AUTUMN IN THE PYRENEES: Toulouse to Mazeres

Today was very windy, probably 20 to 30 miles per hour.  Le Mistral it was not only because it's the wrong time of the year.  But we didn't mind too much because it was so bloody hot, 90 degrees in the shade.  This is 10 to 20 degrees over the expected temperature this time of the year.

We were escorted out of town by two local cyclists, riding on tree shaded bike paths along the canal; quite nice and somewhat protected from the wind. 

We stopped to learn about the Lock of Montgiscard. I don't remember the century in which this was built but do remember that Thomas Jefferson went through it.

We went thought very small towns today and there was no possibility for lunch on a Sunday. So Gilbert and his wife made a picnic lunch for us of cantaloupe, tabbouleh, smoked salmon, pork, bread, cheese and grapes.

Right: eating lunch. 
Below: preparing lunch. 

The rest of the afternoon continued hot and windy but the riding was nice.  We rode through farms, mostly sunflowers, spent and wilted with their black faces pointing to the soil.  And we rode through quaint, quiet villages; no one to be seen. The roads twisted and turned and rose and sunk; the road surface was smooth.  But we were happy to get to our lodging, even if it is not in a town and not air-conditioned.