First day I haven't gotten up at the crack of dawn and started cycling. Decided to take full advantage of Sally and Rich's hospitality and get some serious Internet time. Have managed to catch up on all my e-mails and have also managed to figure out how to post pictures on my blog. It's a bit slow pulling an image off of the SD card but it does work. It's a beautifully sunny day so I think I'll take advantage of the nice weather and go for a walk about and take some more photos. Cheers, Roly

Departure Day

Ottawa, May 23, 2009

Getting ready to start the cycling trip.

Calais to Ipswich June 18-21

Arrived at Sally and Rich's home in Ipswich this morning at 1045. I first met Sally in Bonn in 1977 when she was working with Margaret at the British Embassy. She has invited me to stay for as long as I like but I think she may change her mind in a day or two. We went for a walk on the common today with their dog, Cody, who had a great time playing with other dogs, terrorizing local golfers, chasing rabbits/birds and going for a swim in the local pond.
Since leaving Calais on June 18th I have travelled by ferry to Dover (1.5 hour crossing). I left Calais at 9:30 and arrived in Dover at 10:00 local time. There was an hours difference between France and England. I was amongst the first to get on the ferry but on arrival in Dover had to wait until everyone had gotten off before I was allowed to get off. I was the only cyclist. I was told to follow the red line until I got to a gate where I had to press the buzzer and someone would come and let out of the dockyard area into the customs area.
The customs officer was very curious about where I had come from and where I was travelling to. We had a 10-15 minute chat and he wished me well and warned me about keeping to the left. I cycled to Canterbury where I was eventually able to find an cash point (ATM) so I could get some English pounds. I had stopped at a petrol station earlier on the A2 but they wouldn't accept Euros. I found a pub and went in to have lunch. A bowl of soup and a coke cost me £5. Wow have prices ever gone up since the last time I was in UK. I know I should have taken more time to take in the sights of Canterbury but I thought it would be cheaper to find a place to stay for the night if I was in a smaller village so I set off for Sittingbourne. I couldn't find and B&Bs or hotels and eventually after talking to a couple of bus drivers was directed to the Premier Inn about 4 kms out of town. At this point I had done 78+ kms plus the 1.5 hours on the ferry so when I was told that a room for the night would cost £64 I just capitulated and thought of it as 64 dollars. If I had waited to arrive on Friday the rate would had been £59. Go figure. I refused to pay £8 for breakfast and thought I would take my chances with breakfast at the nearby McDonalds.
Had dinner in the nearby Bobbing Apple and went off to bed for a good nights rest.
The following morning went over to McDs for sausage McMuffin breakfast, hot chocolate and cost me only £3.
From Sittingborough I cycled to Brentwood crossing over the Thames at Gravesend to Tilbury. Only pedestrians and cyclists allowed on this small ferry which cost £2.70 and took about 15 minutes to make the crossing. Before the Dartford bridge and tunnel were built this was a major ferry crossing point. Arrived in Brentwood at 2:00 PM. Found a room at the Holiday Inn for £59. Once again I had to decline the breakfast at £12.99 and decided to stop at a Tesco or petrol station convenience store to get a bite to eat for breakfast. Cost to use the internet was £3 for 15 minutes.
There was a wedding function going on at the hotel that evening and of course several of the wedding guests decided to make a night of it and carry on into the wee hours of the morning. Finally at midnight I'd had enough. My room was right next to the main reception area which was next to the bar. I called the reception desk and complained about the excessive noise and told them if they didn't do something about it I would have to demand a refund. About 10-15 minutes later the noise stopped but I was so pissed off I had a difficult time getting to sleep!!!!
Saturday, June 20, it was off Colchester. But before setting off I called a B&B there to make a reservation for the night. The 2nd one had a room for me for the night at £45. According to my GPS it was a 60 km ride to Colchester. As I approached Colchester I plugged in the address of the B&B and was told it was another 14 kms. I ended up taking some very narrow country lanes and eventually came to a cul-de-sac (dead end) which lead into a forest. I tought there must be something wrong so chose to ignore the GPS and went the opposite way for about 2-3 kms. No sign of Colchester or the B&B. I returned to the dead end and went around the barrier and through the forest for about .5 kms. It came out on a paved road. Still no sign of the B&B. I gave up on finding the B&B and programmed the GPS for Colchester. Ended going over some of the route I had already cycled. I arrived in Colchester at 4:00 PM. By this time I had done 95 kms and it was only supposed to be 60 kms!!! A light rain had started to fall. I called the B&B and was told that they were located in Earls Colne about 8 miles outside of Colchester. They just had the same postal code!!! Since I had already booked and given them my credit card info I set off in search of the B&B. I did eventually find it and was given a nice comfortable room for the evening. Total distance cycled 114.89 kms 6 hrs 49 mins. Freshened up after unloading the bags and walked into town to the Lion Pub for dinner where I'm sure the locals enjoyed watching me eat a very hot lasagne and burning my mouth. Oh by the way no McDs or petrol stations available for breakfast so had to paid £8 for a cooked breakfast.
On Sunday I set off for Ipswich a short ride of 57 kms which took me 3 hrs 35 mins very hilly and a bit of rain slowed me down quite a bit. I did arrive at 12:00 but by the time I managed to find a suitable hotel for the night it was 2:00 PM. I stayed at the Carleton Hotel at £39 for the night which included a full English breakfast. Go figure.
I managed to catch the last 20 laps of so of the British GP at Silverstone. Possible the last F1 race at Silverstone - not sure why?? I looked to a lauderette and found one just a half a block away but it was closed at 2 PM on a Sunday. So had to wait until this morning to get my laundry done. There goes the smoke detector so I think"tea" is ready.
Cheerio, Roly

