Bikepacking France. Gorge Roads, Castles and Mind Blowing Scenery! (Part 2)

welcome to part two of our four-day mini bikepacking adventure over the next two days you're going to see us journey through some awe-inspiring gorges and get deeper into the heart of the mountains in the Ariège region of the French Pyrenees we'll be surrounded by truly breathtaking landscapes gorges, wild rivers and of course it's the Pyrenees so we are surrounded by what appears to us to be almost iridescent green and vibrant mountains grass and trees very green very green come along with us for the ride sunny day cheers here's to the gorges today you carry your home on your back you do not need to make your home on my home can't get away from snails we can't get away from them campground is full of mulberry trees this is our site and i don't know i think i donked my head about five times on almost every branch anyway clumsy klutz packed up ready to go now the first point of order for the day was to actually pay for our campsite we had arrived here late on a sunday afternoon which meant that reception was not open if you're in a similar situation just know the majority of french campgrounds will allow for you to set up on a vacant pitch site and sort the bill out the next day all packed up and ready to go this was our campsite for last night pretty stunning this is a example of a municipal camping site these are dotted all over france pretty much most places have one they're run by the local councils they're just very basic campgrounds but they're always nice and clean cheap this one cost us 12 euro 44 so you can see the sanitaires all in all again basic but nice hot showers we've been to fancier campgrounds where the showers are lukewarm these ones had heaps of pressure really nice and warm do you know what this campground has that the campground we paid double the price for at carcassonne didn't have toilet paper yes and it is funny quite often a municipal campground will have toilet paper this one's got a little cafe here it wasn't open being we're not in high season yet so it's sort of quite lovely big swimming pool so all for the princely sum of 12 euros a night for two people anyway we're about to hit the road so we'll update later on the lovely little town of quillon this is the Ord river runs right through it beautiful for us one of the best things to enjoy on our bike adventures in france are the local treats from the boulangeries here the local village bakery and of course it was only natural that this had to be our first port of call for the day breakfast when in france had our poppies at camp so the croissants on their own where's your rating with crunch flakiness now the taste i think i'm coming out with about a seven seven out of ten it's good but different it's got that bready taste more bready than plate texture yeah we found that near this side of the pyrenees definitely anyway vote for it out leaving the town of quillon little did we know it but our route was about to take us through one of the most spectacular gorge roads we had come across we had thought that missing out on the gorge de galamus from the previous day meant that we would miss out on spectacular sights but this was truly epic our ride would now take us through the dramatic gorge de pierre lyce just started on this road it's magnificent as we navigated this winding road we couldn't help but notice how the gorgeous towering walls had a way of making us feel about the size of tiny ants look at this overhang it's just they didn't it's amazing it's like nature's natural breach there were a couple of tunnels there was the sound of birds of prey squawking high up in the air and all around us surrounded by geology that was created over millions of years ago absolutely epic awesome the d117 massive gorge road very spectacular from quillon about 10 kilometers and the great thing is we've got the it's another gorge road so what do you think honey stunning we stumbled across this by accident we were going to go a totally different way and it was just a bit of additional research in terms of routes so that bella didn't have to climb the colderman mare but we found um we found this and the great news is we can still climb the colderman mare we can it would be like this is stunning by that sign we could also do the col de predel maybe we will maybe that's what we're about to do yeah who knows now you might think with the ride through the gorge de pierre lease over with that was it for the epic scenery of the day but you would be mistaken because now that we had turned on to this smaller road it would lead us to the gorges de rebonte off the busy road and onto this beautiful little road magical it's what we love about the pyrenees these sorts of places you can see the stream just bubbling through down there i guess yes this small valley road was so charming and quiet surrounded by beautiful green countryside lush green forests and forever hearing the beautiful sounds of the stream of the rebonte river right beside us on the road we've just stopped in the town of marsa i have the old information board about the area and the history this is pyrenee qatar so qatar country the crusades took place there's some very bleak history in this area but the rebonte is this part here you can sort of tell from that picture it's a big gorge give you a little look at the village little stream hi steven enjoying the ride so far it's stunning pretty it is beautiful quiet little road next to the stream very pyrenees very not much happening in this village it's the town hall spring so the roses are in bloom it's quite cute so we have another gorge to ride through soon it'll be lovely possibly been a while since this reno's done much beautiful rose let's see if it smells nice you tell me does it smell nice a little bit this here is the start of the gorges de rebonte our second stunning gorge road to ride through of the day and this one really was the cherry on top of the cake i thought about cutting a lot of this video footage down but i have to be honest with you this was absolutely mega and much like the previous gorge road that we had cycled through out of kyon this one just kept giving each twist and turn on the road just made it feel so much more spectacular there were small tunnels two larger tunnels you could tell that if