November 9, 2010
Estagel to Durban Corbieres
WEATHER: BEAUTIFULLY SUNNY WITH LIGHT WINDS
Breakfast, served in the picturesque restored kitchen, was generous and exceptional--far from the normal continental petit dejeuner. Michele had made individual creme catalans, a freshly baked fig cake, and a large bowl of fresh cheese to be drizzled with honey, along with baguettes and homemade jam. A perfect start to the day for hungry cyclists, although Al couldn't quite do it justice as his stomach was still delicate.
We left a bit later than usual since it was a short ride today. In very pleasant sunny weather, we retraced our route of a week ago back to Tuchan, where we looked unsuccessfully for a lunch place. Since we weren't very hungry after the huge breakfast, we bought a couple of quiches at a boulangerie and ate them a bit out of town within site of the ruin of Aguilar. We decided not to cycle uphill to the ruin, but took some photos from below and ate our quiches near a bridge over a little stream.
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After a few more km of gentle uphill, we reached the top of the divide between two watersheds and had a very pleasant long downhill on smooth pavement all the way into Villeneuve-les-Corbières and then 5 km on to Durban Corbières. It was only 2:30, earlier than we usually reach our daily destination, since we hadn't stopped for lunch.
Durban Corbières, in the heart of the Corbières wine region, was one long main street with a few stores and the Hotel Amandier, which we were relieved to find, since there had been some confusion about its location. The town once again had a picturesque ruin looming over it. We were told to leave our bicycles in the restaurant, which was large and looked quite nice, and we checked in--we may have been the only guests. The room was fine and overlooked the main street and the river. It turned out be fortunate that we had arrived early because the bar was still open and the manager was there. Just after we checked in, he said they were closing up, and gave us a key to the side door so we'd be able to go in and out. If we had arrived at our usual time, we would have had to wait around until after 6:00 (when the bar reopened) to check in and unload our bikes.
We explored the town, the little narrow streets leading up to the ruin, the footbridge across the river to a residential area, and hoped to find a place to have coffee. No luck-the hotel was the only option for food and drink, and it was closed.
Our demi-pension dinner that night was surprisingly good, and portions were huge. We were virtually the only people in the restaurant. The moment we finished dinner, the lights were turned off and the restaurant closed.
Today's ride: 38 km (24 miles)
Total: 963 km (598 miles)
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