THE WORLD IS YOURS TO EXPLORE

In 1999 , after travelling and working in various countries for the previous 20 years , my wife Sue and I decided to come back to Europe . Our parents were getting near the end of their life journeys and we wanted to be near to help them. However we had no desire to live in Britain and as we spoke a little French we decided to go and live in France. We’d been told that the department of Ariège in the south had a lot of alternative things going on so we decided to head there - by bicycle.
By bicycle ? ? Really ?? I’ve done a lot of travelling but never by bicycle. When we worked in the Japanese countryside we sometimes travelled the two kilometres to work by bike but that was it. I was very unsure but Sue really wanted to travel to Saint Girons, Ariège by bike. We were in Sherborne , 1400 kilometres away. "No way", I said . "Way", she said ( Trump must have heard our conversation ). "But what about going up all those hills with all our camping gear, food etc.?? That’ll be really hard!"
"Yeah, but going down the other side will be great!" Said Sue, the eternal optimist.
So off we set, laden with paniers ….. I’d  never in my life done a long bike journey so I had a lot of trepidation. We were in no hurry though so we only did about 30 to 50 kilometres a day. And, sure enough the hills were hard, but I learnt not to look up but to concentrate on the road a few metres ahead and think about all the interesting things that I’d done in my travelling life with my wonderful partner, and sure enough the top finally came. And yeah, going down the other side was magic! And we never had to dismount!
At the end of each day we’d find a camping spot, either wild or a camp site that had not opened yet as it was still just springtime. We’d go into the nearest boulangerie for a couple of well earned cakes. We’d go in carrying our helmets etc. and every time we felt absolute respect from the other side of the counter. The fact that cycling is one of France’s national sports was very evident.
The incredible thing about cycling in France is the wonderful network of minor roads marked in white on the map. We stayed on them all the way and it felt like we were on a cycle path. A car or a tractor would pass maybe every 20 minutes or so and the rest of the time we were in peace to enjoy nature’s beauty, France really is a paradise for cyclists.
After a few weeks we arrived and we moved around, went to festivals and met so many interesting people that we knew that this is where we belonged. A few years later we found ourselves living in Montbrun Bocage. A village with so many fascinating, interesting and outrageous people (including Joe the bike). A point of light in a crazy world.
I still use my bike although not very often, mostly when I go with Joe’s cycling group on Tuesday mornings but I still have wonderful memories of the long journey coming down here .