We headed straight for Narbonne this morning with the primary aim of getting my bike fixed. We arrived just after ten and got the locations of three bike shops from the tourist info people. The first and biggest shop couldn’t help with repairs but sold us a new wire. The other two shops were closed (how do people here stay in business??). So Kris decided he would fix it himself – however we needed a small Phillips screwdriver for that – more riding about the the outskirts of the city to find a suitable hardware store that could sell us one. All set Kris did the repair in front of a supermarket (the world is our workshop). He was brilliant – it didn’t take more than half an hour and I have my gears back.

All set to go we did a little sight seeing around Narbonne – the Cathedral and Palace beside it are impressive – I especially enjoyed the dog-like gargoyles.

In the afternoon we set off for our journey to Leucate. Once again along the Canal du Midi – again of variable cycling quality but a relief to be away from the traffic. There are fewer tourist boats on this part of the canal. Also very breezy – so for once we weren’t too hot in the afternoon.

Eventually, we realised there was a large lagoon on the other side of the canal cycle path. And then a logoon appeared on the other side of the canal as well. So we felt like we were on a little strip of land between these large bodies of water. With the wind blowing they looked quite dark and smelt all briny as well – a unique place to ride!

The canal ended and the last part of our ride was over very flat coastal land, then up a hill again before coming to Leucate village which overlooks another lagoon.

Altogether we did around 93km – our distance extended by riding around Narbonne looking for shops.

Our accommodation was very smartly furnished – we had the biggest bed we have ever slept in! The next morning we had a memorable breakfast with a choice of 17 jams all made by the proprietorships. Including jam from the orange tree in the courtyard.

Highpoint:

• Picnic supper at the old castle above Leucate – now very much in ruins. The castle used to be on the border with Spain but  when the area became French King Louis XI destroyed the castle he obtained through the land acquisition.  Parts of it date to the 11th century. We had wonderful 360 degree views of the area from the top of the hill – the village, the coast, the lagoon, villages on the other side of the lagoon, windsurfers, wind turbines in the distance

Lowpoint:

• Towards the end of the day Kris’s bikes saddle broke (he can still ride it but not comfortably) and he also broke a spoke.