the last pepper I put in the pot was cooked through. Could have used some sour cream too.
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Mercifully everyone else left before sunset, so I set up my tent. It's a very peaceful spot (guess where I'm typing this) so I was looking forward to getting inside. Unfortunately it took me far too long to realise the constant snapping of branches I could hear was acorns or chestnuts dropping from the trees - I kept wondering whether someone was seeking me out!
Here's the route:
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