directions_bike by Chris Riches -

Biarritz to Urt

The journey so far down the west coast of France had been fairly straightforward as it followed the excellent Eurovelo 1 cycle route. The planning and implementation of this route really impressed me and made me think how much effort must have gone in to developing this infrastructure and maintaining it. Especially in the busier southerly sections, it was good to see that it was getting such good use.

So far I had just followed this path south, now that I was turning east the route would be less obvious and more subject to change. According to my map there was a dedicated route almost to Lourdes and some more routes further east but not one that stretched directly to the Mediterranean coast. There was an easterly route further south from San Sebastián but it looked very mountainous. I was keen to see the mountains, and had already seen some peaks in the distance from Biarritz, but wasn’t sure how challenging the Pyrenees would be and wanted to keep my options open for the route depending on the terrain, traffic, and weather conditions.

I left the campsite and proceeded through Biarritz and through the centre of Bayonne which had an attractive historic centre with large city walls surrounding it. The city dates back to Roman times.

There was a very quiet cycle path running eastward from Bayonne running alongside the Adour river, this took me to a bridge which I crossed to reach Urt. Was pleased to find a very peaceful and rural campsite there with plenty of space, which I didn’t hesitate to check in to. The place was incredibly tranquil backing on to fields yet along with birdsong and the smell of neighbour’s barbecues I could hear the sounds of live Rhythym and Blues music coming from the annual town party nearby.

Distance: 20 miles

Maximum temperature: 24 degrees C

Grande Plage, Biarritz

Biarritz

Château Vieux, Bayonne

Bayonne

Camping at Urt

directions_bike by Chris Riches -

Urt to Pau

Etche Zahar, the campsite at Urt, had a lot of character, was excellent value and one of the best so far. The well looked after site was very spacious, set in nice countryside, and definitely felt like a relaxing place in the evening sunshine.

The route east from Urt started off alongside the Adour river and during the morning the temperature was perfect for cycling with little wind and a blue sky. The scenery was extremely varied and included pontoons and boats on the river, period riverfront properties, small villages with few signs of their inhabitants, and many fields containing lots of kiwi fruit, and later orchards and some vineyards.

Early on there were some small hills in the distance to the right, and there was little traffic on the roads. The roads were shared with some fast moving cyclists, many of whom overtook me, and I only saw 2 other cyclists that had panniers, this was a big contrast to the coast where there were many.

I stopped for lunch at Orthez, then continued southeast towards Pau. It wasn’t until reaching Sarpourenx that the large faint grey outline of the Pyrenees would become visible on the horizon. This was a very encouraging sight, which appeared and disappeared from sight on the horizon as I cycled through some of the lower lying hills.

The cycle route that I was following was called the V81 and was much less well defined than the Eurovelo route, with very little signage. Some of the roads and paths indicated on my navigation app didn’t exist, this resulted in some backtracking. Generally the landscape was a lush green colour and there were donkeys, horses and cows in the fields adjacent to the road, sometimes with their offspring, and at one point after the ascent in to the hills the sound of cowbells could be heard.

The style of the houses changed as the altitude increased, with dark, steeply sloping roofs. These alpine looking dwellings were in stark contrast to the surprisingly numerous amount of palm trees in the gardens or in the vicinity. The temperature was now in the high twenties and I wondered how common snow was in the area in the winter.

The approach to Pau went alongside the fast flowing and clear Gave de Pau. The river looked incredibly clean considering it’s proximity to a city and some people were swimming in it.

Distance: 69 miles

Maximum temperature: 28 degrees C

Pont Vieux, Orthez

Bellocq

Urt