Calais 17June09

Well I finally made it to Calais. I arrived at 2 PM qnd first stop was at Office du Tourisme where I was able to get information regarding a Cyber Cafe, hotels/B&Bs and a Lavarie (laundrymat). I booked a room for the night at a B&B and went off to find the Cyber Cafe. Of course it was no longer there. After asking a few people in the neighbourhood I found out it had moved a couple blocks away. What a carry on. I decided to spend one more night on French soil and get a fresh start in the morning for Dover. Besides I do need to get some laundry done so that will be my next stop before heading for the hotel and trying to get a good nights rest.
Since my last post in Troyes I have stopped in Soissons, Ham, Bapaume and last night at a Chambres d'Hotes in Auchy-au-Bois. This was a working dairy farm but the house with four rooms to let was like a museum. The lady who runs the B&B likes to go to "brocante" or garage sales and has quite an interesting collection of bric-a-brac.
The cycling from Troyes to Calais has been quite difficult mostly because of hills, some bad weather i.e. head winds and a day of miserable rain. I waited under a petrol station shelter for an hour or so and again in a McDs for 2 hours for the rain to let up.
Not much choice in the way of hotels in the smaller villages. Had to take what I could get.
Well must go and get some laundry done before I get on the ferry/hovercraft for Dover tomorrow. Cheers, Roly

Troyes 11June09

Well Iève think I've just died and gone to heaven. Arrived in Troyes this afternoon at 2:30 and went directly to the Office du Tourisme. There I was able to find a decent hotel at a reasonable price in the centre of town called Hotel Splendid at E 32. Mind you the WC and shower are in the hall but not far away. Also the young lady at the O de T showed me where there was a laundrymat with internet cafe all in the same operation. So I packed all my laundry in one of my paniers and walked about 3 blocks through the centre of town. Very old buildings. Lots of sidewalk cafes. Many people sitting out having a late early afternoon drink. I wish I could upload pictures but it would be quite complicated especially using cyber cafe facilities. Since leaving Bourg-en-Bresse the rides have been less difficult with some hills but mostly flat. I stopped in Louhans, Dijon and Chatillon-sur-Seine last night. Yesterday I had a lovely tailwind but today it was a headwind. At least it didn't pour. There have been several nasty storms the last couple of days but mostly in the evening. On the way to Chatillon yesterday I had a stunt pilot entertain me for about 1/2 an hour as I climbed some hills he was doing loop-dy-loops. Man could he ever fly that plane. Sorry I can't tell you what sort of plane it was Gary. Keep up the comments. I appreciate reading them. Glad to hear the Rideau Lakes ride went well this year. I sure would like to have been there with you guys. I think my laundry is just about ready to go in the dryer now so will sign off for now. Cheers, Roly

