The last lap! Today was always going to be a tough day - around 70 kilometres in blazing sunshine - around 30 degrees. We decided to stick to the plan of taking parallel D roads wherever possible but cut back to the canal at Le Somail because it looked very pretty.
Emma suffered more than me on the detours as my bike was much faster on the road and her handlebars were too low for comfort but we had both had enough of tree roots and potholes.
Le Somail was a beautiful spot with some interesting little bars and restaurants. As it was already baking hot we had icecream - rosepetal for me and fig and honey for Emma.
Then across country through fields of poppies and tiny villages. We had bought ham and cheese for lunch on leaving Homps but by midday it was unappetisingly warm and limp so we stopped for lunch in Capestang.
After that the road ran alongside the canal for much of the way but eventually we cut away across country down a long fast hill to Nissan les Enserune. We enjoyed the hill so much that we entirely missed our turning and ended up having to retrace our steps uphill. Not too far though.
We rejoined the canal not far from the Tunnel de Malpas and coasted along to Colombiers where once again we cut across country to Beziers. By this time, with 60 odd km behind us and a temperature of over 30 degrees we were more interested in arriving than in scenery so we took another crosscountry shortcut to the bottom edge of Beziers which must be the least bike-friendly town in France.
Of all the towns we have visited Beziers must be the least attractive. It has a seedy, run down feel and is the only place so far where we felt at all uneasy out in the streets at night. The hotel was rubbish and no lift!
BUT we were within 10km of the sea.
Total to date 858 km
