Short breaks - Summer/Autumn '21

Flip-flopping between Basque country and the med. coast on 4 separate little trips.

Monday 19 July 2021

Today's ride: Basque Epic from St-Jean-Pied-de-Port. Brutal gradients. Beautiful scenery. To Spanish border & back.

Tuesday 20 July 2021

Today's ride: little recovery spin in more rolling terrain... with 20% pinches thrown in because... Basque region! wink

Tuesday 20 July 2021

Dinner at the mobile warung kecil - aka. campsite in St-Jean-Pied-de-Port. Simple but delish as always. Nom, nom! tongue

Wednesday 21 July 2021

I rode here the day before & so beautiful drove Pratiwi up to see. Roads above the clouds always feel very special smile

Wednesday 21 July 2021

Lunch above clearing clouds @ Refuge Orisson. Great steak & Gateau Basque - of course - nom! tongue Fantastic experience!

Wednesday 21 July 2021

Tourist shots from Cambo-les-Bains... pretty little place if you're passing by.

Thursday 22 July 2021

Ride to Atlantic & back via some, erm, interesting 'roads'! It ain't Sydney sad But then again - it ain't Sydney smile wink

Friday 23 July 2021

Lunch at Hotel Bellevue, Cambo-les-Bains. Fantastic food, especially the main & ridiculous value - 3 courses for 16E!

Friday 3 September 2021

Today's ride: Just a short one, but found some crazy hairpins above Verdun here in the Ariege. Niiiiice smile

Friday 3 September 2021

So, there's a galette/crepe van visiting the camping we're at this evening. Would be rude not to wink Nom, nom, nom! tongue

Saturday 4 September 2021

Port de Lers & Col de Port. Former a testy little bugger who's stats don't do it justice. Absolutely beautiful tho.

Saturday 4 September 2021

Late lunch in the snail. Fried rice with veggies & a little leftover meat. Nice glass of rose too. Simple but yum! smile

Sunday 5 September 2021

Love randomly finding finish line graphics from a TdF stage on the road: 2021 stage 14 in Quillan so nice & fresh!

Sunday 5 September 2021

The Med! We're not really beach people, but now & then have to remind ourselves mountains were the correct choice! wink

Monday 6 September 2021

Fabulous Thai @ Sabai Sabai in Argeles Plage. No entree, but ordered 3 mains & devoured the lot! Highly recommended.

Monday 6 September 2021

Argeles Plage beachfront by night. Plenty colourful cafe, bars & restaurants. And plenty busy even after August peak!

Tuesday 7 September 2021

Villefranche-de-Conflent: v.impressive on approach, but hard to photograph inside. So, erm, sorry few tourist pics wink

Tuesday 7 September 2021

Drove up, rode down. Main roads normally not good to ride, but this (N116) is twisty as & drops 1200m in 15km. Ye-ha!

Tuesday 7 September 2021

Messing around on the shores of Lac de Matemale smile

Tuesday 7 September 2021

This evening's accomodations: altitude camp in Font Romeu. Tomorrow's ride should be interesting grin wink

Wednesday 8 September 2021

Campsite sunrise. Gonna be a great day! smile

Wednesday 8 September 2021

Today's ride: Font Romeu -> 34km descent (blast down the N116) -> beautiful climbs back to the start. Love this area!

Thursday 9 September 2021

Estany de Puigcerda. This little pond is quite an unexpected find in the middle of a mountain town. Pretty place.

Thursday 9 September 2021

Cafe Orient, La Seu d'Urgell. 3 course lunch with slabs of meat & bottle of wine for 13E each. Welcome to Spain! smile

Thursday 9 September 2021

V.happy Pratiwi after glass or 2 of lunchtime wine, with great food of course, La Seu d'Urgell. Lucky I'm driving wink

Thursday 9 September 2021

Evening in rather misty Arties (Val d'Arun, Spain). Love this little village, always beautiful even in this weather.

Thursday 9 September 2021

Still great food, but atmosphere in a fave tapas bar much subdued due to health regs. Hope it's back to normal soon!

Wednesday 29 September 2021

Legend Bridge (& others) in Sauveterre-de-Bearn. Originally built in 12th century but destroyed by floods in 18th.

Wednesday 29 September 2021

Dinner at Haize Hegoa, Itxassou. Nice bar with great view - shame it's dark outside. Great burger & steak though! grin

Thursday 30 September 2021

Today's ride: popped over into Spain, as you do wink It's all Basque Country though & such a beautiful region. Love it!

Thursday 30 September 2021

Dinner at Restaurant Bonnet, Itxassou. Amazing food in a lovely traditional dining room. Highly recommended!

Friday 1 October 2021

Very pretty Basque village of Ainhoa, super close to Fr/Es border. I cycled here earlier & returned for closer look.

Saturday 2 October 2021

Ocean sunrise from Hondarribia. OK, OK... so sometimes a visit to the coast can be alright wink

Saturday 2 October 2021

From beach, inland into rolling hills & finale over Jaizkibel coastal road. Latter in particular has amazing views!

Saturday 2 October 2021

Few tapas plates in Hondarribia old town. Octopus, basque sausage, croquettes. Plus beer & sangria of course. Cheers!

Friday 15 October 2021

Dinner at Asily, Quillan. Superb Asian food & someone else 'accidentally' paid which was far too generous - thx! smile

Saturday 16 October 2021

On the road early today - has it's advantages! Through gorges, forests & vineyards in this wonderful light. A Treat!

Saturday 16 October 2021

What more beach? Off season in practically empty Calonge on a lovely sunny evening. Nice when it's not crazy busy! smile

Sunday 17 October 2021

Today's ride: From Spanish coast into hills & back, then coastal road dropping down to the occasional beach. Awesome!

Monday 18 October 2021

More beaches & beautiful little villages today. Gotta say am liking the off season here - quiet & perfect weather smile

Monday 18 October 2021

Just what you want to see on a recovery ride wink Head NE from Llafranc beach (very pretty place) if you fancy it! grin

Tuesday 19 October 2021

Passing few mins on Tossa de Mar beach as restaurant we'd like to try not open yet. Spanish lunch hours: terrible! wink

Wednesday 20 October 2021

Sunrise at Blanes. Bit too cloudy on the horizon TBH, but only here for 2 nights so best I could manage am afraid sad

Wednesday 20 October 2021

Change from the coast, some nice hills around here too. Village of Hostalric a stand out in it's Autumn colours. Wow!

Wednesday 20 October 2021

Lunch @ Pou de la Vila, Tossa de Mar. Glad we resisted temptation to eat on seafront - still beautiful & superb food.

Wednesday 20 October 2021

Sunset at Blanes. Seems like every beach here has a group of small fishing boats for tourists to snap. Works well smile

Wednesday 20 October 2021

Appero time! Well, Spanish style: sangria by the beach. Cheers! smile

Wednesday 20 October 2021

Swanky place we had apperos at fully booked for dinner, so ate at nearby tapas bar. Works for us & more economic too!

Thursday 21 October 2021

Random shot from the road: Panta d'Escales reservoir. Lovely autumn colours along the route today. Very enjoyable.