Dijon

My lastpost was in Les Echarmeaux. Since then I have passed through Bourg-en-Bresse, Louhans and today arrived in Dijon. I managed to find a cheap hotel at 37 E which included breakfastbut notowels.
that was E 2 extra for a towel a packet of shampoo and a plastic cup. Iam accessing the internet on a really terrible PC in the lobby of the hotel. the keyboard really sucks!!!! Got to go Cheers Roly


























thier

Thiers to Roanne

Up early for a quick breakfast before leaving Thiers for Roanne. But first I wanted to go to Office du Tourisme at 1 place Pirou in Thiers. It was quite an almost vertical climb. I ended up walking quite a bit of the way. Just as I was parking my bike someone arrived to open up the office. I asked for information on cycling to Bourg-en-Bresse. She didn't have any info and was only able to give me a map of the city of Thiers and direct me towards the route to follow in order to get out of town.
I cycled to Noirétable which was a bit south but eventually I turned north and headed for St.-Just-en-Chevalet. Much climbing but a bit cooler. Had to stop and put my vest and sleeves on.
After lunch as I was getting ready to set off a couple on bicycles came over and chatted with me. They were just visiting the area of St-Just-en-Chevalet and were curious about where I was headed.
I arrived in Roanne at 3 PM and wanted to check out hotel in centretown but door was locked and no one about. The couple I had met earlier after lunch passed by and we again had a chat. Found out they were from Cannes. I decided to go check out Hotel Terminus which turned out to be OK except for the E 1 charge for parking my bike behind the hotel under the stairs!!!
On my way over to the Terminus I passed by a cafe called Le Blog. Went in and found out they had an internet terminal set up for the use of clients. I said I would be back after checking in to hotel.
It was a dark and stormy night but I was determined to make it to Le Blog. It was a 15 minute walk from the hotel but by sticking close to the sides of the buildings I didn't get very wet. The PC had crashed and the manager was having a bit of difficulty re-booting it. Eventually he succeeded and I was able to post a couple days journey.
The walk back to the hotel was much quicker in the dark and the rain was really tipping down. Went into bar next to hotel and mentioned to bartender that I had just come from Le Blog where I had been able to access the internet to update my blog. He said I could have used his PC to access the internet!!!
Well I only made it as far as Les Echarmeaux today. Suffice it to say the climb was fairly difficult and I also had to stop for about an hour to wait out a downpour.
Cheers Roly

Issoire to Thiers

Left Issoire at 9:00 AM after mopping up bathroom floor again. They really need to do something about the floor drain!!! Took highway direction Orbeil. After climbing for 3 kms realized I was going the wrong way. Stopped and asked local family sorting freshly picked cherries for directions to Thiers. Husband went into house to get his map and glasses and together we were able to figure out which way I had to go. Turned around and went down the hill at a much faster pace than coming up. I should have taken the hwy for Montpeyroux which eventually took me to Vic-le-Compte and Billom where I stopped for lunch. Had a very nice potatoe, ham and cheese omellette. After lunch it was more climbing until eventually the last 15 kms or so were downhill or flat. I passed an Hotel Etape on the way into town at 3:00 PM and decided I would stop for the night. After checking in lay for a nap. Later on went out for a walk to nearby bank and got some Euros. No problem using my RBC client card. Decided to walk a little further to a bar/restaurant I had seen earlier. It was now 7:30 PM. It was closed. Go figure. As far as I could tell it only opened for lunch during the week and Friday and Saturday evenings. I walked back to the hotel where I had seen a shopping complex behind the hotel. Went into supermarket and was able to get some dental floss (50 m) for 3.20 Euros. I also found out after standing in line for 15 minutes to pay for my groceries that you have to get your bananas weighed before going to the cash.
I think I'm going to have to get out of this place. It's full of kids in their late teens and it's getting quite loud. My head is pounding ...... but the internet was free.
Bonne nuit

