DAY 10 - Salviac to St Pierre de Clairac

Salviac to St Pierre de Clairac

65 miles, 1153 m climb, 3397 kcal, 11.7 mph average
Weather, warm to hot, some cloud, particularly in the afternoon.

We were delighted to find that our spell of finding boulangeries closed was broken, as the one closest to the camp site was open and full of goodies (empty after we had been through)!

Opposite of yesterday! And the sign is a nice touch, as if they
want to rub it in that this time all the boulangeries were open

 The route today was through limestone country, and across the grain. Consequently we had a series of short climbs and descents with varying lengths of 'going along'. Highlights were dropping into the Lot valley at the delightful town of Duravel. Vineyards abound! The gourde of the river Theze was a pleasant surprise too, marked by limestone pillars and arches at the side of the road.

Gorge de la Theze

We heard it through the grape vine in the Lot valley

In the afternoon, after our occult power of magicking up picnic benches was again demonstrated at Tournon d'Agenais, we ended up following the valley of the Petite Seone. Heading into the sun we got increasingly hot, but we passed nowhere with water to top up, so when we reached Puymirol, we were desperate for refreshment. The long climb up into this spectacularly situated Bastide town fortunately proved successful as there was an open bar and epicerie, but only one! We rested under the arches at the centre of the town and enjoyed ice cream and orangina like teenagers (actually one of us is...).

Lunch at Tournon d'Agenais

Shade, cold drink and a restorative ice cream at Puymirol. Definitely needed
after a long hot day. (You're making this look too much like fun guys!)

Viewpoint from Puymirol

We shopped for food for the night and headed off towards the Camping a la Ferme we had identified the previous night. Initial route as suggested by our bike map app took us to a grassy track, so we had to turnaround and take our own route. No signs at all for the place was a worry, but asking a local got us there. It proved to be a quirky place; they let goats graze around the emplacements, which was a bit nerve wracking. But they have kitchen facilities, so we enjoyed a pleasant evening cooking, eating and watching the farm dogs and cats have fun...

Misdirected by the routing software ... we decided
not to follow this route to the camping a la femme

Camping a la Ferme, with hot and cold running... goats... Hmm.

Best moments
Jeremy - Duravel and the Lot
Roy - getting into Puymirol and finding ice cream.
Rowan - getting into Puymirol and finding water!
John - the first taste of orangina in Puymirol

Bit of a theme there...