Waking up in Castets et Castillon, we quickly find our route for the next several days: the Canal du Garonne. This is the westernmost point of the Canal des Deux Mers, which stretches from here where the River Garonne is reliably navigable, along the Canal du Garonne to Toulouse and then via the Canal du Midi to Agde, Sète, and the Mediterranean, some 450 km away. We ride along what has to be the most pristine bike path either of us have experienced, with miles of riding along tree-lined canals and through quiet French villages. After an overnight in Damazan, we continue on this gem of a trail, through fruit-growing regions and of course, more vineyards, to the Pont-canal d’Agen, a 1768 foot long aqueduct and a spectacular feat of engineering, one of many on this route. Then through the city of Agen, and on to the village of Valence d’Agen, where we take a well-deserved rest day in the rain, and meet the lovely owner of an outstanding restaurant who shares her story. An absolutely fabulous stretch of bicycle touring!
Music:
Accordion and Glockenspiel Comedy – JK Productions
Pond Five
081716572-accordion-and-glockenspiel-com
a href=”https://www.pond5.com/royalty-free-music/item/81716572-accordion-and-glockenspiel-comedy-short-version”Stock Music/a provided by JK_Production, from a href=“https://www.pond5.com/”Pond5/a
Like Any Other Day – Kikoru
Epidemic Sound
Inconvenient Truth – Kikoru
Epidemic Sound
Sona – Valente
Epidemic Sound
Rainy Birthday – Aluvio
Epidemic Sound
Say It Again – Chris Shards
Epidemic Sound
Les Champs Elysées – Trabant 33
Epidemic Sound
Parc De Parade – Trabant 33
Epidemic Sound
27 Comments
This Chapter just has that WOW feel to it. I wouldnt ride fast thru those trails either. Just spectacular!
Taking the time to smell the roses is a perfect travel pace. What a beautiful and scenic trail. Rest days looked well deserved and the food looked so good. Take care, Al
The beginning scenery made goosebumps on my arms. The pace was perfect and I would have done the same.Beautiful video once again. Thanks.
Oh my… Oh my… That first part along the canal just made my heart ache. The beauty of the light through Plane trees was so beautiful. Thanks for another great episode!
Dreamy segment – beautiful trail – wonderful people.
Another outstanding series and video. Good presentation Roland and Julianne.
A very good moment with you, merci. ❤
Brilliant amazing vlog
I swear all cycling should be like this!!
Your videos are amongst the best that I have seen. Can you please share the details of the last town and the restaurant with the hotel’s details. I would love to go there. Also considering that there are protests in France right now, I’ll wait until next year. I wonder if August next year would be a good time to visit.
Thank you for such amazing videos. Your choice of music, videography and storytelling are absolutely top notch.
Wonderful! Your trip so far is what dreams are made of. That ride on the canal was exquisite. You are very lucky to be able to enjoy and take in so much of the French culture. Thanks for sharing as usual and happy trails.
Bonjour Roland et Julianna,
Randomly, for news in English in hotels and R’BnBs without Sat TV, there’s our european channel, ARTE TV in French and in German and also with subtitles in several european languages, including English (our Irish friends are in the EU, if Brits aren’t anymore).
@13:43 white building with that industrial architecture looks very much like a flour mill.
@16:40, the “factory” could be a silo, the chute would have been used to load grain, mostly wheat, in canal boats down to Sète and then exported across the Mediterranean Sea.
Today, it is transported by road, rail to Marseille.
Cindy is very diplomatic and chooses her words carefully, about the difficulty to adapt for, used to work hard + long shifts, Parisians, not always welcomed by locals, to a different quieter, slower, lifestyle.
The plane trees are dying, for a reason french aren’t likely to discuss with two American tourists.
It is believed that the bug which kills the plane trees could have crossed the Atlantic during WW2 in US wooden ammunition boxes and subsequently accidentally released (Please note, the conditional tense and careful wording).
AFAIK, French never bothered to clarify this assumption, if it is ever possible, finger pointing is a waste of time, anyway, and solves nothing.
Instead, they concentrated their energy in finding a way to eliminate that bug, last time I checked, so far, unsuccessfully.
Another lovely episode of your journey.
Imagine how many times you've turned those pedals so a little tiredness is a given.
For me although I dislike steep hills I do find that paths alongside canals or rail trails are very taxing. No let, up, if you want to make progress then you have to keep pedalling.
The sad fact is that in much of rural France boulangeries and bars have closed due to lack of trade. Bread is cheaper in the supermarket so much of the trade has been lost and drink driving laws have had an affect .
I've always got on well with people from Paris but many of our French friends say they are arrogant and impatient. I guess it's the difference between the bustle of a city and a rural town.
Thanks once again for taking the time to film and edit this.
Oh, I'm going to love this area! I'd already deliberately planned my own route to go over Pont-canal d’Agen. But what a gem Valence d’Agen is!
What a beautiful trail. And thanks for taking the time to share the history. Such a marvelous trip.
Maybe consider a final episode covering shipping your bikes, overall trail conditions. How the new bike worked out. Time of year that you were riding. Cost staying in rooms etc.
Thanks again for sharing
As always a very nice video!
Rainy day in Pennsylvania, Binge watching your videos, headed to the Katy trail next month thanks for putting these videos up !
We are planning this ride in late August, 2023.
R&J Cycling Ambassadors! Another spectacular video Roland, thank you.
Awesome video again!
Bonjour
Beautiful people in this beautiful south
west. Watching your videos, I felt a motivation. Next week, I'm going with three friends, to ride of Loire! We are cycling due to health problems and it needed a challenge and a few days of vacation to do it!
Merci, happy trails !!
Lovely! I really enjoyed this one
You are living the life
Hello again, It has been awhile since I last watched your France adventures. Once again I love your story telling and the beautiful scenery you captured in your video. I feel like I need to get a map to get the full picture of where you went. I actually thought about the two of you when I was in France this summer for a couple of weeks. Look forward to finishing the series.
Carmen from Fargo
Everything is fine, what a lovely name for a restaurant. When I lived in Bourges, France the couple that owned the restaurant around the corner from my apartment "adopted" me and took it upon themselves to improve my French. The countryside is the heart of France.
Inspiring! Can you tell who is the manufacturer of Julianna’s helmet surround ?