Saturday, 9/18 off to the airport - thanks Janet! Flight from
Monday 9/19
The route out of
The final 8 - 10 miles take us through vineyards and corn
fields (corn for the ducks and geese that provide the fois gras).
It's a beautiful day, capped by the lovely town of
We find a room at a gite and explore the city. As we unload
the bike, an American stops and asks "Were you at the hotel Tulip 
yesterday? We saw you putting the
bike together.' This is the first of
several encounters with fellow travelers.
Like many French hill towns, the streets are steep and
narrow, but the town has a comfortable atmosphere.
We have a glass of wine on the square, then decide on an early dinner at
a pizzaria - with a carafe of the local red wine.
Tuesday 9/21 St Emilion to Bergerac - about 45 miles
The computer continues to operate erratically, and now the
hub shifter is not working properly - we can't get into the lowest gear.
This problem must be corrected before we get into the hills.
The day starts off nice, with temperatures around 60 and
some sun, but the clouds roll in an we get occasional rain.
Once we arrive in Bergerac, we find a laundry and a bike
shop. While Jayne visits the
internet store, I do a bit of laundry The tourist office had suggested a bike
shop, but they didn't have the part we needed.
After completing the laundry, I headed off to find the internet store,
and suddenly realize that there is a bike shop right across the plaza from our
hotel! The bike shop has a
replacement shifter, but the technician can't install the part, so it's back to
the hotel garage to do the work.
We had noticed a couple of folding bikes parked in the
garage, and while I'm installing the new shifter, we meet the travel bikes
owners, Phil and Fiona, Brits who are finishing up a 2 week bike tour of the
Bergerac area. They are great
people and we end up sharing dinner with them.
Wednesday 9/22 Bergerac
to Belves about 40 miles
It's market day in Bergerac, so we take a few minutes to
stroll through the stalls and check out the wares. We are seen off by our new
English friends Phil and Fiona.
Our route today contains our first major climb... about 8 km long to the
bastide town of
Eventually, we reach Belves.
Though our hotel is not the best (ok, not quite a Motel 6), the city is a
well-preserved example of a midevil walled city, with little of the touristy
incursion seen in many old French towns.
While in the tourist office, we run into an expatriate
British woman who suggests that we have dinner at the Hotel Clement
V.
Though the owner, Ann, normally provides meals only for guests, she
offers us her fixed menu for the evening, and we agree to return at 7:30.
Since we have a bit of time to kill, and don't care to
spend it in our hotel room, we take a table on the square and have a glass of
wine. Two older French women at the
next table strike up a conversation with us, and we find that one of the women
is the mother of Anne, the owner of the Hotel Clement.
Though we have a language barrier, it is evident that she is proud of her
daughter (though like many daughters, Ann is a bit embarrassed by her mother).
We have a wonderful dinner.
Ann's menu is typical rustic French fare - chevre salad, a shepard's pie
made with duck confit, and dessert, all washed down with a bottle of a local red
bottled by a friend of Ann, and a local cognac.
Anne offers us internet access and breakfast the next morning, for which
we are grateful.
Thursday, 9/23 Belves to Motignac about 43 miles
In addition to breakfast and email access, Anne also helps
us with hotel reservations for the next few days.
After seeing her hotel, we wish we had stayed there!
Weather today is not very pleasant - low clouds and misting
rain. We will not see the sun today.
There is a steep downhill from Belves to the Dordognne,
followed by a long climb. We're
hoping to visit the only cave containing prehistoric paintings that is still
open to the public. We stop in a
small town tourist office around 10 am to check on availability of a tour and
are told that if we can arrive by 11 am, we could do the tour.
Unfortunately, there is a small mountain between us and the cave, and we
arrive at 11;15. Too bad, we are
welcome to come back in the afternoon, but that does not meet our schedule.
There is one bright point to this day.
As we pull up to the cave office, we spot a pair of recumbent tricycles
in the parking area. 
Even though we
can't see the cave, we hang around and wait for the trike riders to appear.
After a half hour or so, we meet David and Heloise, from Canberra,
Australia. They are spending 6 weeks on a
trike tour of France, enjoying their matched pair of Tri Sled trikes.
We end up having a light lunch with them and compare notes.
We both use the Lonely Planet cycling guide to
Our lack of a proper lunch coupled with another hard climb
causes Jayne to bonk, so we stop at a roadside snack bar.
The limited menu doesn't help much, but since we only have another 10
miles or so to go, we push on. The
only thing that helps is a long downhill that we hit after another mile long
climb.