for some reason you were to go over the edge you would plunge about 70 to 100 meters off the side of the road and yet there was no one else here it was absolutely breathtaking spectacular stunning all those words and more and i can say that we enjoyed this road so much we decided to turn around ride it back the other way and give ourselves a second time of riding through this gorge what do you think of the gorge fantastic i know oh it's beautiful i think the footage speaks for itself but if you ever get the chance to come to this section of the pyrenees do not throw up the opportunity to experience it for yourself you've got 30 go don't look down camera won't let you know but it's probably i don't know 100 meter drop or something something was pretty clear to us as we left the gorge roads behind us and that was that we were really now deeper into the mountains here in this part of the pyrenees and of course being in the mountains can mean only one thing we had some climbing to do first proper climb of the trip not sure it's even a proper climb i mean it's a proper climb whoa it's always nice to feel like you are climbing though we later found out that this climb was the Cote d'Espazelle it's only three kilometers long with an average gradient of 5.1 percent there is a little kicker there of 11.8 percent but the hairpins make it all the worthwhile. Steve up in the distance stopped to take in the view there's the road got a few hairpins and a few more to go i think and climbing out of this valley we were in. As you can see here nothing much at the summit of the Cote d'Espazelle. It's time to fill up the bottles. Laboree mountain we're in the village of finished the climb. This fountain is from 1874 always love how they paint the old laborees and they've turned it into a community library. Happy day everyone came and washed their clothes. Thank you sir. Always good filling up with fresh mountain water we're heading in the direction on the D29 because we hadn't really researched much about this route it came as a surprise to us that we would soon be on yet another climb. This one wasn't too testing the gradients were never too steep but we did keep wondering where are we going? where are we going to top out at? and then finally we reached the summit sign Col de l'Equatimor. As someone says, this is it. and now the road heads downwards into Lavalinet ultimately beautiful. Very green a lot of wildflowers let's roll let's roll. Foix or Tarrascon awaits. Whilst i didn't take footage of the area on this particular day i can tell you that we have enjoyed some amazing bike rides here. One of them included the climb of the Col de Montsagueur where at the summit you can see the old Qatar castle ruins of the Chateau de Montsagueur these ruins actually have quite a grisly history behind them. Where it was in 1244 during the siege of Montsagueur almost 200 Qatar defenders met a very tragic end. From Lavalinet we would take the D10 road to Foix and this also used to be a very favorite road of ours on some of our previous bike rides halfway along this road you will come towards this old michelin signpost prompting you to turn down to Roquefort and if you do so you will see some quite impressive cascades there aptly called Roquefort le Cascades where the waterfalls are 30 meters high and i definitely implore you to take a side trip to see them for yourself. Chateau de Foix above the town of Foix nice to be back. Time to drop into Tarrascon yes another hour hopefully another hour and then this big day is done before too long we had finally made it to Foix. Dominating the skyline here is the majestic Chateau de Foix a fortress which was originally built in the 10th century and it stands as a proud symbol of the town's medieval heritage and we're going up that way i think for about 15 kilometers uphill and then we'll be at Tarrascon and that'll be the day finished yeah it's cool to be back. This is footage from another day but it gives you an idea of what the road between Tarrascon and Foix is like. Once again you can see that we are heading deeper towards those beautiful mountains which are surrounding us in every direction. This was actually the very campsite that Stephen and i stayed at during our crossing of the Pyrenees we've actually put a three-part series up about that crossing so if you haven't watched it yet subscribe to our channel and check out that playlist made it to the campground Le Prelombard. We stayed there before in beautiful Tarrascon. Tarrascon is the Ariège is its full name because it's on the Ariège river. How you feel about today? Great day it's been nice to get here, have a shower. Fantastic day, some beautiful roads a lot of busy roads today and then some familiar roads and familiar surroundings in here so awesome it's all good yay beautiful mountains here as well okay time to get some food when you have access to power at a site you use it. This camp at Tarrascon what do you think honey? How have you liked it here? It's a great little campsite we've been here before really nice amongst the trees. Those birds started chirping at about five in the morning about an hour and 22 minutes before sunrise time to roll out of Tarrascon. Made a little friend throw it a stick and all it does is eats it give you a demonstration. Stand by hey you want the stick? There you go ah let's eat the stick yeah tasty tasty stick. Looking forward to today? Yeah it'll be I can't leave a few clouds around but beautiful blue sky beautiful warmth the sun's just filtering through into this valley now we found ourselves a little friend. What do you think about today? yeah those sticks taste good? It's not as good as a croissant. All right time to roll out just rolling on a little bike path out of Tarrascon from the campground into the center there's this stunning mountain at Tarrascon and you get a really good view of it at the bridge. This is where we're heading. You can see it there the colder port sort of veers off to the left but we'll head into town first. This here is called the Castella Tower and although the name might suggest a link between the Martello Towers which were originally built as coastal defences during the Napoleonic Wars you'll find the Martello Towers all across the British and Irish coastline. This one here actually dates back to an earlier era. It was