I decided to go for a ride before leaving to pick the guys up in Saint Laury Salon. I headed up the Tourmalet and went about halfway before turning around at the ski resort. The road was absolutely packed with cars and cyclists, I’m sure because the Tour de France will be coming through this area in a few days. The pictures below are halfway up the climb – the top part is really beautiful with switchbacks, green grass and lots of cows!

With the lovely steep climb back to the gite, I ended up with 3400 feet of climbing with just under 21 miles of riding.

I then headed out for Saint Laury Salon, a beautiful town at the base of the Lac de Cap-de-long, a lake at 2160 m, which makes for a great climb. I climbed it in 2016 but it was very foggy that day, but this link show some beautiful pictures of it: http://www.lacsdespyrenees.com/lac-191-Barrage%20de%20Cap%20de%20Long.html

Even though I was driving a stick shift on roads I’ve never driven on (with white knuckles), the drive to Saint Laury Salon was beautiful. The town itself is quaint, and the nougat there is magical. I may have gone overboard when buying some caramel nougat (spent 34 euro). I’m just pretending it’s not full of sugar…