18. Bike Puivert, Rivel, Ste-Columbe-sur-l’Hers Loop, super DINNER!

Today the weather cooperated for a fantastic morning ride. No rain, 53 degrees to start, finished with 63 degrees, low wind the whole way. I drove up to Puivert to ride a loop I’d planned out, seeing new roads and towns. As usual, the plan fell apart when I went exploring on off-the-map roads, which (thankfully) made the ride spectacular.

There was a tiny road just out of Puivert with an arrow pointing to “Rivel”…so I took it just to see what was out there. It’s a sleepy little village, like so many others, but not crumbling or unloved. On the outside edge of the village, there was another ancient wash house, down on the river, so i got a couple of photos. You can just imagine local ladies many years ago, in the wash house, using the long stone tubs to scrub their laundry as the flow of river water was diverted into the tubs. No one’s doing that now, but I love running into these old pieces of history, at least 100+ years old.

FWIW, the upside-down “Rivel” sign on the bike pic is not from random vandalism! It’s upside down as part of a wide-spread protest by French workers some time ago, where they demonstrated their dissatisfaction at some government policy by putting many or all of the town signs in this area upside-down. Most have been returned to read correctly, but some remain upside-down like this. Oh, and the diagonal red line across“Rivel”, merely indicates you’re leaving the town, and no longer have to follow the town speed limit (usually 30 kilometers per hour). 

Riding out of Rivel, the road was magically perfect, quiet, smooth, and pastorally scenic. I passed working farms, and preserved forest, with small herds of cattle, many with young calves. Also, as usual, I found ancient castle ruins off in the distance! Some cows had cow bells around their necks to keep track of them, I guess. Funny enough, there was very little in the way of fencing, just a single electric wire running along the roadside. Who knew it would be so easy to keep them off the roads?  

I eventually rode into the most surprising town of the loop, “la Bastide-sur-l’Hers”. It’s simply beautiful, with plane trees lining a prepared path along the riverside through town, stone bridges across the water, a carefully manicured central park with the expected monument honoring the town’s many WWI dead…just a real surprise jewel of a town! Another surprise: I found the town’s hidden entrance to the Voie Verte, the converted rail trail we’ve ridden in other parts of this region. Sweet! I’ll never understand why this resource is kept hidden away in some towns. 

Made some fast time on the Voie Verte. it’s slope is very limited because the surface was previously used by trains, which don’t like steep climbs! Friendly terrain for us bike riders! I navigated my way to the highway leading to Saint-Colombe-sur-l’Hers. That road is the epitome of French bike riding for me: Plane trees lining the roadside on both sides, shady, perfect pavement, no cars, encroyable!

 I hammered down to Rivel and on to Puivert to complete the loop. Not maximum mileage today, but definitely maximum beauty and fun. Packed the car and drove back to Quillan, where Lynn and I ate light lunch and plan to see Earl and Paulita tonight for dinner. Tomorrow’s our last day here, probably have to do chores around the rental house and pack our stuff. What a great 3+ weeks we’ve had! 

Hidden path to the Voie Verte, next to a beautiful cemetery: this pic is for Lynn!

Lovely surprise home along the Voie Verte

So happy to find this hidden perfect gem of a road

Stop to be sure I'm headed to the right place! 

I used this photo of the map while on my bike, worked great. 

PS: We had "un ecroyable bon repas" with Paulita and Earl at our new favorite restaurant in Quillan, La Galerie. We celebrated the end of our "residence' in Quillan, and our time spent together with these beautiful relatives. Hoping to sneak some time together again before we head to Barcelona in two days...it's hard to say goodbye when we don't know when we'll be able to get together again. Perfect evening with a couple we love. Thanks! 

Beautiful hosts of our time in  Quillan. Notice Earl's "Baked Alaska" dessert, which they never set on fire...our only disappointment of the entire vacation! 

When we dessert, we do chocolate!