Massiac to Issoire

Up at 7 AM. Pretty well slept through the night. No nightmares about closing down the tunnel. BTW it is 1.5 kms long and it took me about 10 minutes to cycle through it. Before leaving for Issoire went into local Spar Supermarche to do some shopping. I especially wanted to buy some dental floss and a bar of soap and some bananas. No problem finding soap and bananas but no dental floss. Cycled a little further into town and went into Pharmacie. Asked for fil de soie dentaire. The clerk had to unlock a bottom drawer to get two different types of floss out. One was priced at E 5.80. The other had no price and was plain so I said I would take it. It was a small package of about 50 metres of floss. The price was E 6.90. I decided to look elsewhere for dental floss. No wonder they kept it locked up in a safe at those prices!!!
I cycled to Blesle, Lempdes-sur-Allagnon, St. Germain Lembron and Issoire. See previous post re Cyber Cafe and loss of about one hours blogging.
I found a nice Hotel Ace on the other side of town at a reasonable price and checked in for the night. Decided to cycle back to cyber cafe. Had a little trouble finding it but eventually after asking for directions was able to get to my blog. This time I posted each day as I finished typing and the manager assured me that I had unlimited time.
I cycled back to the hotel and decided to check out the Buffalo Bill restaurant nearby. YEEHAW!!! country and western music. Tried some Texas Chili. Real big chunks of beef. But I don't think Marshy's has anything to worry about.
I asked for a room on the main floor and permission to keep my bike in my room. I was given a handicap room. Lot's of room. Only problem was the shower just flooded the whole bathroom floor. The floor drain was a bit plugged up. Otherwise it was great.
Right now I'm in Roanne at a cafe called Le Blog. Internet access is free as long as I keep drinking beer!! Typing is a challenge - have to keep up with the beat of the quite loud music!!!

June 2 Polminhac to Massiac

My previous post should have read "heading for Murat" not Aurillac.
I left Polminhac at 9:00 AM and in spite of a wicked head wind was able to reach the Lioran Tunnel by 11:30. There was a sign with a bicycle on a white background and a red circle around the outer edge. It did not have a red diagonal stroke through it so I assumed it was OK to go through the tunnel with my bike and there was no one to ask. No sooner had I started going through the tunnel the truck drivers started honking at me like crazy. Bloody truck drivers. I kept on going. Eventually there was no more traffic coming through the tunnel!!! On arriving on the other side of the mountain pass "Les Flics" were there to meet me and pulled me over. Because of the danger they had closed down the tunnel. Oh so that's why there were no more idiots blowing their horns at me. I'm not very proud of what I did but on the other hand there really wasn't that much traffic and the tunnel was only shut down for about 10-12 mins. Luckily I was given a warning and a lecture about the meaning of the red circle around a bicycle or a white background sign and allowed to continue on my way. Big sign of relief!!!
Once on the other side of the tunnel the going was much easier. Mostly downhill but still with a very strong head wind which almost blew me off my bike at one point. My feet came right out of my clips!!! I arrived in Massiac at 3:30 PM and started looking for a hotel. A sign at the outskirts of town said there were 2 hotels and 12 restaurants and xxx parking spots. Checked out both hotels one was E 54 the other E 40 which was a little further out of town. Checked into La Colombiere. Very clean very modern. Had to put my bike in the laundry room. Went out for dinner. Could only find 2 restaurants open the very expensive other hotel and a Creperie Le Montel restaurant on a side street which a bartender directed me to. So it was a pleasant walk about looking for a place to eat and a still more pleasant walk back to the hotel. Oh I almost forgot to mention that the "bar" at the hotel consisted of a vending machine that dispensed beer in a can. You insert E 1.50 select 33 and watch the can drop to the bottom of the dispensing machine. You retrieve your beer can from the slot and when you open it guess what happens ... yes right the whole thing fizzes all over the place. Duh!!!
TRP 70.66 AVS 15.02 STP 4:42:07

