Day 22, 25. June Friday

The day started a bit grey, so we took our time getting moving (so what’s new) and during our leisurely breakfast decided to ride up the River Jonte to the town of Meyruies, 22km away. We knew that this stretch of the river Jonte had canyons like the Tarn but had no idea what to expect.

Wow, what a great surprise! First, the weather turned out perfect – in the mid-80s so it wasn’t too hot, and a beautiful blue sky, which we’d sorely missed for the previous few days. Never take good weather for granted… Secondly, the terrain was exceptional – high and somewhat wide canyon walls covered with opulent greenery and marked by interesting rock formations shaped by centuries of erosion.

At the end of the Jurassic period, the waters that covered the area lowered and were directed into the immense faults left by the formation of the Alps and the Pyrenees and subsequently became the Tarn, Lot, Dourbie and Jonte canyons. The Jonte canyon especially is a home to many rare species including the giant black vultures that we saw circling over our heads all afternoon. (Waiting for dinner???)

There’s no bike route so we rode on the main (only) road through the canyon. Luckily, the traffic wasn’t too heavy. What we both noticed was one of those optical illusions that sometimes occur when you’re riding – the road looks as though it is heading downhill and you think to yourself “why am I working so hard?” and look down at the bike computer and see that you are climbing, not descending! Indeed, in the course of those 22km each direction we gained 300 meters of height in the middle – a subtle, steady climb.

We pulled to a stop in Meyrueis and were in front of a store featuring products from the region. I looked at Werner and smiled and he just laughed and said “I’ll watch the bikes…”. I found us some tasty treats for our picnic – local salami, a firm sheep’s milk cheese (Tomme de Brebis), a jar of pate, and a few other items that will keep until we get home. Of course what’s a picnic without bread, so I went in search of another shop and found a butcher shop (also with regional wares) and in addition to bread I found us some delicious cured ham and a chocolate-walnut tartlet.

It was so nice – right along the little stream that was feeding the Jonte, there were two picnic tables, so we had a lovely picnic. The only problem was getting on our bikes again after that repast!

The ride back took a half an hour less than the ride there, mainly because we didn’t stop for pictures every five seconds and secondly on the ride back there was more descent that ascent. Unknowingly, we landed in the middle of a classic-car rally – on the way back we got passed by a variety of lovely autos from the 50’s to 80’s – Jaguars, Morgans, a couple of Porsches, an MG or two and even a Corvette. Fun!

As we arrived in Le Rozier it was so pleasant and lively we decided to sit and enjoy the view with an ice cream in hand.

The evening was spent relaxing at the campsite – the highlight for me was a short Zoom call with my sister Jane. I have missed our weekly telephone calls.

Freitag, 25.6. GORGES DE LA JONTE

ENSTEHUNG: Im späten Jura zog sich das Meer aus den Kalkbergen zurück und formte Höhlen und Schluchten, während sich die Alpen auffalteten und die Pyrenäen hoben und so suchten sich der Jonte und der Tarn ihren Weg bis zur Mündung in die Garonne.

Eigentlich sind wir früh (ca 8 Uhr) aufgestanden, geduscht gefrühstückt und auf einmal war es 12 Uhr bis wir radlfertig waren, auch wegen Wetter.

Aber dann los von Le Rozier, über le Truel, les Douzes nach Meyrueis entlang dem Gorges de la Jonte. Die Straße folgt den vielen Windungen des Flusses, der sich tief eingefräst hat. Hinter jeder Kurve eine neue phantastische Felsformation, mal spitz aufragend, mal mächtig, bogenförmige Durchbrüche. Dann hoch oben die Geier, die hier wieder eingebürgert wurden. Man kann sie genauer anschauen im Haus der Geier etwas abseits.

Foto, Foto, Foto bis wir nach ca 22 km leicht hügelig in Meyrueis waren. An der Brücke war ein kleiner Laden, der nur eigene Produkte verkaufte. Die wollten wir probieren. Direkt an dem kleinen Seitenfluss gabs einen geschützten Picnicplatz (Picncic: roher Schinken, Salami, uriger Käse, Pate und Vollkornbrot) und frisches Wasser. Irgendwie gings rückwärts besser. Kurz musste ich mich mit einem Rennradler duellieren und das leicht bergauf bei über 26 (kein Motor mehr) aber vermutlich war er schon länger unterwegs und ich wartete dann auf Sara (gute Ausrede oder).

Zurück nach gut 45 km stellten wir unsere Räder ab vergnügten uns mit 2 riesigen, cremigen Eiskugeln und hatten keinen Hunger mehr. So bloß noch kleine Frühstücksreste gegessen und ins Bett, weil wir am nächsten Morgen richtig früh aufstehen wollten.