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squiz Member Member#: 6644 Location: Registered: 27-05-2007 Diary Entries: 3072 |
10th June 2015 Mt. Biking: Ste Eulalie de Cernon, France – Wind Direction: Wind Stength: Surf / Sea State: Air Temperature: Sea Temperature: Weather: Mainly cloudy/windy Max Speed: Distance Covered: Wednesday 10th June – Bike (velo rail) *****`Ste Eulalie de Cernon, France – Mainly cloudy/windy We woke to a few clouds in the sky and it was quite windy too. We laid in for a while and actually had one of our moments to remember before we even got up! Opening the curtain at the small window beside our heads we saw a griffin vulture fly over, followed by another and quickly opened the back curtain to see them land in a field a little way away. Grabbed the binoculars and were thrilled to see at least 20 of these huge birds sitting in the field, bickering and chasing crows away! They had obviously got something to eat over there and it was an amazing sight, as was watching them take off and circle over the hills in the distance:) We had our breakfast sitting outside as the clouds had receded leaving a nice morning and the long grass in the field looked like the sea waving in the fairly strong wind! Mag picked some wild flowers to press before we drove down to Ste. Eulalie and collected some leaflets from the information centre. We drove up to the velo rail centre as we quite fancied having a go. It is in the old station which is a considerable way up a steep hillside from the town and near a huge viaduct where they bungi jump at certain times in the year. We asked at the office and were told we could go on the velo rail and come back on the train at 3pm for 18 euros each. We were told to come back at 2.30 so we went for a ride along a beautiful road, through a gorge and up to the tiny hilltop village of La Bastide Pradines. It was a very narrow and steep road – nothing special in the village but amazing location! Back to the station via a slightly different route and ate our lunch in the car park. Coincidentally a group of 14 French friends who we saw and spoke to in the village last night were also waiting for the 3pm trip! We were a bit worried that we wouldn’t get our own carriage but it was ok because they brought some more round. The man gave quite a long explanation to the 20 odd French people but to us and a really nice Dutch couple he gave a 2 minute chat in English where he showed us the pedals and the brake and said don’t stop in the tunnels!! That worked out really well for us because the others were long gone down the track and we could take our time with the Dutch OAPs going last. It was absolutely BRILLIANT!! We laughed and laughed and that was before we got to the 3 viaducts and 4 tunnels!! The tunnels were hilarious and quite scary especially the one that went round the big bend and quite downhill at the same time! We couldn’t see a thing and were getting faster! It was 8km and all downhill so we didn’t have to pedal very much – well at all really – apart from getting it going again on the many times we stopped to take photos. The scenery was amazing and it smelt lovely – honeysuckle and broom all the way along the banks. We past the derelict station for Lapanouse de Cernan somewhere in the middle and noted that there looked a good place to stop the night! We were disappointed to reach our destination as we wanted it to go on longer! The tiny station of La Bastide Pradines (this is the village we visited this morning but the station is nowhere near the village which is at least down and up two more hills from here!!). The building has been restored and turned into a café for people to wait until the train arrives for the return journey. When we had all arrived the lad in the café (who had gone down on a velo rail before us to open up) rang and told the train to come. While we waited we chatted to the Dutch OAP’s about travelling etc. and continued our chat on the train back. What a brilliant couple of hours:) We drove up to the old station at Lapanouse and parked up for the night. After tea we went for a walk on the opposite side of the railway line and Mag picked a bunch of the wild honeysuckle which is everywhere. We also walked along the railway tracks and the viaduct for a little way. On our way back a Golden Eagle flew right over us!!! There was no mistaking it as it was absolutely huge!! Its wings made the most amazing noise! What a brilliant end to a totally memorable day. Five stars for sure!! Photo Gallery here |
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