Thursday, October 16, 2008

60 mile ride, but totally worth it

getting ready for our ride

how cute is he
someone's house

at the cafe having lunch
ruins in  peyrusse

On Wednesday we went for a ride with our friends Jacques and Fabrice.  Of course they told us they would be chez nous at 9:00 am, but didn't arrive until 10:00 am.  But we have realized that is Jacques, he's like the mayor of every town and loves to talk to everyone, so he's rarely on time...he also tweeks his bike every minute he can, alas.   We had no idea where we were going we just followed Jacques.  We took the road to VilleFrance-de-Rouergue and then up through a pretty little village called Villeneuve.  Then we headed a bit east a village called Peyrusse le-roc.   The hill up to the village almost broke me though...at that time we had already road 30 miles, i was starving and it was extremely steep.

We road into the village and stopped at the first Cafe/Aubergue we came too.  The owner and his dog were standing out front and immediately struck up a conversation with Jacques.  He told us they had a great lunch, so we went in.  The daily lunch special - beautiful pork chops, mac & cheese (the french way), bread, water, red wine and dessert.  10 euros each...it was so amazing and tasty.  The owner and his wife were very friendly and the man behind us also got into our conversations.   I find the people here so incredibly friendly and warm.  For dessert we had french toast.  At least that was what it was to us, day old french bread, with egg and powered sugar.  They called it something else.  I'm sure Betty or Loulou knows what it is called. It was a great lunch and after an hour or so we were ready to head home...at least we thought. 

When we arrived in Peyrusse le-roc and went into the cafe we noticed all these postcards, pictures and books about this ruin called Chateau Inférieur which was built around 761.  We had to go and look at it, but it was down these very very steep cobble stone streets so we had to leave our bikes, take off our bike shoes and walk down the hill.  Oh my god...that's all we could say.  Stunning and beautiful and amazing.  There are even ladders that will take you out to the ruin.  We had to laugh because there are just tiny rails that keep you from falling.  We said that would never fly in America, wouldn't be safe enough.  We didn't go out to the ruin, since we didn't have shoes on, but we'll come back to visit when we are not on the bike.

We headed back down towards VilleFrance and I was spent.  Bonked is the word we use.  It's just that these hills here are so steep and long and I'm not used to them and the speed the guys ride is fast and I wanted to keep up and not slow them down.  We stopped and I had some chocolate and voila I was better...just needed a boost of sugar to get me home.

We all arrived home tired, but we all agreed it was a bon route.  4 hours in the saddle (60 miles), yesterday was a jour du repos, marché day in Villefrance.



16 comments:

La Belette Rouge said...

60 miles on a bike with hills? Wow! Clearly with that kind of activity you can eat an entire tart a day without any deleterious effects. Hope you had a very long nap after and lots of wine and chocolate.

Jennifer said...

You two must have legs of steel!

Pain perdu was probably the name of your dessert. You're right, it is basically French toast.

Barbara said...

You did it !
That is quite a day on the road.

I'm not a cycler, but it is probably like most things; the more you do it, the better you get.
Féliciatations !

La Framéricaine said...

Doesn't if feel like you are dreaming? All those real French people speaking French, eating French food, being friendly, inviting, generous, gregarious, and just themselves! I bet your head is spinning from more than hypoglycemia.

Bonne continuation, chérie!

Rebecca Ramsey said...

What a beautiful day!
Now you have me missing pain perdu!

Randal Graves said...

I was going to scoff at your '60 miles being worth it' blasphemy until I saw those old ruins. Completely worth it.

I think that house belongs to McCain.

CUPCAKE PRINCESSE said...

That's AWESOME!! Good going! It sounds like it was quite the a bike ride!! Hope you have a wonderful weekend...

Leesa (my other blog)

Bruce Anderson said...

lbr - i am eating so much and my friend told me that i looked super skinny in a picture, i'm not loosing weight, but not gaining anything, just getting fitter. we took a long nap after. wine and chocolate - chaque jour!

Bruce Anderson said...

loulou- my legs were hurting, let me tell you....my husband - yes, he has legs of steel.

Yes, yes pain perdu. Oh it was so lovely and good and much better than our french toast in the states. must find a receipe.

Bruce Anderson said...

b - i did it...and was happy that I did, but not during...I was moaning and groaning a bit.

I can't wait until the day I can climb the hills with the guys and keep up.

Bruce Anderson said...

LF - yes we feeling like we are in a dream. We have lost track of what day it is and what the date is. We are having such a great experience and everyone is so wonderful to and nice to us. There are some days that my head is spinning from all the french I just need to come home and nap. Nappy time is happy time

Bruce Anderson said...

RR- do you have a receipe for pain perdu????

Bruce Anderson said...

Randal - you are the first one to get it....."60 miles but totally worth it"...wasn't about the ride it was about the ruin. How beautiful and stunning is it? That made the grueling ride worth it....don't get that kind of thing in the states. We'll be going back to the ruin - by car - so we can walk out on the not so safe ladders and really experience it.

Bruce Anderson said...

Hey CP - it was a great ride and we saw some beautiful villages, animals, landscapes and ruins and had a great lunch too. We are going for another ride today - although on a route plate...because tomorrow we will go again with the cycling club, so more hills! You have a great weekend too.

GeologyJoe said...

beauty ride. im envious

Mark said...

Ouch, my arse hurts just thinking about that ride!