Sunday, June 17, 2012

Moissac continued

Our evening stroll around the town was incredibly hot so after a walk around the abbey we settled for a refreshing beer. This was a mistake- a local brew, which we later noted was 6% ETOH and on a dehydrated empty stomach we were almost asleep after half of the large bottle. We retired to our room with "air con"on full to find we were actually being heated up rather than cooled. We swung the large windows open and the slight breeze made it possible to sleep although with no covers at all.
Next morning was cooler so before setting off on the journey we tried again. I toured les Coitres which date from 600 ad and stayed in cool- these places were built for cool and general comfort- while Jerry fried in the shady square outside. He was happy despite the heat as he had been asked to be photographed with his bikes!
From Moissac we set off along the canal stopping to make excursions as we came to interesting villages signaled with various icons on the map. Verdun sur Garonne had massive ramparts and a peaceful shady village square with the obligatory patisserie offering temptations for lunch. There was also a market so we bought fresh Agen prunes and ripe peaches and apricots to add some healthy diet options.
The temperatures soared after 3 pm so we sought every bit of shade on the track as we progressed to Canals our final Chambre d'hote on our route. This was a little tricky to find and we rode up and down several hills too far but received a warm welcome and ice water on arrival from hosts Serge and Colette. Another couple whom we had seen en route towing a trailer had also booked in. They were Spanish so we managed to converse with a mix of all 3 languages. Her French and English were better than our combined efforts. There was a refreshing pool situated in a beautiful garden of fruit trees and roses, which we all enjoyed. They had been heading for Toulouse but were also beaten by the heat. We compared bikes and methods of travel and decided it was a great way to travel in Europe.

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