Malta/France - Le Tour de France Part 2

From South to North and from East to West, after 3000+ kilometres on the bike, we can now confidently say, Tour de France on the bikes - tick!

Taking in the phenomenal chateaux and sights of Beziers

The last three week have included Aurelie's sisters 30^th birthday, a trip to Malta, some more time lapping up the joys of Provence, and part 2 of the ‘Tour de France’. This time it was a trip to the West Coast to the globally renowned wine regions of Bordeaux.

Claire (Aurelie’s sister) 30^th birthday landed conveniently a couple of days after we returned from Part 1 of our tour de France. It was a dress up which made for a very entertaining night with some very creative costumes on display. 

Aurelie’s Cleopatra ensemble was definitely a highlight. Shane’s attempts at re-creating the original Karate Kid probably didn’t quite hit the spot, as the majority thought he looked more like a cross between a Chinese samurai and an English convict. In any case, it was certainly an entertaining night, with Claire’s better half, Fabrice, who turned himself into a Bob Marley replica, taking the votes for best dressed on the night.

Some interesting characters preparing to kickstart the festivities

The following day, we set off for the best part of a week in Malta, a beautiful little Mediterranean island off the Southern tip of Italy. The combination of Roman, English and local historical influence made for some very impressive scenery and architecture.

 Shane checking out some of the historical highlights of Malta

However, in all honesty, what we were really there for was for some R&R and indulgence. Profiting from the freshly cooked seafood, cheap local beverages and time on the beach or in the pool, was definitely at the very top of our itinerary. This, with the helped of Shane’s friend from Australia David (Kenno), we definitely achieved. Beautiful and relaxing location that we’d definitely go back to given the opportunity.

 Arriving at the island of Comino, an island just off the mainland of Malta

Returning to France, summer appeared to be finally on its way. The tourists are starting to arrive as Provence starts to flourish due to the warmer weather, long days, incredible landscapes and super fresh local produce such as cherries, melon, lavender and vino.

With part 2 of our tour de France only a couple of days away, Shane got a good warm-up cycling with Aurelie’s father Jean-Paul. 80kms on the Saturday, followed up with 105km on the Sunday morning with the cycle club, that included a trek up the Mt Ventoux. Aurelie joined in for this one to the dismay of the egos of the majority of the cycling club, as she quickly showed them up pedalling away from them as soon as the mountains arrived.

 Cruising past France's equivalent to the Collosseum, the main arena in Nimes

Part 2 of the Tour de France started with us setting off from Mazan on an afternoon that peaked at 37 degrees. Fortunately we had a pool waiting for us at the end of day 1, to help refresh and recover. Day 2 we arrived on the South Coast, halted for a moment by a snake that crossed our path that Aurelie was only moments away from running over, then arrived at our beachside destination with another 100+ kms under our belt.

Aurelie stopped in her tracks by a snake...this is France, not Australia isn't it!! 

Unfortunately this was when the weather, just like on Part 1 of our tour, took a turn for the worse! Coincidentally, it was the South West coast (which was exactly where we were) which was the worst affected, with rain, hail and flooding causing significant destruction around the area. Temperatures also plummeted and we awoke to rain, with a forecast of a maximum of 15 degrees, unheard in the South of France at this time of year!

Fortunately we avoided the worst of the conditions and soldiered on, still taking great pleasure in the history, beauty and diversity of this region. After another 3 consecutive 100+ km days as we traversed the base of the Pyrenees, we made it to visit the home of friends, who are living in what can only be described as a mini chateaux. The sprawling gardens, mountain top views. And extremely generous hosts, Diane and Tom and their two girls Lucy and Coco, made for a great couple of days and a great way to break up our tour.

 Aurelie, Diane and Tom are greeted by blue skies at the base of the Pyrenees

We then made our way up the West Coast to a very popular tourist destination on the West Coast called Arcachon, famous for its incredibly fresh Oysters, which we duly sampled. Only downside again was the weather, we certainly didn’t get the relaxing afternoon on the beach that we envisaged. It was then across to Bordeaux, our final destination of the tour to visit and sample some of the locally produced wine.

 Chateau du Pape Clement, just on the outskirts of Bordeaux

After the early morning train from Bordeaux to Avignon, we rolled back into Mazan, fighting fit but just a little tender around the ‘derriere’ region! Part 2 of the Tour de France took in exactly 963kms in 9 days and provided us with exactly what we were after in terms of getting a true insight into France, it's history and it's culture.

Part 2 of the Tour de France below:

Day	Depart	Arrive	Distance (km)	Cum. Total (km)	Comments
1	Mazan	Gallargues Le Montueux	110	110	Nimes – very impressive historical city
2	Gallargues Le Montueux	Vias (Agde)	110	220	Coastal village, beautiful area
3	Vias (Agde)	Castelnaudary	129	349	Chateaux des Bezieres & Carcassone were big highlights
4	Castelnaudary	Saint-Gaudens	141	490	Cold, wet & windy. Beautiful landscape
5	Saint-Gaudens	Aubertin	139	629	Base of Pyrenees
6	Aubertin	Mont de Marsan	101	730	Longer day than expected! 1st puncture in over 2,500kms!
7	Mont de Marsan	Arcachon	133	863	Coastal town, very nice.
8	Arcachon	Bordeaux	73	936	Famous for its vino with good reason!
9	Avignon	Mazan	37	973	Train Bordeaux to Avignon

Our schedule continues to move along at a rate of knots. We fly to London, our first time back in London since 2006, then onto Scotland for a wedding and then back to France to see the professional cyclists in the Tour de France as they climb the Mt Ventoux on Bastille Day (Frances national day - 14^th July).

It’s going to be another big couple of weeks….LG!!!