June 1 Montsalvy to Polminhac

I was up during the night several times because of leg cramps. Two days of climbing had really been hard on my legs. Nothing to severe but still had to get out of bed to shake off the cramps.
I went down to the main part of the apartment complex that M. Fau lived in. It was a veritable museum with several tables spread around all covered with all sorts of papers and odds and ends. M. Fau made cafe au lait, bread (he apologized that it was a day old but it was a holiday and the boulangerie was closed), orange juice, butter, jam, honey and an orange. Euros 3.50. Again M. Fau helped me carry my bags down, wished me "bonne route"and off I went this time hoping to get to Polminhac.
Arrived in Aurillac at 11:10 after a quite pleasant ride. Found an Information Office and was able to get a more detailed map of the "Cantal" area. I looked for a book on Cycling in France but no luck. Had some difficulty finding my way out of town. I wanted to take the N122 but ended up having to take the D117 in order to get to the N122. It was a bit of a climb and a bit circuitous but eventually I hooked up with the N122. The ride to Polminhac was not so difficult but nevertheless, because of the previous night's leg cramping I decided to take it easy and make it a short ride. I found a Hotel/Bar/Restaurant called Les Parasols and decided to stay for the night. Because I had arrived quite early I was able to do some laundry. Washed a couple of my cycling jerseys, pants and socks in the sink and hung them out on the balcony railing to dry. I went down to the bar for a beer and asked if I could use the internet to update my blog. Of course, not a problem, there was a computer in a corner of the dinning room that I could use. I was able to do a days blog and probably could have kept on but didn't want to abuse the hotel manager's generosity. It was a most pleasant hotel and very quiet. I was the only customer for dinner and again for breakfast although I had seen several other guests on arrival they obviously did not care to eat in the hotel or were not hungry.
As I was leaving the following morning I asked the hotel manager/chef for his name. He said it was Raymond Fau same surname as M. Fau who had lodged me the previous evening. They were somehow related but not close relatives. Raymond was very fascinated by my Rocky Mountain Sherpa 10 Touring bike with disc brakes, etc. He was especially intrigued by the GPS. We exchanged business cards and he asked me to keep in touch and let him know how my trip trough France was progressing. He also wished me "bon courage et bonne route" and so off I went down the road heading for Aurilac ....
TRP 54.76 AVS 15.60 STP 3:30:38

May 31 Villefranche-de-Rouergue to Montsalvy

Woke up at 6:30. It was pouring rain!!! Went down for breafast. Had to make my way around several little dogs and a cat which was all over the place. It didn't look like the rain was going to let up so I decided to stay another day - maybe do some laundry. I asked the manageress about internet access and she said Later on at 9:15 she would open up the PC for me which was located downstairs in the bar. I waited patiently for 1/2 an hour and finally she took me downstairs and logged onto her laptop. I was just about to start a new posting when a German fellow from Cologne, who was also cycling across France, came into the bar to return the key to the storage area. He had collected his bike and was setting off for Cahors where I had just come from. I told him I was headed for Rodez. He said Rodez was not such a nice place and I should head for Montsalvy which was a more picturesque ride. He assured me it was not to difficult a ride. Suffice it to say ... he lied!!!
The rain stopped and the sky began to clear up at 9:30. I decided to make a go of it and head out for Montsalvy. By the time I packed my paniers, paid my bill, collected my bike from the storage area and loaded my bags on the bike it was 10:30.
I cycled to Montbazens, Aubin, Decazeville which was very hilly. A lot of rest stops, walking and pushing the bike up the steeper hills until eventually I reached the Lot River Valley. This was great for about 15 kms then I had to start climbing again for Monsalvy. I managed to reach Montsalvy at 7:45 PM much later than I would have liked but because of my late departure and the difficulty of the climb it was unavoidable.
I checked at the only hotel in town to see if they had a room available but they were full. They suggested I try down the road a bit at the local bar. They told me they did not rent rooms but that a M. Fau, who lived across from the Boulangerie, rented rooms. We tried to call him on his landline and on his cell but got no answer. Just as I was getting really desperate along came M. Fau on his tractor. Everyone in the bar started waving and yelling like crazy to get him to stop. He pulled into the parking lot with his tractor and I went over and introduced myself and asked it he had a room for me for the night. I was in luck - he not only had a room for me - he had a complete apartment (gite) which consisted of a fully equipped kitchen, living room, bedroom and bathroom all state of the art except no internet. Oh well it was getting late and for 14 Euros I couldn' afford to be to choosy. M. Fau helped me with my bags and showed me where to put my bike in the kitchen by the washing machine. When I told him I was from Canada he offered me a beer. He had been to Canada for a visit and had had such a wonderful experience. I said I hadn't yet had dinner and since their was only one restaurant in town and it would be closing shortly I had better go and get something to eat right away. He agreed.
I rushed off to the restaurant and had a wonderful meal of lamb chops. The waitress brought out a lovely Languoile steak knife the same brand of pocket knife that Lee Valley Tools sells.
After dinner I walked back to the bar to thank the barmaid for her help in helping me find a room for the night. Of course I had to have a couple of beers before going off to bed. There were several local town drunks holding up the bar and of course the conversasion eventually came around to my cycling trip across France. They all seemed to have a good laugh at my expense.
Trip 89.89 kms AVS 12.04 STP 7:27:42

