Final arrival in Toulouse !!!

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Ah my friends, what an evening !
It was our last night hosted by warmshowers, quite specials as we've been knowing them for several years by now.

Marion, Samy, thank you !

Thanks also to our cyclofriends Joël and Fanny, and also to Edwige and Dorian who have been there !

Then we go for the last kilometres, the ones we know well enough to leave the map folded on a useless area.

We start to feel a strange disconnection between the travelling spirit still in us, and all these known places. We have a look at our city through tourists' eyes...
As usual for a Saturday afternoon, the downtown is overcrowded by pedestrians, we have to walk for the last metres !

Tadaaa !...
This is it, we've done it, we meet our fanclub, seeing again known faces (and unknown for the super young one).

Thanks Fanny for the picture !

Thank you to those who could be there for the final, and to all those who supported and followed us !

It's the end of the adventure, with a nice late summer sunny day, after 7630km, full of landscapes, memories, and most of all, encounters !

It's the end of the adventure, but not of the trip. As it started way before the first pedalling, dreaming on maps, it will end way later, when photos will be sorted and we can present all this.

Waiting for it, what will happen on the blog ! Not that much at first, we have to get used again to a settled life, but we'll post about the after-trip.

In project too, a way to read this blog chronologically and a feedback about stuff and countries.

Before that, we must sort our mail, gracefully collected by our neighbours Sarah and Paul ;-).

Sarah, Paul, thank you :-P !

See you soon in Toulouse !

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Dangerously close to the end !

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Awake from our wine sack, we share a friendly breakfast with other randonneurs, talking about trekking and bike repairs.

We recognize the landscape by now but we can't think that's soon the end !




We gain ground quietly and not too fast, toward our cassoulet stop in Villepinte.

Waiting for the hotel opening (yes, we're getting lazy), we visit the nice church, very dark, but beautifully painted !

CASSOULET !!!

The next day, we wake just before the check out deadline, that was close !
We go by the cassoulet's capital, Castelnaudary, that we won't visit as it is not exactly along the canal.

Naurouze's threshold, we're almost at home !

Tadaaaa !
We stop at Montgiscard's lock, where we meet again our friends Marion and Samy who welcome us for the last night of our trip.

We are joined also by Fanny and Joël, who bring their contribution to the garage crowding !









In advance on our arrival, we mark the occasion with a huge beef rib and an equally huge wine bottle !



At the Capitole tomorrow !

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The canal, so windy !

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After a good night in a real bed, we leave our kind warmshowers and go first for a small tour in town.

Florence, Erwan, kids, thank you !

Of course, we have to visit the grave of a famous French artist.

And here we go ! For a start, we begin with the greenway along the beach, getting us used to the strong wind.

Then, we leave the Mediterranean sea for inland, toward the canal du midi that we reach at Agde.

The trail isn't as tough as expected by Vincent, but it's still a trail requiring attention to where you put your wheels. There are some XXL roots able to throw you up in the sky !

 We cross the eurovelo 8 road ! ... but our destination is still Toulouse ;-).

While riding it, the canal shows a bit more landscapes, with vines coming back ! We hoped for a weaker wind inland but it's obviously not the case...



We stop in the municipal camping of Capestang and discuss with the town's employee about bike travels.

All this wind is getting you a bit hungry at the end of the day, we almost forgot that our pot isn't so big but could cook and eat everything !







The next day is another day. Well, in fact there is still as much wind, that's hard !



It's harder for all these sick trees that are getting cut down along the canal in several places, forcing us to several detours. It's the occasion for us to get lost in the vines and to push our bikes for the first time since long !

We have a surprise at a lock, decorated with metal statues, sometimes animated.

The wind is draining our energy and pushing us to an unsual b&b : we'll sleep in an old wine cask !

Soon the end of the trip. On one side, we are still travelling since last spring, and on the other side, we feel close to the end, that's a strange feeling.

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Herauic days

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After a disturbed night thanks to the party close to the camping and the mosquito killing lights, a huge rain shower awakens us in the morning. Thanks to the wind, blue sky is back shortly.

For this day, we follow a path to Saint-Jacques, overtaking several pilgrim groups. But the canal's path is still too rough, pushing us to some quiet roads.

And the wind, again and always there, coming with strength from the west, bringing winery smells and drying our skin. We feel like some don quichote charging hopelessly a mighty wind dragon, not the best way to enter in the Hérault county.

But by calling a cousin of Vinciane in Montpellier, our moral is boosted by the possibility to sleep under a roof, sheltered from the wind. Moreover, we come to know each other a bit more and have a nice time around some pizzas and showing our photos.

The next day, we leave Anne-Cécile and proceed down, then up, then down and so on to Montpellier.

Anne-Cécile, thank you !

Yes, the area isn't very flat. We ride through the centre quickly on its cycle ways, as we'll probably come back another time.

But we turn before reaching the sea ! The path along the Rhône-Sète canal is muche better ... and also windier !

We finally make it to Sète, our hair completely messed up by the fierce wind !

Now it's time to comfort ourselves.

We are welcomed by Florence and Erwan, by the now well known principle of warmshower and have a nice evening with the whole family.

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Goodbye Rhône !

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We leave our Avignon's host, who welcomed us like popes !

Lolo, thank you !

After a good night, we spend a whole day doing nothing, and that's great ! We have to prepare for our future settled life...

Ok, we just go outside for a walk in Villeneuve-lès-Avignon, quite nice and much quieter than the tourist industry nearby.

The following day, after another good night, we get back on saddle after two bike-free days. Apparently, we still know how to ride...
We can't resist the trail's call rather than the busy road, taking us to an impressive TGV double bridge.

For our part, we can't reach, and by far, the TGV speed on this rocky path.

Beaucaire at noon, we just have a look to this large village with all its doors opened for the european patrimonial days.

But we're not here to visit all the old buildings ! Back on the canal track, we waste almost all our energy on this nonexistent path. And the sun is baking us !

In the end, we stop in Saint-Gilles, a village among others on a path to Saint-Jacques. There is a local medieval party adding some life down town !

Tomorrow, we should leave the Gard county for the Hérault that we hope more bike-friendly.

There is just a week left travelling, we feel so close to home but the last kilometers aren't easier anyway.

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