x-alt.fun: events

It was about 8.30 and I was starting to get peckish. I'd gone past a small town with a huge electricity station, Saint Marguerite Lafigère, and was now carrying on down the valley, though I'd switched sides. The road was slightly more modern with walls every now and again - though sometimes not.

I stopped here to eat another pain aux amandes that I'd managed to get in La Bastide. They're unfortunately not as common as I'd like, they are seriously good.

I got here about 10ish, had coffee and another pain aux amandes, the café owner didn't mind me eating one I'd bought, and I checked out the accommodation situation with a very friendly person in the Tourist Office, by now I was starting to get very chatty in French. Today was the 13th July and tomorrow would be the major national fête in the French calendar, not a good day to travel everyone told me. So, at long last, that rest day.

So, I booked into a small hotel with a pool, and decided to explore the town. The hotel was nice, modern, though a bit lacking in character, but the owners were lovely, the rooms clean and not too expensive, and the swimming pool was a major plus. It was surrounded by the plant of the trip too, fragrant oleander.

Les Vans itself was a nice little place. Some slight artsy thing happening, nice little cafés, bookshops and antique shops. Oh and a lovely restaurant that you really must try: La Feuille du Chou - the cabbage leaf. I ate there twice, and it would have been three times but they were full the first evening; I had lunch there on the 14th and returned for dinner that same night it was so good. See the next photo for a picture.

Rollover this photo to see a more sunny photo of a different part of town, and click to see a third scene.

This was lunchtime on the 14th July, le quatorze juillet. The room was pretty, the music not too loud - old blues and world music, and the food superb. I wish I could remember what I had but can only remember a really nice terrine and some cuisses de grenouille that took me back; the last time I'd had frogs legs was some 30 years ago.

Stats: 102km, avg 14.8km/hr, max 54.7km/hr, 7hrs riding but my first photo was at 6.00 and my last before finding the campsite was at 3.00pm so I was travelling, except for an early lunch, for 9 hours.

My biggest distance day.