June 22, 2011

After thunderstorms in the night it is a dull and overcast start to the day. We are on quiet roads today which is a bit of a relief after the last couple of days. The countryside is pretty unspectacular – we are in wine country with vineyards across rolling hillsides. The road is marked up with warning notices that it will be closed on 17 July for the Tour de France – it seems hard to envisage the route lined with thousands of people – we hardly saw a soul all day. Every so often we pass a crumbling château or go through a small village full of dilapidated houses – the area has obviously seen better times.

The road runs alongside the Canal du Midi for a while which does add some interest to the day. We seek out a camp-site in a small town – there are plenty of people camping and all of them seem normal.