First Ride

It has been almost a week since our last ride in Eagle County so our bodies and minds needed a serious workout. Having spent time in this area last year we decided to repeat one of our favorite rides. Although our starting point was different we were able to navigate to the previous route with our destination the hilltop medieval town of Domme. It sits high on the bluff overlooking the Dordogne river valley and boasts the "panorama" view along the ramparts of the old city. 

We knew from last year that there was an unpaved section that we negotiated by going around a concrete barrier and walking our bikes over the dirt path for several hundred meters. Well, times change and when we arrived at the expected barrier it was a wall of dirt, or more exactly mud after the constant rains. 

Rational riders would have simply reversed course and found another way to get to Domme. But no, we decided to haul our bikes and bodies up and over. 

Kim went over the wall "parle vous" and positioned herself to catch my bike as it came sliding down the other side. 

With both bikers and bikes on the other side we took a stroll through the woods and awaited what was on the other end. 

Not quite as challenging at the other end, we lowered ourselves and bike down to the start of the paved road ahead. So far so good that the worst was behind us. 

Except that our biking shoes and all important cleats were cakes in mud. After digging out as much yuck as possible with a stick we waded into the river to clean off the rest of the debris and tried to avoid soaking our shoes. 

With wet shoes and socks we decided that Domme could wait for another day so we took the low road to Cenac to a roadside cafe we remembered from last year. 

Two coffees and one pastry later we refused to give up and continued the ride as planned and left Domme in our rear view mirror.

The rest of our 30+ mile ride was less eventful as we followed more traditional velo routes all the way toward Daglan along lovely, windy, quiet roads.

A more pastoral setting was a great place to shed unneeded pants and jackets and perfect time for a pit stop. 

Lovely pond and water feature of unknown purpose. 

No ride would be complete without catching up with our bovine friends who always greeted with a moo or two. 

Passing through Daglan, a familiar town where our friends Darlene and Shaun are building their dream house. More on them later. 

Castelnaud in the distance reassured us that we were close to home.

As was the traditional entering sign, with a bit of an exception. Turns out that most of the entering and leaving signs have been turned upside down. What could that mean? As we were later told this was a sign of protest expressed by the local farmers who are unhappy with a number of new rules and regulations instituted by the French government and EU overlords. Seems that they now have to commit some of their productive land to environmental preservation which cuts into their every dwindling incomes. Did not dig into the details but most local farms are family affairs unlike the mega farms that dominate agriculture in the states. 

 

Settling In

 Castelnaud is a small town along the Dordogne river. The town of Sarlat is a twenty minutes drive and boasts the best grocery stores in the area. 

Our favorite is Leclerc megastore which is comparable to a Super Walmart with everything from car parts to fresh fish and pastries. We have cut our shopping time down quite a bit knowing where to look and dividing the list so we can double time the process. 

Looks like a lot but this way we can keep the shopping trips to a minimum. Once per week is more than enough and mostly to replenish the perishables that we can not get locally. There are smaller markets in the local towns for filling in and more than enough boulangeries for the daily bread and goodies. 

Into the car for the ride back home. 

Back home we unpacked all our bags and assembled the bikes for tomorrow's ride. Not too bad. We are getting good at this ordeal. 

And Away We Go

It is Sunday night September 1st and we are in the final throes of gathering everything that is going with us and frantically checking off items on the "take to France" list and winding down the tasks before we leave the Daisy Lane house for six weeks. 

 

Getting the bikes securely into the boxes is "job one" - since bikes damaged in transit makes for a very short biking vacation. Loading our baggage into the Durango for the drive to DIA gets easier every year as we take less each trip. We got an early start figuring the Labor Day traffic out of the mountains would be unusually heavy, and we were right until we were past the tunnel then smooth sailing (aka driving) all the way to the United drop off.

Kim wrangled all the luggage to the check-in counter while I drove to Park DIA to park the car and shuttle back to the terminal. 

By the time I arrived all the bags were checked with boarding passes in hand. The baggage handler (on left) and United counter representative (on right) re-taped the boxes with the extra strong tape which was taped again by TSA when they inspected the contents and left a "we were here" note. 

After a few hours lounging in the lounge it was time to board the flight to Frankfurt (a short nine hours), with plenty of flight time to consume some bubbly and watch "Top Fun: Maverick" again. Sleep came quickly.

In any case everything arrived in Frankfurt and then Toulouse as planned. We tracked each piece (two bike boxes and two suit cares) with Air Tags every step of the way. Happiness is seeing your first bag come off the luggage belt and "ultra happiness" is seeing two bikes slide down the oversized ramp in one piece with no fork lift holes punched through the middle. 

With all our bags gathered it was a short walk to the hotel pick up point for our rental car then two hour drive to Castelnaud, our first location in the Dordogne. Flying into Toulouse is such a convenience over CDG airport in Paris and very long drive to the south west of France. 

After a short stop at a local market we cobbled together a simple dinner and obligatory first baguette and pastries.  

A chocolate mousse and meringue creation for me and fruity tarte for Kim. Long flight, long day, and great reward in preparation for a good night's sleep.