Caumont-sur-Garonne to Savuveterre De Guyenne 30  miles Running total 329.

Here is todays route https://ridewithgps.com/routes/42298690

Today is the day where it all changes, and we have to leave the canal, which joins the Garonne River and has no cycleway. According to our host, the second half of the day has hills. This is not good news and will be a shock to the system after 300 miles on relatively flat towpath. The good news is that we know it is downhill to the towpath from our accommodation. We do not want another fiasco like last night when we had all the trouble finding it.

Five miles into today’s trip, I get a puncture, followed by two more in quick succession. They say things come in threes. Eventually, I discovered the cause. It was a small slit in the tyre the cycleway gravel managed to get into and cause the punctures. I stick a patch on the inside of the tyre to cover the slit and fit our final good inner tube. I have tried to patch the other three for emergencies, but I have never really had success repairing modern tubes. It is Sunday, so there are no bike shops open, and so we cross our fingers.

The final tube seems to have come with a built-in slow puncture, so it requires pumping up every so often. I hope to be able to buy some more innertubes tomorrow in Sauveterre-de-Guyenne, where we are staying, or it might have to be in Bordeaux, where we should be the following night.

We come across a canalside Sunday Fete with all sorts of activities and the French equivalent of a boot sale. We have already been rejected from two restaurants that were fully booked for Sunday lunch, or maybe it was because we are grubby cyclists, we will never know. At this Fete, there is a snack bar where we get two croque monsieurs, which are one up on a normal UK fast food option.

We take a last photo as we leave the canal after cycling over 300 miles on it. It has almost become a friend and certainly a navigational aid. The first town we reach after leaving the canal, typically at the top of a hill, has major road works in progress and no cycleway diversion signs. We do as the French do and cycle the wrong way up one-way streets, through pedestrian precincts and some road works until we finally exit the town on the cycle route.

Madam was correct this morning. It is hilly, and we slowly panted up most of the hills, and, at one point, we even walked up one particularly long steep hill.

The scenery has changed to typically French farms and countryside with miles of vine yards, with vines being trained on wires and lots of woodland with piles of wood awaiting collection.

The weather forecast predicts it will be unsettled from 4 pm with possible showers, so we headed straight to Savuveterre De Guyenne and located our accommodation. We can’t check in until 5 pm, so we find a bar and pass away an hour or so drinking beer. My compatriot realised this is a one horse town on a Sunday evening and sensibly books a table where we can eat tonight, or that’s what she claims to have done.

At 5 p.m., we arrive at the gate of our accommodation and press the buzzer. A voice asked what we wanted, and on giving our name, she told us she had sent us an email. At this point, I had not noticed the email that gave instructions on how to get into the property. Madam said she would come and see us in the morning, and when we did not respond, she opened the gate remotely and sent her husband to show us in. He gave us the codes for doors and the gate. This is the only place I had to book direct as no agencies had anything available in the area, and this place was clear that they only took cash. I can’t wait to meet her in the morning.

My compatriot did well. Dinner was excellent in a packed French restaurant eating Italian food. The Babel french course is proving to be well worth its money!