Jour neuf / dix – Zut alors! Nous sommes “cream crackered”
First of all apologies for not blogging yesterday but by the time we finally arrived in Mende and found our campsite (two very different things it turns out!) we needed to focus on getting clean, getting fed (no easy feat in France on a Sunday) and getting some rest. It’s been a similar story today to be honest hence blending the two days together.
Yesterday, Sunday 8 October we left around 730 knowing full well that if we were going to take a day out the schedule (our new cunning plan courtesy of skipping Brantome and taking only half a days rest in Rocamadour) we would have get some miles in early.
Things go slightly awry almost straight away as firstly it is absolutely freezing and secondly we just climb and climb and climb making very slow progress…..we are already looking for alternative routes…
….but there are none.
Eventually after climbing forever we arrive in Marcillac which will hence forth forever be known as “icytown”….I swear to god it has never even seen the sun it was so cold. There was a bit of a hubbub with a Sunday market going on….prunes seemed to be the thing….
…and we stopped in a Tabac for a hot cafe creme and to feed my human parrot…
…..and then the climbing continued!
The photos don’t really do it justice but the reward for all the climbing is spectacular scenery….
…and the occasional downhill. Eventually we pull over for a quick bit of lunch ….
.….and then push on.
It ends up being an absolutely crushing day with over 92 miles and an amazing 6500 feet of climbing. We eventually roll into Mende around 1830 exhausted and hungry….Of course what you need when you are tired and hungry is for the sat nav to take you up the longest steepest hill in Mende and say “this is where the campsite is” when it arrives in someone’s front garden….it lies!
A good deal of faffing around and not a little panic later we finally arrive at Camping Le Tivoli. The tent is pitched and showers are partaken in super quick time and then it’s off to find somewhere to eat…about 20 mins later, success…
Day nine ends exhausted but happy!
Day ten starts slowly but in a very similar way ….up!
Actually the key difference this morning is that when we try to pay at the campsite when we leave no one is around to take our money so….we just leave! We head straight for the nearest supermarket to stock up for the day ahead and as we pull into the “casino” a white BMW screeches up next to us and demands payment for our nights camping or threat of police…:misunderstanding resolved we start the day proper by climbing……again!
Todays climbing is even more redonkulous than yesterday and we slog slowly up to over 4000 feet at the col de la Pierre plante…
It is also very grey and cold up here so we try and press on quickly to find some cover.
Eventually we drop down THE most precipitous set of switchbacks any of us have ever seen let alone ridden into a steep sided valley (forever to be known as the “Valley of Doom”). We follow the sat nav (and sheep) out the other side….….only to climb our way into a dead end!
Given the amount or effort it’s taken to get us this far today we are all three starting to feel a little concerned and claustrophobic being trapped in this valley. We decide to have some lunch and take time to take stock and we then eventually think we find an alternative route which backtracks about six miles and involves even more riduculous climbing! The views however are even more amazing than yesterday’s …
After what seems like an eternity we finally start to drop down into the amazing Gorge Ardeche ….
……and finally after around 10hours in the saddle we arrive at our campsite for the night in Vallon Pont d’Arc.
It has been an amazing and exhausting two days but this is the challenge we came to test ourselves again……so far we are just about measuring up!
Please, please, please don’t forget to show your appreciation for our challenge by donating here ……….https://www.justgiving.com/fundraising/nick-white24