We had a late start today (after 9am) after a big breakfast in the hotel.

There was a large organised group of cyclists at the hotel who were busy assembling their bikes after breakfast – with full support crew. Also saw many other cyclists leaving from here and a few walkers – it seems this is a popular starting point for Compestela routes.

As usual Kris and I were traveling in the opposite direction to everyone else.

After a short climb we reached the summit (1058m). It was sunny up to the summit but as soon as we were on the other side of the mountain we were in cloud. After the summit we had a very long steep downhill run with many switchbacks (around 16km). I was glad we were not coming in the other direction. We passed a few cycling groups and a few walkers. It was very pretty, wooded and with ferns – almost like NZ. The villages at the end of the run look alpine again – the farming here is cows and sheep – we also saw some goats high on the cliff and some miniature horses.

We knew we had crossed the French border when we came to a large duty free shopping center – full of shops selling cheap booze and cigarettes. Lots of traffic coming into it from the French side.

We passed through the town of St Jean Pied-de-Port which was very pretty and bustling busy.

From there the we followed a river into the rolling foothills to Salies de Beam – also a very attractive town. The weather was overcast for most of the day and it was great having a cooler ride in the afternoon. Our journey was 90km to the town, but then we spent some time riding around looking for accommodation. There is even a large casino hotel here. After finding a few of the smaller hotels full, we were directed to a larger hotel on a golf course (there is some type of convention going on in town). It has a lovely setting – but more than we have paid in a while. Jenny was tired so Kris went out to buy food again. All together we did 101km.