Had cafe au lait plus a baguette and a croissant with butter and jam. Seemingly unhealthy but you really start to like this.
According to the plan we were going to take a ride north to check out the beaches and flatter stretch of coastline. But first we walked to the train station to check out the schedule for trains back into Spain. Also I had remembered that sometimes trains and bikes don't mix well in France. You often have to put the bike in this weird bag before some trains will accept the bike. The woman at the station informed us we could just load the bikes right on and keep them in the larger section between the train cars.
Jesus, April was so thrilled that I got a hug! Seemed like it was her happiest single moment of the trip. Wonder how it's going to go when we get into the Pyrenees?
There was a market in town and sure enough there was our favorite vendor: the rotisserie chicken truck; it looked so good. The best part is they have the potatoes sitting under the rotating chickens and they absorb all the fat and juices. Plus they were roasting guinea hens, and sausage, and some pork things. So the potatoes were getting all those mixed juices and fat. Phenomenal!!!
But the problem is it was too early to eat, we had just eaten breakfast and had a ride scheduled. Crestfallen, is an appropriate word for that moment.
So we went back to the hotel, got dressed, got the bikes and away we went. Had to ride past the market on the way out. Like salt in the wound. We had done some research and found a bike lane plus hiking paths to make our way north. Found the route easily enough, it got a little rough at times. But we made it over the hills down to the flats.
We came upon the petit settlement of Le Rocou. Supposedly it has declared itself independent from France, and considers itself catalan. Really just a tiny neighborhood, but a good example of the strong Catalan roots in this area.
We continued north, came upon the large boardwalk, it went on for a few miles, beautiful houses along this stretch, some dating from the late 1800s. But the wind was blowing like crazy off the shore. It was sunny but too cold for the beach because of the wind. So we decided to turn around.
I immediately starting calculating the time, the route, and the rotisserie chicken. If we hurried we just might make it back in time. I didn't want to push it, or get too excited, but the door was open just a crack.
It was still kind of early for lunch. We checked out a few restaurants on the way back but nothing looked outstanding. We didn't know if the market would still be going, or if there would be any chickens left, still we decided to go for it.
But it wasn't to be that easy...
We kind of got lost pushing our bikes up a hill heading back. On the journey out there was a fork in the dirt road/path and we went right and had to carry our bikes down a steep path. So we figured we'd try the other fork on the way back. Bad idea. We pass some guys who tell us we can't make it back this way, there are only train tracks. But hey we know better, right? We continue on, the track gets smaller and steeper and tighter. At one point going up the hill I had to push the bike on front of me cause the trail wasn't wide enough for me and the bike. Pickers again scratching us. And we have to push over this huge bees nest in a hole in the ground. Luckily no stings. I'm not making this shit up. April is like a moth to the flame for stuff like this.
And I'm seeing my chicken lunch evaporate in front of me.
Finally we hit the top of the hill, and voila, not only is there a lookout area with some signage (and another route up to it, so we were on some rogue trail) but there's the path down we were looking for. Down we go with rotisserie chicken on our minds. We pound the uphill back to town, then speed down to the market. Yikes it's closing. We rush over on the road behind the chicken truck, jump off the bikes, I dig out my wallet, April watches the bikes, and I run into the market. I see the woman cleaning the rotisserie, but there are two chickens left in the glass case!!!! YES! Maybe this is my happiest moment of the trip. Haha. And there are potatoes! Ooh-la-la. She bags everything up for us, gives me some napkins too. April runs over to find the bread stand we had seen earlier, but that was in fact packed up. Oh well we're eating too much bread anyway.
We head to the seashore, find a bench by the beach, pick up a coke and a fanta, which will cut the grease, and dig in. Sooo freakin good! There's a ton of oil, fat, and juice at the bottom of the potato container and we're dunking the chicken and the potatoes in this fat. Licking our fingers. Perfect.
We ride back to the hotel, shower, and now you're supposed to nap, right? But it had finally gotten warmer, our sunniest day of the trip, so we head out for a beer, some gelato, and some desserts and stuff. We sit in the cafe chairs by the beach. Great people watching. There's a slight cool sea breeze to balance the hot sun. Perfect weather. Finally we head back to the hotel for the nap.
Here's a picture of April chillin away the afternoon. Now you make ask, why no pictures in the blog? It's because we can't download our pictures from the camera to the stupid iPad. So I had to take this picture with the iPad, which is the worlds largest camera.
After our break we head out for dinner. I had done some research on restaurants and picked my top two. At 7:00, we head over to the best one and it's closed. Or maybe it just seems closed. There's a window open and there's a pot of stew or something cooking on the stove top. It smells great, maybe a lamb stew? I try to convince April to wait, but she's having none of it. Some early food revolt thoughts are brewing in her head. We go to my next choice and it seems too expensive. Finally April declares she only wants a salad for dinner. Huh? I've seen this before. When we were in Italy with Dan and Jayne, Danny did this food revolt thing. He in fact said he was quitting eating altogether. It seems Jayne and I had a little more passion for all things food, than old Mr. Peanut butter and banana sandwich. haha.
So now April seems to have hit her breaking point. She said we should call this trip a culinary tour not a bike tour. Not to worry, I'll get her into the Pyrenees and those hills will get her back in the food saddle!
But sure enough we went to a simple little tourist restaurant and April got her salad, which she didn't really like, and I had some mussels and frites, which I really liked. Somehow that seemed fitting to me.
Off to bed, but kind of hungry.
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