The Road to the Coast

Our first pause on the road was this church surrounded by small shrines.

The warm welcome to the church.

Sunflower fields forever.

Check out David's new Lacoste sunnies.

What I didn't photograph was the view of the valley this spot overlooked or the hill we had to sweat up to get here.

Dinner. Cajin chicken, wedges and apple crumble fro dessert. All cooked in tinfoil. 

Sunset over sunflowers. Poetry.

Dave asked me to take this glory shot.

The square in Carcassonne where we enjoyed a beer and listened to two Finnish jazz musicians.

We spent to long enjoying our beer and the music and all the restaurants stopped serving food we ended up asking Mc Donald's if they had any food left after closing. They didn't but KFC did.

The next night we slept in an amazing spot down buy one of the main canals leading to the coast. This is the canal gate at sunset.

Colour.

Beziers, not far from the coast now.

I don't think words can describe the beauty of this shot. There is nothing better in life than a bicycle stacked with fresh bread.

Some thought it impossible but yes we did double bunk in hammocks. Not to mention the breaking into a campground to do it.

Welcome to Montpellier. Still my favorite city in France.

I think this photo sums up the city better than words. Amazing and fun.

Looking back through the historic centre at the entrance to the city.

Space Invader (yes I remembered his name) prolific in Montpellier.

The crash site. Tip for travelers to Montpellier: Don't chase trams on your bicycle.

The damage. Note that the front wheel is not supposed to touch the down tube.  

Needless to say the bike was irreparable (not that we didn't try). Here is Dave's replacement.

Older and smaller but full of character. We were on the coast.

Saintes-Maries-de-La-Mer a nice location for a Gin Fizz.

Good night sleep tight.

One Evening at the Chapel

Big Red Tractor.

This was one of our last nights in Engomer so we decided to visit the disused chapel on the hill.

The valley.

Specky and Nada.

Aljoscha

Special effects.

Haunted.

The gang.

From here me and Dave headed north east toward the coast and a swim in the Mediterranean.

The French Pyrenees and our Wonderful Hosts.

As we entered France we were chased by this storm. We totally blew it away though.

A lovely example of the forests we were cycling through on our way to Saint Girons.

Our lunchtime lookout.

This amazing lookout tower was perched so precariously on this rock outcrop they had to attach the walkway to the cliff.

Castles become a dime a dozen but they are always good for a photo.

Just one of the amazing canyon roads we cycled through.

The long cycle from Barcalona was worth it when we arrived in Engomer and met Joy and her Family.

This is Aljoscha, Yasheem and Joy at the local swimming hole.

Dave doing his thing.

A couple of days after arriving we got to join the family on a day trip into the mountains.

Mountain man.

Reminded me of home.

Aljoscha preferred to be carried.

Knackered.

Taken during our shopping trip to Toulouse. So fresh.

We decided to do an overnight tramp up one of the local peaks where from the top both France and Spain would be visable. This was taken from the car park.

This was one of the highlights of the walk. We proceeded to walk up this waterfall to get to the summit.

Dave and the view back down the valley. Don't mention sandals.

We very quickly walked straight into the cloud.

And then walked out again.

We spent the night below the summit and unfortunately by the time we got to the top we couldn't see each other let alone both France and Spain.

This was taken from outside the Hut located just below the summit where you can buy full meals in the restaurant.

Posing on the decent.