30 May Cahors to Villefranche-de-Rouergue

Well here goes again. I stopped early this afternoon at this same cyber cafe and had completed 2 days blog but had only booked for an hour. Before I could post what I had typed and before they could add more time I was cut-off and lost everything. I had to go find a hotel for the night and get something to eat.
In my last posting I forgot to mention that I asked a young chap in the Cahors cyber cafe how to make a ê using a french keyboard. He had no idea. I asked him if he knew the DOS way of doing it. He looked at me like I was from a different galaxie and said "C'est quoi le DOS?" Through trial and error I was able to figure out that holding dozn the Alt key and pressing 136 on the numerice keypad gives a ê.
Leaving Cahors I got off to a bad start. I programmed my GPS for Limogne-en-Quercy which was the next village indicated on my map in the direction of Rodez. Leaving the hotel I saw a sign for Rodez so decided to follow that direction. The GPS kept telling me to make a u-turn. Like an idiot I chose to ignore it and continued for about 1.5 kms. Turned out this direction was a major hwy so I turned back and followed the GPS dirs.
The route the GPS chose was very narrow and hilly. It was a real struggle to get up some of the hills. I had to stop quite a few times and walk the going was so difficult.
Eventually I reached the route along the River Lot and it was much better.
I stopped at L en Q and went into the local general store for some food and something to drink. Went out and sat in the town square and had a lovely picnic in the shade. An old gentleman came over and started chatting about my bike and my journey. Very friendly and I could see that if his wife hadn't been keeping an eye on him he would have loved to join me. By the time I got to Villefranche-de-Rouergue I was pretty well shattered so decided to find a hotel for the night. It was 3 PM. The first hotel I came upon, Hotel de la Poste, was full. A little further down the main street I was able to get a room at Hotel l'Univers. The room was on the 2nd floor and not to cheap but at least it had a decent shower and a mini-bar fridge and was situated alongside the River Lot. After putting my bike away in the storage area I hauled my bags up the rather steep flights of stairs.
When I asked the barmaid about internet access she didn't know of any cyber cafes in town. She said she would ask the manageress if I could use her personal laptop but she had gone out for the evening. I went across the street to a different bar/restaurant and they told me there was a cyber cafe at the Place de la Poste next to hotel that I had first stopped at.
After dinner I went for a walk and eventually found a small snack bar next to the hotel de la poste but the cyber cafe ops had been shut down most likely due to lack of business. I walked back to the hotel. had a nite cap, and went off to bed for the night.

Saturday May 30 to June 3

Arrived in Issoire at noon and on the way through town passed by an Internet Cafe. Decided to go in and do some blogging. Unfortunately all blogspots had been blocked because of some guy posting anti semite stuff. The boss made a call and 5 minutes later I was able to access my blog.

