2018: Bordeaux to Barcelona: 4 Oct 2018: Cahors to Grisolles: 56 miles; 388 total

The group's nervousness grew this morning about where we might stay at the end of the day. Robin and John had searched, but found little. I had minimal luck as well. I finally googled for lodging at booking.com and found an apartment in a city we could not locate. I booked it, hoping for the best, and the good angel appeared.

But first, here was our day.

Cahors Departure

Our hotel is the building on the right.

New Record for Worst Bike Path. John's maps.me app has worked extremely well, much better than my Garmin. However, some routes reported by cyclists who must be riding mountain bikes. We approached a highway underpass and encountered a sign barring bikes, or at least indicating the bike trail ended. We later guessed it simply switched to the other side of the highway. This wasn't the first errant guidance, but John rode off into the weeds, trusting his phone app. This was the result.

Note: Not actually that bad as the field drag was perhaps 50 yards.

John leading Robin on the path.

Walnuts (we think), packaged in 600 kg or nearly 1400 # packages for shipping.

The rare surviving windmill in France.

14th Century (1300) church, needing restoration.

Midi Canal Bike Path. After numerous climbs over rolling terrain, we were getting pretty tired and pushing rather than touring. We stopped for a break and then rode the rest of the way, about 20 miles, on this bike path. A few miles were closed for construction, but we went around the construction, carried our bikes up the bank to the trail, and resumed.

We were told that this trail is packed during July and August, but today, runners, walkers and cyclists were rare.

Dog of the Day. At our lodging, this dog will play Fetch the Kong as long as anyone will throw it.

Didier and Anna are our hosts. We landed in a superb apartment with a full kitchen, huge bath, three double beds and one single. Breakfast is included. We cycled about 1 mile to the center of Grisolles for dinner. Tomorrow, Toulouse. Unfortunately, we might not be able to meet with Davis.

Robin, John, Anna (Our Host), and Michael on Departure from Grisolles. Anna is training for her next marathon Oct. 21 in Toulouse. Anna and Didier moved here two years ago from Hamburg, Germany, and remodeled this large home into the bed & breakfast. Didier is a safety engineer and Anna runs the B & B. Their 18-year old daughter is at university, studying mathematics.