A short journey down to the surfers’ paradise of a beach at Hendaye saw the 100 hour countdown from the Atlantic to the Med commence at 8.45am. The boys now have until 12.45pm on Monday to complete the challenge!A very hilly day culminating in the ascent of Col de Marie-Blanque, rising to 2,700 metres, an optional mountain Martin declared back at the hotel, he thought it was a good one so had to be conquered….
The mountain roads, steep and windy in places, have two lanes and were fairly light on traffic, which made for an enjoyable journey. The weather though was very humid, making the inclines more energy sapping in the thick heavy heat.
A late lunch meant a bread shortage at the lunch café but ‘le garcon’ suggested we try the local Basque cake to help replace lost energy – a bit like hard egg custard with almond pastry – very good.
Marie-Blanque was a killer of a hill. After I went past the guys to wait for them at the top I passed two girls on bikes – they were Americans who worked for Trek travel out for a bit of exercise. I chatted to them at the summit but they were getting cold so went back down the hill to their car at the bottom before our party arrived. Imagine the guys surprise when two pretty girls went flying past them on their bikes shouting ‘hey ho!’ before the guys had a chance to shout out the familiar cry!
Chris King, suitably named, was king of the mountain on day one although Ben was a close second – perhaps they don’t have TV in South Africa – these guys are fit!
The journey down the other side was fast and required circumnavigating the horses and cows on the road that had come down from the mountain in the evening – a tourist attraction judging by the cars and busses in the large car park. Many of them were wearing cow bells and I’ll never forget the sound as I climbed out of my sealed air conditioned bubble of a car at the top to be greeted by many flies and the amazing clamour of cow bells echoing around the mountains from the animals I could see across the valley on the other slope.
Local cherries which were a welcome end of day snack along with the fruit cake I made to bring. Seemed like a good idea until we had to pack it (and the other one – I didn’t think one would last long) but it was worth it.
The hotel was lovely. Martin had stayed there the previous year so knew we were in for a treat. The food was great, we ordered an optional entree of pate de fois gras served with Junrancon (medium sweet white wine), both local specialities and the perfect combination, although a twist of fate saw us dining on mussels and veal (again!).
We met three English guys staying in the hotel who were doing the route the other way. Although taking a week to complete the journey they were carrying their own stuff - helmets off to them!
I’m not too sure of the room sharing arrangements between the guys, there has been a bit of movement from yesterday. I think the snorers are being weeded out and either get their own room or are sharing with the very heavy sleepers!
11 very tired chaps retired to bed as it started to rain – less humid tomorrow we hope..
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