We arrive in Motignac in the afternoon, and Anne's hotel
suggestion is a welcome respite. Finally,
a room big enough move around! And with 2 towels! Each!
After a long soak, we're ready for dinner.
Friday 9/24, Motignac to Sarlat
We plan to visit Lascaux II, a reproduction of the famous
The cave reproduction is an amazing site and we are surprised at the sheer size of the paintings. Even though only a portion of the paintings are reproduced, the tour gives a fine overview of the art of our prehistoric forebearers.
Though we enjoy the fast downhill run from Lascaux, for every good downhill, there is a corresponding steep uphill. After a couple of hours grinding up the hills, we stop for lunch at a small hotel at the top of a hill. During lunch, the owner shows us a topographic map of our proposed route and makes a few suggestions to help us avoid the worse hills.
After seeing the amount of climbing facing us over our intended route, we begin to reconsider our options...
We arrive in Sarlat, fatigued from the day of climbs, only to find that our hotel (where we've planned to spend two nights) is at the top of a steep, 1 km climb. Though we have a nice room, and the restaurant serves a tasty dinner, we decide to move to a hotel closer to downtown for our second night.
Saturday 9/25, Sarlat
After breakfast, we coast down to town, secure a room at the Hotel de la Madeline, and head into the city to do some laundry and check our email. During the laundry stop we meet a group of cyclists from the U.S. who are doing a supported, guided tour of the same area (and paying as much for one person as our entire tour costs).
Saturday is market day in Sarlat. and we buy a few souvenirs and
snacks. We also decide that we've had enough of the hills, so we make
plans to return to Bordeaux and tour the flatter land of the Dordogne estuary,
which contains some of the most famous wineries in the world.
Sunday 9/26 Sarlat to Bordeaux, then on to Pauillac - 40 miles
Since only certain trains will accept bikes, we plan to return to Bordeaux on the 7:30 am TER train. Mistakenly thinking that the train station would be open, we depart the hotel before petite dejunnier and make a short ride to the train station, which of course, is not open. After about an hour, the station staff arrive and open up. We partially disassemble the bike and prepare to travel. After a 2 1/2 hour ride, we arrive in Bordeaux.
We assemble the bike in the train station, just outside the gendarme's office
(who are amused at the odd vehicle). After a short stop back at the Hotel
Tulip to drop off 10 - 15 lbs of excess gear, we have a snack at a cafe' while
we wait for the Virgin Records superstore next door to open (the only downtown
business open on Sundays, luckily, they carry both the maps and English
language books we need for the rest of the trip). 
Just as we prepare to leave, the weather worsens to a heavy drizzle, prompting the donning of rain gear, which, in typical fashion, we will shed within a half hour.
Our route takes us through the vineyards of some of the most famous wineries in the world, including Chateau Margaux. Our legs enjoy the flatter terrain as we wend our way towards Pauillac. At Pauillac, we arrange a room at a B&B in a nearby suburb. Chambre de Hote Lou Bercail is operated by Dany and Patrick Hauselmann. Dany makes a dinner reservation for us and also arranges a tour at Chateau Mouton Rothschild and the next door Chateau Pinchon-Longville.
Monday 9/27, Pauillac - 12 miles
Today will be a day of wine. We start off with a short cycle through Pauillac to Chateau Mouton Rothschild, home of some of the world's most expensive wines. After a short film showing the history of the chateau, we tour the cellars and winemaking areas, ending with a visit to the wine museum, which contains wine-related artifacts from around the world.
Growing tired of French food, we have lunch in a Vietnamese restaurant, then
drop off the bike at our chambre and take a short stroll through the vineyards
to Chateau Pinchon-Longville. Though the tour here is similar to our
morning tour, we get to see the freshly harvested grapes being hand sorted and
end this tour with a tasting of two vintages. We purchase a bottle to
accompany our evening meal. 
Chateau Pinchon-Longville
Since Dany has offered us the use of the chambre's barbeque, we make a run to the local supermarket and purchase an "American" dinner - steak and potatoes.
Tuesday 9/28, Pauillac to Talais - 38 miles
Following the Dordogne northward, we leave the vineyards, and pass small fishing villages and farms. There is a dearth of places to eat. Even the bakeries are closed. A few M&Ms tide us over until we chance upon a roadside bistro. Two nice English ladies help us communicate with the waitress, and we enjoy the 11 Euro daily special - soup, main course, dessert, and a carafe of the local red wine (which goes quite well with my choice of roast rabbit).
Our hotel is Talais is in the country, next to a horse farm. Though the restaurant is closed for the season, Dany has arranged dinner for us with the owners. We enjoy a simple country meal accompanied by a local wine.