I forgot to mention the other day when I was using a PC at a cyber cafe (as they are called in France) in Cahors I asked the young fellow managing the cafe how to make an e circonflexe i.e. ê. He had no idea. I asked him if he knew what the DOS code was. He had no idea what I was talking about. He had never heard of DOS. I showed him that by holding down the Alt key and pressing 136 (which I discovered through trial and error) on the numeric pad the character ê could be created. He was amazed.

Getting out of Cahors was a bit of a challenge. I had programmed my GPS for Limogne-en-Quercy and followed the signs indicating direction Rodez. GPS kept telling me to make a U-turn. After about 1.5 kms the road became more and more a major hwy so I decided to turn around. Followed the directions given by the GPS and eventually after a lot of hard climbing arrived at a small village called Valaire. I went into the corner gas station general store and bought some food and had a picnic out in the main sqare. It was a lovely sunny fairly hot day. I managed to go through 4 bottles of water before arriving at Villefranche-de-Rouergue around 3 PM. By this time I was totally shattered. The climbing went on and on and on. I managed to find a room at Hotel de l'Univers next to the Lot River. Very nice but on the 3rd floor.

Later on in the evening I went out for a walk in search of a cyber cafe. I had been told there was one by Hotel de la Poste. I had passed by this hotel on my way into town and had stopped to ask for a room but it was full. I walked for 2 kms and managed to find a small Arabic snack bar and asked about internet. I was told that they had shut down the cyber cafe sometime ago. Oh well it was a lovely evening for a walk. Went back to the hotel for a nightcap and had an early night.

The following day, Sunday, May 31st, it was raining. I decided I would stay another day rather than cycle in the rain. The hotel manageress agreed to let me use her PC to access the internet. Just as I was getting started a German fellow, from Cologne, that I had met earlier came along. He had collected his bicycle from the garage and was setting out for Cahors - the direction I had just come from. By this time, 9:30, the rain had stopped and the skies were clearing up. I told him I was headed for Rodez. He said it was a terrible place and that instead I should go to Montsalvy. I checked my map and his book on cycling in France, which was in German, and decided to follow his advice. I checked out of the hotel at 1030 which was a rather late start but I thought it would be a short ride to Montsalvy!!!

I cycled to Montbazens, Aubin, Decazeville and finally along the Lot River which was a welcome relief from all the previous hills I had been climbing. I eventually arrived at Montsalvy at 7:45 PM much later than I had intended. There was only one hotel in town and when I asked about a room for the night I was told they were full. They did suggest I go to the corner bar and ask about a room there as they sometimes had rooms available. Off I went. I was told by the barmaid that they didn't rent rooms but that M. Fau, a local farmer, rented rooms.

Pont-du-Casse to Cahors

I seem to be falling behind with my blog. It's not always possible to get access to a PC connected to the Internet and these french keyboards are really slowing me down.
I left P du C Friday morning after a lovely stay with Sylvie and Bernard who were getting ready to go off on a "rallye" in their 1967 Caravelle decapotable. They escorted me through the maze of streets out onto the main highway heading towards Cahors.
I stopped for lunch at a country village restaurant. There was a liter of red wine already set out on every table. A few minutes after I had sat down and ordered my meal a local gentleman came in and sat down at my table directly across from me. There were dozens of other tables where he could have sat but he chose to join me. I asked if he was from the region and he said he was. We talked about my cycling trip across France. I asked him about the liter of wine on each table. He explained that it was part of the menu whether you drank a glass or the whole liter it was the same price. I had a really tasty meal - just like home cooking - also had a taste of the wine. I couldn't afford to drink to much alcohol - the ride was proving to be very difficult. Lots of hills to climb and with 20 plus kilos of baggage I was really struggling.
I eventually arrived at Cahors at 3 PM and with the help of my GPS was able to find a Formule 1 Hotel on the outskirts of town.
Total kms 84.49 AVS 16.68 The hills really slowed me down.
At the moment I'm in Polminhac. It is Monday a local holiday and I think the chef said it's OK to order dinner now. Will try to further update my blog after dinner.
Salut tout la gang!!