September 30, 2019
Day 7 - Puy l'Eveque to Villeneuve-sur-Lot
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After 2 perfect cycling days, it was perhaps inevitable that we would have a less-than stellar day.
If I were to plan this trip again, I think I would opt to avoid the Lot river valley below Puy l'Eveque. It's not dangerous or ugly, but it's just not as beautiful as the areas "upstream".
Also, Villeneuve-sur-Lot is looking a little downtrodden. It has beautiful old buildings, but there is a large urban population of seemingly unemployed people just hanging around everywhere. We didn't feel menaced or uncomfortable, but it doesn't make for pleasant sightseeing.
We started out with a pleasant breakfast in the company of a young American couple who were also traveling on bikes. We hit the road into countryside similar to the previous day, but more open and with fewer villages.
There was one lovely spot along the river that Robin found with her camera.
For some reason which I can't remember, I had routed us up into the center of Fumel. That was a mistake - there's nothing there worth seeing, and the climb up the hill is pretty steep. Fumel in general looked like it had seen better days.
We rode into Saint-Sylvestre-sur-Lot and then up into the hills north of the river. After a succession of farm lanes and country roads, we descended into Villeneuve-sur-Lot.
I discovered that our hotel "Hotel La Residence" wouldn't allow checkin until 4:30PM! Ouch! We had drinks in the shabby Place Lafayette, then walked the bike over to the hotel to see whether we could check in early. Turns out they weren't kidding - the hotel was closed! No one around. Robin pushed on the door and it opened, so we went inside and waited in a hallway reading until the surprised manager/owner showed up at 4:30 on the dot.
The hotel was nice, though, and the manager was happy to store our bike in a locked garage. We cleaned up but we weren't super interested in exploring Villeneuve, so waited until dinnertime and walked back to town. Monday nights, like Sunday nights, are sometimes tough times to find restaurants.
We found an Indian Restaurant "Le Bombay" that was open. We were the only diners, and had a nice meal as the bored youth of Villeneuve amused themselves with street fights and shouting outside the door. Kind of a sad town. But still pretty in the sunset.
Today's ride: 61 km (38 miles)
Total: 311 km (193 miles)
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