My last 33k from Sarlat to Souillac were peaceful and serene. I biked on my own, as the rest of the group were continuing on and I had to be sure to make it in time to catch my train to Paris. Sadly, I said goodbye to everyone at breakfast, and headed out. Most of the route was on a quiet bike path – no traffic, flat, through woods, fields, and even a tunnel. A lovely way to end the week's journey. I arrived in Souillac with plenty of time to spare, so I picked up a sandwich for the train. Given the ridiculous amount of duck I consumed during the week, there was one duck product that had eluded me thus far – duck rillettes – so that was my sandwich of choice, topped with a few cornichons. Lyn met me at the Souillac train station to take off my pedals and saddle and to load the bike onto the train, and then I was off. By coincidence, Margie was in Paris, so we made dinner plans at Restaurant Itinéraires – recommended by Vanessa (thanks!). We were joined by two other friends of hers from San Francisco who were in town as well. The restaurant had a very modestly priced menu, with some creative dishes. Overall, we all preferred our first courses to our mains – I started with a mushroom carpaccio with lemon and clams, and next, a roast monkfish with mushrooms and shallots. Lotte and cabillaud are my two new French fish vocab words for the week – I've also adopted the Aussie term "reckon," as in "how far do you reckon we've gone up this hill?" The evening was great fun, and we ended up drinking quite a bit of wine, which made today a little rough. Luckily, the only thing on the agenda was lunch. Also luckily (and very kindly), Margie let me stay in her hotel, which was a much-welcome step up from the one I had booked. I think I forgot to upgrade from the "basic" Blue Marble hotel, which I meant to do, and although I certainly could have stayed there, after a week of cycling, a comfy hotel was magnificent. We had a very good lunch near L'Opera at Drouant - a perfect roast chicken with frites and a clafoutis and cherry sorbet for dessert. And now, I'm on the Eurostar to London. Check in was a huge clusterfuck, and some kids dropped a large suitcase on me while trying to put it above my seat, but things are improving rapidly. Time for a nap.

Given yesterday’s adventure, I opted for a somewhat shorter route today, which would also leave me a bit of time to explore Sarlat and buy gifts and postcards for the family. A 35k loop from Sarlat seemed minor, until we started reading the route sheet and seeing a piece of our route to the hill town of Domme described as “4k that will feel like 40” and a stretch on the way back as “a ridiculous 2k hill.”

The hill up to Domme was formidable (that one’s for you, Eric), but the “ridiculous” 2k hill lived up to its name. Despite all that, the views of the countryside and the river were gorgeous.

In non-cycling news, although I failed my Harry Potter quiz miserably, I apparently earned a smidgeon of respect by (almost) knowing the set of numbers from LOST. Dinner tonight was great, at Restaurant le Presidal, in an outdoor courtyard on a gorgeous evening. I made sure to get my last few tastes of duck products – a bite or two of some others’ foie gras and duck breast w truffles, and my own escargot stuffed with duck confit. I also had the pave de boeuf with cepes, the local wild mushrooms. In addition to the local bottles of white and red we drank woth dinner, we accompanied our desserts with a Montbazillac – the dessert wine we had tasted at the chateau a few days back. All in all, a great send-off dinner. Everyone else is continuing on to the Cevegnnes, where they are being joined by a father/son team. Dad – bike trip next year? You can even pick the route, although if it’s Tuscany, I’d start training now.

Today I opted for the long route – 57k. The good news is that we got a break from the heat. The other (not particularly bad) news is that the moment we set out from Les Eyzies it began to rain. And then pour. The 25k before lunch were comprised of stunning scenery and seriously torrential, absolutely laughable rain. Rain so hard that I was wishing for windshield wipers on my glasses. It was great, and felt delightful after so much heat. Since it was raining we didn’t stop in “Parc Prehistoric,” (we are in cro-magnon territory) but we did see a dinosaur on the way.

As we arrived in Montignac, the rain stopped, leaving us to do the hilly portion of our route in sunshine. Our route sheet made it sound like the last 15k were going to be some sort of hill torture, but fueled by a perfectly ripe peach and a few French pringles (my secret hill snack, only in foreign countries), they weren’t too dreadful.

After a day of rain and sweat, I was filthy – wait till you see the picture I took of the laundry water. Blech.

