Toulouse- Bordeaux - Part 3

Day 7 and 8: Meilhan-sur-Garonne

A lovely 43km run down from Buzet, with lots of crops coming into their own with the warmer weather and a surprise encounter with a Rembrandt early Christ, hanging in a village church en route.  A beautifully sunny day. Sadly more evidence of industries that are no more, with empty factories and rusting loading cranes protruding over the canal. Abandoned factories are part of the countryside through which the canals pass, wherever in France we ride.

In the middle of nowhere in particular, and somewhere about lunchtime, we stopped at Le Mas d’Agenais, a hilltop village (=bike to the top) with a long history, dating back to Gallo-Roman times. Today it has a beautiful grain market in the centre of the village, between the boulangerie and the charcuterie (lunch, remember?), a church built in the Romanesque style which was reconstructed by Violet le Duc in the 19^th century, and inside the church a Rembrandt dating from 1631, of Christ on the cross. Fairly staggering, really.

Arriving in Meilhan you find the campground down by the canal and the citadelle of Meilhan is on a spur above. It dates from the middle ages and was well-defended but ultimately destroyed, for the most part, between the 100 years war and the 19^th century. It commands a fantastic view of the plains below. With our bikes safely in the camping ground we were able to walk up the steps to the town and wander around. The pharmacist in this little town pronounced Rodney’s abrasions in no further need of care except for the cream that would prevent scarring. That was good news.

The camping ground had everything we needed, from hot showers to plenty of space, an Englishman who’d lived there for ages running the show, allowing us to charge our devices in the office, which doubled as small store and bar selling all necessities (coffee, sparkling water and beer on tap) and also to sit all day at one of his tables with the computer plugged in and free wifi, catching up with the blog. We stayed two nights – time to catch up on washing, too. As we sat there, we met and talked with all sorts of people – a family from Leeston, who knew Rodney’s Doak relations from Leeston (both our fathers were born within about 5km of Leeston), a grey-haired gentleman of 84, biking with his grand-daughter, parents biking with their young families, some pulled in chariots behind them. Frogs entertained us during the day but were further away at night. All the people in the camping ground were friendly. On the river and along the cycle paths, we met up with school trips for the end of term. A great place for both kayaking and cycling. Totally recommend this place!