originally constructed as a watch tower and refuge during times of conflict serving to protect local communities against invaders this one dates back to the 18th century. Its enduring stone walls stand proudly above the village of Tarrascon and is a testament to the strategic importance of this region and the history of its past. So I've made it up to the lookout tower above Tarrascon and if you look down at the bridge and see a person with two bikes that's Stephen. I'll zoom in so you can see him Hello. He's not looking. Yeah what a glorious view of Tarrascon and you can see there is the Ariège River and I believe just down here is the Victorceuse River. That's the Victorceuse Valley. If you go over there you can go up Port d'Aleurs, Col d'Agnès, descend down towards Saint Geron. Over that way is Col du Port. Direction that way is Foix. But yes what a beautiful place this is up up up up to the tower. One thing's for sure you never sneak up on someone wearing bike shoes. Just coming back down. Isn't that beautiful? Now our original plans for this day was to head back home via the climb of the Col du Port. It's a climb that we were both very familiar with and we have each climbed it several times even in winter and of course during our crossing of the Pyrenees but neither of us were really that keen to start the day with a big col, so instead we made the decision that we would head back home via Foix. Au revoir Foix. A bientôt It's a very gentle climb on the road leading out of Foix. You're surrounded by beautiful lush forest and down below you can even hear the rush of the Ariège River. This road would take us to the small village of Vernajule where we would then take a left turn to head home via Saint Geron. Here we are at the Vernajule Viaduct just about four kilometers from Foix centre and it is at the beginning of the Foix to Saint Geron voie verte. This greenway which is part of a network across the entire Ariège department created to promote eco-friendly travel and cycle tourism. We would be on this greenway for the next 40 kilometers all the way to our next stop of Saint Geron. Roadside reporting with Bella. How are you loving the voie verte? Yeah it's nice and shady, very green. Just a slight rise around two percent from Foix since we left the road crossing. I've seen a couple of people on it hiking, a couple of bike riders. Yeah very very bucolic. Well we've been on this a couple of few times. It's always a nice experience as we come up i think to one of the old stations converted into a house. Altitude 494 meters. Beautiful daisies in the grass, the old toilets and onwards. The greenway takes in two climbs but they're at very gentle gradients because this is an old disused railway line and of course trains can't go up very steep hills. What i will say though is each climb lasts almost about 10 kilometers at a gradient of between one and two percent which certainly is not taxing like a big mountain climb but after a few kilometers you certainly know that you're going uphill. The good news is though what goes up does go down and so you do have a long gentle downhill at the end of both of those climbs. The other thing you get to look forward to when you take in this amazing greenway is this huge rail tunnel. As you approach the tunnel sensor lights will come on to light your way but be careful because there are a few lights out in the middle of the tunnel and it's actually quite disconcerting when you get to those dark spots. You've sort of just got to trust that you can keep going straight ahead but it can also be a little bit disorienting so i would definitely recommend if you have access to bike lights to turn them on and light up your path. Now as Australians something that really strikes us when we are cycling through the Pyrenees is just how vibrant and green the surrounding landscape is. Very green. You can really notice it here it's almost like the trees are illuminated they are so vibrant and lush and green and it is a real pleasure to roll through the kilometers with scenery like this either side of you. It's also pretty easy going in terms of navigation the signage for the greenway is pretty consistent and the greenway ends just on the outskirts of the town of Saint Geron. At the end of the greenway we arrived in the small town of Saint Geron to find nothing was really open in terms of getting some food. We actually ended up going out of town to a supermarket located near the beautiful historic village of Saint Lysier where we got some fuel for lunch and then worked out our route to our eventual end point which was the train at Saint Gordon. The farmer is cutting the grass and the hay and all above i'm not sure if it's going to come out or not massive birds of prey. Do you think they're vultures? I think some of them are definitely like these ones above us I don't know what they look like on video but yeah they're everywhere. I'm not sure that you can even see what i'm pointing at but if you can they're huge birds. On the voie verte towards Saint Gordon where we hope to meet a train that will take us close to home today's the last day of our trip. The route between Saint Geron and Saint Gordon was actually fairly straightforward and there are greenways which will take you the entire way what i will say is this entire route was pretty flat. The train platform shuffle there is a lift fella and of course it's not an operation my bike's too heavy for me to take on my own steve's taking my panniers and i'll meet him down there navigating the french train stations thank you for taking my panniers where are they? Down there. I'll go get the panniers and so it was a trip which started on a train ended on a train as well and our epic four-day mini bike adventure drew to a close. Four days 420 kilometers ridden and some pretty diverse landscapes with a lot of rich history surrounding us as well we made it back to our home in the Pyrenees mountains and i tell you what it really has energized us both to do a lot more of these mini bike adventures now if you like what you have seen today you can do a few things to help us out you can like this video leave us a comment and tell me what you loved about it the most and most of all subscribe to our channel because i have a lot of grand plans to take more of these adventures and share them with you as well