Confab with Fab

Day 8 Sat 11th May Mirepoix to St Gaudens 126kms
Hôtel*** Restaurant du Commerce
2, avenue de Boulogne
31800 Saint-Gaudens
Tél. +33 (0)5 62 00 97 00 |
Fax +33 (0)5 62 00 97 01 |
hotel.commerce@wanadoo.fr

78.3 miles/126km
1546m of ascent
16.5Mph

Bob's knee playing up (old age I think) so a perfect excuse to potter along at a slower pace for the morning and take in the scenery. Saw 15 or so parachutist a land in the field next to our road, a dozen horses wandering along our road with riders on five, the rest running free, eagles soaring in the thermal from an industrial unit's smoke stack in St Gaudens, and cycled through a cave for three hundred metres where the road had been placed beside a river in an ancient tunnel.
The other members had come by a shorter (and less interesting?) route, so were at the St Girons lunch stop before us. Two special treats awaited: baked beans heated on the small camping stove - the ex BR Bullfinch gas stove would have been too fierce for the delicate beans apparently... - and some celeriac salad that Simon F had been moaning about for the past week...
After another massive calorie intake we were off. Four of the fastest boys (Dave Cook, Ian Haygard, Dave Whiter and Simon Flack) went of to do the Col d'Aspet whilst I stayed with Rob, Chris, Neil and Simon to take the more direct (and faster) route to St Gaudens. Bob elected to potter along again and nurse his sore knee and we saw him next back at the hotel some 40 mins after we had arrived.
We had canard for dinner after a few beers in the square in front of the church and then an early night. Tomorrow is our last day. Tourmalet here we come.

PS my repaired rear wheel behaved impeccably and silently. Unusually so for a Campag Free Hub.