Hotel Isart

Broken Timelessness

The weather today was much cooler and much more conducive to photography. Indeed, it was much more conducive to cycling too, although it would have been good to see some sun at the top of the cols which were shrouded in thick cloud. Today we reversed the route we did when we followed the Tour last Sunday, riding up the Col de Port, a steady climb to 1250m and back down to Massat.

This town seems to be lost in time. It is quintessentially French and could be considered as an archetype of a Pyreneean settlement, nestled in a confluence of steep sided valleys. It's a blipper's paradise. I could have blipped this shot here, but I couldn't resist this photograph. There is so much going on that it's worth viewing in large. Just in case you are wondering it's the satellite dish that breaks the timelessness.

From Massat we continued downhill towards St.Girons but turned south to Oust to ride up the Vallee du Garbat to the bottom of the Col d'Agnes. This valley was stunningly beautiful and I could have spent the whole afternoon taking photographs of the vernacular architecture. The cloud seemed to be lower here and it wasn't long before we were in the mist, which turned to what could only be called thick fog at the top at 1570m. Visibility was very poor and my descending speed was seriously compromised!

Dropping down from the col we got very cold and although there was a desire to keep moving, it was impossible not to stop at the lake Et de Lers to shoot a few photographs as the level of the mist was just at the same level of the lake. On almost any other day, Fishing at the Edge of Infinity would have made the cut as a blip! Halfway up the short climb to the top of the Col de Lers we found a small bar and warmed ourselves with a double round of hot chocolates.

From there it was a simple roll back down to Tarascon, stopping for a sandwich at Vicdessos (with mental note to return here to try an impressive looking Via Ferrata route), and a brisk wind-assisted ride back to Perles, clocking in at 95 miles and 2700m climb. It's been my longest day in miles but possibly the easiest day in terms of effort. Rounded off with another quite superb meal and lively conversation, plus seeing Cav win the sprint today in the Tour, this has been an altogether awesome day. I am making connections with this place that I'm already keen to renew at the earliest opportunity.