Tuesday 18th May
Albine to Castres
We are in glorious green countryside and appropriately enough for having spent the night with an Ulster lass we are under The Black Mountain (a bit like Belfast’s Cave Hill or even Slemish) When we awoke even though the sun was shining brightly, it was shrouded in mist and looked dark and foreboding! We’ve been told that around here they have never had more than 17 days without rain so we fear we may be getting fairly close to the limit!
The black mountain shrouded in mist as we suspect it is most of the time!
Anyway we set off the way we’d come in order to pick up the elusive Voie Verte and cycled into Mazamet past happy cows and timber mills. It was not dissimilar to Inverness-shire – very green and valleys separated by high rocky topped hills and rushing streams. The cycle path was completely empty, and fairly flat so we found ourselves in Mazamet in no time.
Albine to Castres
We are in glorious green countryside and appropriately enough for having spent the night with an Ulster lass we are under The Black Mountain (a bit like Belfast’s Cave Hill or even Slemish) When we awoke even though the sun was shining brightly, it was shrouded in mist and looked dark and foreboding! We’ve been told that around here they have never had more than 17 days without rain so we fear we may be getting fairly close to the limit!
The black mountain shrouded in mist as we suspect it is most of the time!
Anyway we set off the way we’d come in order to pick up the elusive Voie Verte and cycled into Mazamet past happy cows and timber mills. It was not dissimilar to Inverness-shire – very green and valleys separated by high rocky topped hills and rushing streams. The cycle path was completely empty, and fairly flat so we found ourselves in Mazamet in no time.
From here we picked up the “Tarn a velo” signs to Castres which is a route along the normal road but is one that hasn’t seen a car in ages, or has a 2mtr verge dedicated to cyclists. We bought an avocado and a lemon, some slices of ham and a baguette and had a delicious picnic under a bridge beside the river at Caucalieres, perhaps upsetting a carp fisherman but only because his dog wanted some of our picnic and barked hysterically to no avail. He soon packed up and left after which it became most peaceful and we were able to sunbathe!
Caucalieres, river Tarn
Elaine had said that Castres was like a miniature Venice, I wouldn’t go quite that far but there is the lovely River Agout running through it with tightly packed colourful houses standing almost in it and looking very attractive. We stopped at the Lidl for a replacement bottle of whiskey (medicinal purposes only) and whilst tucking it into my rucksack I was berated by a wino who told me it was extremely irresponsible to drink whiskey and ride a bicycle! Vivi was so offended that she explained it wasn’t for drinking when cycling but afterwards; however by this time he had hiccupped his off for another cup of meths and wasn’t listening!
We are in ‘kite’ country and at any moment there are usually 3 or 4 circling above us. Kites still give us a frisson of excitement so we seem to spend a lot of time standing with our bikes between our legs holding up the traffic and staring into the sky.
Wonderful velo signs which guide you from town to town (almost) without ever having to use a road with traffic on it.
Caucalieres, river Tarn
Elaine had said that Castres was like a miniature Venice, I wouldn’t go quite that far but there is the lovely River Agout running through it with tightly packed colourful houses standing almost in it and looking very attractive. We stopped at the Lidl for a replacement bottle of whiskey (medicinal purposes only) and whilst tucking it into my rucksack I was berated by a wino who told me it was extremely irresponsible to drink whiskey and ride a bicycle! Vivi was so offended that she explained it wasn’t for drinking when cycling but afterwards; however by this time he had hiccupped his off for another cup of meths and wasn’t listening!
We are in ‘kite’ country and at any moment there are usually 3 or 4 circling above us. Kites still give us a frisson of excitement so we seem to spend a lot of time standing with our bikes between our legs holding up the traffic and staring into the sky.
Wonderful velo signs which guide you from town to town (almost) without ever having to use a road with traffic on it.
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