Barbotan is a thermal spa town full of ‘old’ people. Last year we stayed in another spa town in France, Bourbonne-les-Bains. That town also was full of ‘old’ people. I discovered another commonality today, they have meagre breakfasts designed for ‘old’ people, not cyclists.

Unfortunately not one healthy option available only high sugar cereals and bread and jams. I did ask for ‘fromage’ but got a big shake of the head!! At least the company was good!

We were first to depart the town riding down the main pedestrian strip. I was quite taken with this fruit and vegetable shop, particularly the colours and presentation.

Riding out of town we rode past Lac d’Ulby where there were lots of people camping. We did not stop as the temperature gauge was showing only 9 degrees Celsius. Whilst we had plenty of clothes on our top half, our legs were bare and we were keen to keep them rolling over, albeit slowly as today was short in km and we could not arrive too early!

From the Lac we rode through undulating fields and vineyards. Grapes and maize were the main products.

Villages past through included Cuxtan (9.0 km) and Ayzieu (15.8 km). The next two photos show the views in this area.

One thing we always notice in the sleepy hamlets and villages are just how quiet they are. It is like the people have all been spirited away. They are often ghostly quiet. If the silence is broken, it is generally in one of two ways. The tolling of the local church bell ( and every town has an ancient church) or it is the local dogs we upset.

When the day is short ( km wise) and you can’t arrive at your destination too early you cruise on your bike. You also look for places to stop, take photographs, have a coffee. However today towns with coffee were light on.

The route continued to be undulating with a couple of shorter climbs having 14 percent pinches. That is when you would like to dump the extra kg hanging off your handlebars!

By about the 25 km mark I had dumped my long sleeve jacket and had arm warmers on! It was a balmy 14 degrees!! Ha ha. But the sun was nice.

At the 25 km point we entered Ste Christie D’Armagnac, a small hamlet. The instructions said to “BL, road climbs through arch and then descends steeply (Caution rough lane).

However, the route was totally blocked with fencing closing the road. What to do? That is the advantage of having a Garmin satellite showing local roads. We re-routed and within a few km rejoined the original route.

We planned to stop at Aignan (38.6 km) hoping to find some sustenance. It did not disappoint. Aignan is another bastide town with the all familiar squares. I popped into the small supermarket and found some nice local diced cheese to nibble on. We sat in the sun!

Leaving Aignan we noted the sunny blue skies had become ominously dark in spots, and rain was threatening. The wind had picked up as well.

The rest of the route was as it had been so far, undulating up and down with occasional shorter pinches.

On the outskirts of Marciac is this lake.

We arrived in Marciac well ahead of the Bike Adventures van. We knew we would and had planned to kick our heels up somewhere! After a visit to the boulangerie, we sat in the square enjoying the sun ( that dark cloud having moved on).

After showering and laundering we went wandering visiting the historical buildings.

We then wandered down to the second spire that dominates the local skyline. St Augustine was an ancient convent.

Enter the arch shown on the left and this is what we found!

So another day done and dusted! Tomorrow gets a bit more serious climbing wise as we continue through the foothills of the Pyrenees to Lannemezan.

An 8 am breakfast hosted by an irrepressible Frenchman who had  quickly figured my name out and kept calling me “Madame Sharron”. He was keen to talk to an Aussie as his daughter is studying economics at the University of Melbourne.

As we were leaving  I had great fun trying to get him to pronounce “ooroo”.

Wet weather gear was the order of the morning with light drizzle. Leaving Villandraut at about 9 am with the ultimate destination being the spa town of Barbotan-les-Thermes.

We rode through Prechac (7.1 km) and just before Les Gilets (11.9 km) we noted Chateau Cazeneuve on the left.

To try and string the day out we planned to stop for coffee at the very first village that had something open. We had been on some gently undulating roads through woods arriving in Bernos-Beaulac (16.6 km), Cudos (21.1 km) and then Lerm et Musset (31.4 km).

We noted the Bike Adventures van with Mike aboard outside a small tabac. 2 cups of coffee later we were back on the road in continuing drizzle.

At Goulade (33.8 km) there is an interesting old church. It looks bigger front on as it has an impressive facade.

After Ciscos (40.1 km) we were riding through miles and miles of Gascon forests for some 15 km. During that time it stopped raining!! Hooray!!

We found Mike on the side of the road in Saint Gor and whilst chatting had some snacks and told him we would likely stop at either St Justin (76.3 km) or La Bastide D’Armagnac (80.3 km). I was keener on the latter, based purely on name alone!!

St Justin was a quaint village but asleep. No one was to be seen! The few shops that existed were closed ( very common in France this time of day).

La Bastide D’Armagnac was only 4 more km up the road. Wow, what an impressive old bastide town from the 1100-1200’s.

We had a very tasty lunch at a crepe cafe. Raw egg, cheese, ham, mushrooms on the lightest crepe I have ever tasted.

The shop next door sold a wide range of Armagnac. If it had been open I may have been tempted to have a taste!

Just as we were finishing up the tandem girls rocked up with Jonno. He was hungry, but the girls don’t eat whilst riding. We followed them up the road to the Notre Dame Des Cyclistes.

I was really looking forward to this visit. Unfortunately it is closed on Mondays so we walked around the outside.

It was only another 14 km to our accomodation in the spa town so off we went in search of a warm shower.

Barbotan-les-Thermes is a curious village, with a very large spa facility. It seems to attract old people ( and I mean people significantly older than me!) to their so called therapeutic waters allegedly capable of curing everything!

I watched a man limp out! I thought, well he is not cured! But then maybe he could not walk at all when he went in.

So now we kill some time waiting for dinner! Looking forward to some tucker but we are not due to be seated until 730 pm!!

Today was a 97 km ride, at touring pace. It was very pleasant as we work our way south towards Spain, and hopefully, no more rain!