*** very limited internet so just text tonight!! Photos to be added tomorrow ***

Miles : 54.

by Philip

Yesterday evening we had a wonderful dinner at a hotel five minutes walk from our AirBnB – we sat outside on a deck with lots of others, looking out on the lake. There was little wind, it was warm, and neither of us got bitten, the food was amazing, the desserts divine, and we just loved it. I chose a white Bordeaux wine to drink – mainly because it was called “Odyssée de chez Jean Compeyrot” which seemed apt given the name of the route we are following – it was rather nice! We even managed an early night before our pre-dawn start today!

The early start was due to a 51 mile route today (which might be a bit longer as we realise Komoot is planning to take us off EV1 towards the end). We have a forecast of cloud cover but 28 degrees this afternoon with no rain so it should be a nice day’s riding. Packing up was straightforward, except for when I was fitting a pannier and managed to reverse into a cactus which hurt!

Today is a Sunday, so we have had to plan our shopping carefully. This means a stop at SuperU first thing and carrying all our food for the next 24 hours all day. The supermarket had a decent-looking bakery so we bought our breakfast there to save another stop at a bakery. 

Leaving Biscarosse we rode for four miles on a smooth cycle path next to a road, dead straight and level so easy riding. For most of these miles we saw the devastation, again, of forest fires – these from a year or more ago, where entire plantations of trees had suffered. Some had new growth at the very top, but the newer plantations were all dead. The fire here had not been contained to forest, and we passed several industrial units and one house which had also succumbed to the flames. It seemed slightly surreal to pass a nursery specialising in (mainly) tropical trees along the road. 

As we came away from the road the path moved into natural forest for a while. We passed a couple of yoofs on electric scooters, sitting cross-legged on the bed of the scooter, arms reaching up high to the handlebars. It didn’t look particularly comfortable or safe – I wondered if they were emulating the high handlebar position of a Harley Davidson!

Wildlife has been limited so far today – sparrows, pigeons and blackbirds. We came through the industrial parts of Parentis, and then happened on a boules competition – all very serious. There were warehouse-sized glasshouses but the glass was quite opaque to we couldn’t tell what was being grown. The path then came back to the lake – 10 miles or so south of where we stayed for our rest day – and we found a lovely bench overlooking the lake for elevenses. Liz had a “Jesuite” pastry which was simply enormous (pastry, almond cream and flaked almonds with a meringue topping in a triangle) and I had a pain aux raisins with my usual flask of coffee. The riding has been easy so far with kind winds and few hills. 

From Parentis we had a mixture of cycle paths both alongside roads and through forest, passing a holiday camp with hundreds of static caravans and a huge campsite – the latter still popular despite the low season. A few clouds of midges and then Mr B added to the wildlife count, flying along in front of us for a short while. When we got to the outskirts of Mimizan we had a typical Komoot decision – whether to go along one long side of a rectangle or to follow EV1. You won’t be surprised to hear that we chose the latter, and were rewarded, again, with a gorgeous spell through unspoilt forest with steep hills and long descents. Komoot, of course, tried hard to get us to use deeply sandy tracks instead but we were having none of it. Once bitten etc … 

We passed a Dutch chap halfway up a hill, on his heavy-laden non e-bike, toiling hard. We zoomed past him which always feels a bit cheeky. At the end of the forest we all caught up and had a chat with Nils – he lives in Hamburg and is Dutch – he has calculated that he can cycle for the rest of his life as long as he spends no more than €50 per day. He’s also realised that he hates (up)hills, blaming his life lived in the Netherlands and then Hamburg – both flat – and that camping has to be his go-to to keep costs down. It appears that French campsites all shut at the end of September, so he needs to be in Spain by then  – although he did admit he plans to take a train rather than cycle over the Pyrenees. 

Having taken the EV1 route we spotted a path to the beach, and had a fabulous lunch with a very wide view of the ocean – large breakers and people surfing, while we sat under partial shade and enjoyed our lunch – most of which we bought this morning. We’re about half way into today’s ride and the sun is fully out – don’t know what happened to the promised clouds! 

The trail took us quickly into forest and it was delightful – as ever, quiet, calm and eminently peaceful. It seems that this is a joyous and happy place for me – something I first experienced in the redwood forests of California. The trees here are younger and shorter, but also serene and calming. I’m trying to take it all in, knowing that we only have a few days cycling left on this trip (which is costing rather more than €50 a day!)

Reflecting on peace and stress – this trip has had its stressors such as unfamiliarity with bikes on trains and on ferries, buying tickets for both, and negotiating the French systems of (a) when shops are open and (b) how the bike path system works. A little Googling showed us that a law passed in 2011 gives cyclists a lot more protection and rights of way and helped us understand how to behave at junctions … the signs are not always clear. What we don’t have here is the worry of being on busy roads with logging trucks thundering past – indeed, over 80% of the trip is off-road. An occasional “ting” from a bike bell or a “passant á gauche” from behind is mostly what we experience. And the occasional car horn when we mess up on a cycle path/junction/being on a road when we shouldn’t be. 

We stayed in the forest for many miles, seeing lots of shrubs with multi-coloured berries which we’ve seen on and off over the weeks. I added lizards, shiny blue/black beetles and a vibrant green dragonfly to my list of wildlife. The cloud reappeared making it cooler, and some of the windy curves reminded us of roads in the US. We bemoaned the lack of benches along the trail and perched on an old water trough for tea and biscuits before the last 12 miles to get to our house for the night. 

After tea the forest continued and the sun came out again. We passed an area of recent planting which we haven’t seen before – more evidence of how the forest is managed. 

The forest continued until the last half mile to the house, which is a wooden cottage in its own plot, built in 1984 by the current owners. We were shown round, and told to keep the gate shut to stop the wild boar from getting in. It’s a very simple little place and there’s no WiFi and little mobile signal so I’ll have two blog posts to upload tomorrow. 

Today’s ride has been sublime and serene. I’m glad to be at the cottage after some 52 miles, and have loved every inch of today’s ride.