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Wellllcome, to Fantasy Montauban. Poor Eric, I will not stop making that joke until we leave town tomorrow.
Well. Today we biked 30% farther than any other day at a speed 50% faster thanks to the lack of headwind! It was a joy, and we both feel great at the end of the day, which came early enough to watch the professionals bike stage 5 of the Giro d'Italia while we cleaned up in our hotel.
It was a grey and misty day, so only a few pictures from the ride.
For once, Arah made a decision about the route. We got off the planned route to take a lovely country road. Sadly, it ended about a mile later in a dead end.
So we took the walking path!
A few kilometers later, we stopped in the drizzle for lunch.
Long after that, we rolled into Montauban and up to our very lovely hotel, Hotel du Commerce.
After a rest, we headed out to see the sights of the town. We're back in small town France, so as expected, the sights are minimal. We started with the cathedral, which was conveniently right across the square from our hotel. Unremarkable on the outside, the inside had both a painting by Ingres, a son of the town, and some lovely stained glass windows.
We then walked down the river to see the Old Bridge. When they say old, they are not kidding, this was built in the early 1300s. It took almost 80 years to complete, just short of the time the Longfellow Bridge is taken to renovate.
The other church in town, Saint Jacques, is a Romanesque pile on the outside. If you look carefully you can see the impressions of cannonball fire on the upper right of the facade. On the inside it was beautiful, but dilapidated, with peeling painted frescoes and designs covering every surface.
Finally we stopped by Montauban's main attraction, the Place Nationale. This is known for its double vaulted arcade that surrounds the square.
After a wander of pretty much every old street and alley of the town, we decided to find a place that was open early for dinner. We wound up at the mysteriously named Garden Ice Cafe, where we had an absurdly large beer (actually, this is just a pint, it's the glass that's absurd!)
And some welcome non French food.
Then, as usual, back to the hotel for many hours of sleep and prep for tomorrow's ride.
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