In Sarlat, our home for tonight and tomorrow, we were wandering around the old town looking for a dinner spot when, on a goof, I whipped out my Blackberry and googled “Michelin star restaurant Sarlat.” Lo and behold, up came Le Grand Blue. Full recap on that (as best as I can) later – too exhausted and sore now, and have to rest up for tomorrow! I

Today was our girls-only ride from Lalinde to Les Eyzies. We set out early as we knew we had a sizeable hill in store before lunch. And we did. But, we made it intact, and the boys didn’t even catch up with us!

The scenery has slowly shifted from vineyards to farmland, although much of it is nestled into wooded areas. Two crops that we’ve seen most often since the grapes have lightened up are corn and sunflowers, and even some kiwi.

After our hot, hilly morning the afternoon wasn’t bad with the one exception of a long, flat stretch with no shade cover from the 93 degree heat. We actually picked up the pace to get it over with more quickly. But during that stretch, and at all other more challenging points in the day, I kept my mind focused on one thing — the pool waiting for us at the end of the ride. Once we made it, it was glorious, even more so because we had earned it.

Dinner was a more casual affair tonight, and I had my mind set on a salad after some of the heavier meals of the past few days. Scanning the menu, I laughed out loud when I saw the salad Perigord – greens topped with nearly every regional duck product available: foie gras, pate, gizzards, smoked duck breast, and walnuts (also common locally).
Had to get it. It paired nicely with a bottle of rose.

For those of you who are wondering, I can’t post pics as I go due to limited technology. This is also why I haven’t been approving comments (it’s nothing personal).

Another scorcher – at one point we passed a thermometer that read 37 Celsius, which was later converted for me to over 98. No wonder the hills seemed so brutal!! So brutal in fact, that after another fantastic picnic (todays fave component was a rabbit terrine) under the shade of a tree next to the Chateau Monbazillac, several of us took a glorious nap. After 25k of biking, some of which was climbling, we needed it. The rest of the day was somewhat flat, but 30k in that heat was rough. Pretty, but rough.

Tomorrow, Susan and I are having “ladies day” which consists of riding at a leisurely pace, lunch at a restaurant along the way, and lounging at the pool once we arrive. The boys will be climbing extra hills in the heat to prove their manliness or some such. We, on the other hand, have nothing to prove.

Every single Blue Marble bike trip I’ve been on has been scorchingly hot, and this one is no exception. This heat makes ordinary hills seen tougher, but it helps you earn that post-ride beer.

I’m wiped from today’s ride, so here are the highlights: amazing lunch picnic by the river of market goodies and yesterday’s wine purchase, fantastic dip in La Lac de la Cadie, fields full of sunflowers, an ice cold bottle of water at a tiny town on top of a hill, and post-dinner stroll along the river in Ste Foy la Grande, still light at 10pm.

I’ve also been informed by my one of my adopted Aussie brothers that I’d best study up, as the Harry Potter quiz questions start tomorrow. In addition, I proved myself to be a city girl through and through – I couldn’t identify young corn plants as such (my Iowan trip leader thought I was mocking him; I wasn’t) and I thought the sounds I heard along the river were coming from ducks. It was frogs. Alas, I have led a sheltered city life.

Today was the first official cycling day of the trip – a modest 25k loop through some of the vineyards of St. Emilion. Let me just say, for the record, that cycling through the vineyards of France is excellent balm for the soul, regardless of what is going on in the rest of your life. I highly recommend it.

I’ve got a fairly small group with me, including a couple from Australia and two of their sons (about 15 and 20), a guy who is about to start law school in August, and our fearless leader, who hails from Iowa. And me. I spent today cycling with the family, as Lyn (our leader) had to fetch Ben (the almost law student) at about 2pm. We rode from St. Emilion towards Puisseguin, where we were enticed by a free wine tasting sign along our route. Mind you, there were vines and Chateaux everywhere. After a bit of vin, some camembert and saucisson sec, we continued to Lussac for a picnic lunch, which included some freshly picked plums we found growing along the way.

We continued our loop back via Montagne after a quick stop back to purchase a bottle of the wine we had tasted earlier. Since it was a short ride, we took a late afternoon tour of the underground relics of St. Emilion, providing a respite from the heat. We convened before dinner for a bottle of the local sparkling rose in a lovely garden, then had dinner. I had asparagus wrapped in a smoked duck ham topped with bits of foie gras, and a simple, yet delicious duck breast. I topped of the evening with an Armagnac.

As I was cycling, I kept thinking of the Simpsons episode where Bart is forced to make crappy French wine and learned French in spite of himself. My French is only slightly better than that. And I think I have convinced the Aussie family to adopt me. Stay tuned.