Foix is a very interesting place and it was well worth spending some time there. It's main attraction is in its spectacular setting, deep in the hills and mountains. It seems to be a holiday base for walkers. Not too many cyclists though: probably too undulating for the normal bikers and too far from the really famous peaks for the serious bikers.

Before dinner, we went to the fun fare. Tried to win a fluffy toy (the sloth from Ice Age) with one of those three pronged grabby things that you control with a joystick. Picked it up 7 times out of 7, much to JC's approval as evidenced by her squeals of excitement, but every time it slipped out before getting over the prize shoot. Plus ca change!

Had a contretemps with the waitress in the restaurant last night. Can't really explain it all here, but, in short, she picked me up on my pronunciation of a French word (in itself not a problem, i welcome it). But the example she gave was incorrect and I told her so. Later I asked what the dessert de jour was and she told me that it was lemon cheesecake, but i noticed lemon cheesecake was already elsewhere on the menu, so it couldn't have been! Clearly they had no dessert de jour. When I pointed this out to her she really got the humph. The Belgians behind and Dutch to the side all stopped eating to enjoy the show. She referred to me as 'Mr BlahBlahBlah!'
I don't think we'll be exchanging Christmas cards. The concept of the customer being always right is so not alive and well here in Foix. No tip, of course. Her loss. (Lovely steak though! HeHeHe!)

An excellent night's sleep though. On an excellent bed. Thinking back to that terrible bed back in Orthez, what I omitted to say is that I 'lost it' in the night when, exasperated, I jumped out of bed and started punching the mattress!

Aches and pains wise: my chaffing is now ok. Bruised toe better. Hamstring same but not problematical. Jumpy hand nerve gone. Tooth calm. So not too bad. Just some neck-ache towards the end of each day.
Jackie is ok but for a bit of back pain for which she has some cream.

A long ride in prospect for today. Hoping to reach Limoux by end of today. The terrain looks lumpy and the forecast is hot (27C). So will take an electrolyte tablet each before the off. And remember the adage - drink often and, most importantly, drink before you feel thirsty.

--------------------------------------------
Later,
The day didn't quite work out as planned, JC had once again persuaded me to entrust her with the route (she likes to do this). So we set off from Foix at a cracking pace. Feeling good. Unfortunately we were travelling N West - when we should have been going east. After about 25 fast kilometres I expressed my doubts to her. A quick check of the map revealed the problem. I was so flabbergasted at what had happened that I overbalanced on my bike and strained my wrist right in front of a queue of stationary French drivers at some traffic lights. Painful and embarrassing. We were well out off route! Two options: retrace our steps for 20 (of the 25K) or turn right and take a shorter route but over a huge climb. We chose the latter. Half an hour later, and nearing the top of the tough climb we came face to face with two horses and a pony who were trotting down the hill after having escaped from somewhere. We halted their progress both intentionally (using sweets that I had pocketed from the resto last night) and unintentionally (due to the interest of one of the horses in our monkey - who was now drying a pair of my socks). It was sufficient obstruction to the fleeing animals to allow time for the pursuant farmer's wife to catch them up. She thanked us profusely and rounded them up.

There followed miles of stunning scenery on route to the medieval town of Mirepoix (lunch, and another contretemps with a waiter due to our refusal to pay for JC's disgusting omelette. Hard as a biscuit in places). Then on to the historic town of Limoux. Descending through miles and miles of vineyards dedicated to the production of JC's favourite tipple - Blanquette de Limoux (hope Phil/Mads will have some on ice for our arrival!)