Today was a ‘chillaxing’ day - pretty much riding the whole distance along the Foix-St Girons ‘Voie Verte’ a rail trail. Thus it follows contours, or has gentle climbs or descents. Not to mention another great benefit, being away from the traffic and the traffic noise. After a last look at the Chateau at Foix, and a stroll through the various markets (Friday being the market day in Foix), we headed on our way. We didn’t do the whole length of the rail trail, having discovered that the first 3 to 4 km from the Foix end is rough gravel, so we elected to take the secondary D1 road from Vernajoul to Balou, which was very quiet and with easy grades as well. As expected the rail trail from Balou westwards had various surfaces - from good unpaved to poor paved, but it seemed to be quite easy to keep up a steady speed. A late morning tea at La Bastide, and then we were in Saint Girons - just in time for a late lunch and just before the rain started - the rain that had been threatening all day, but which had held off. The rail trail wasn’t blessed with a whole lot of information, signage or picnic tables, but there was the odd bit of whimsy. There were several tunnels, the longest one about 1 km. They were fitted with lights, but even so I was glad we had our own. Saint Girons was not at its best when we did a walk around, as it was grey and raining. It has the air of a place of past glories, and conversation with the nice lady at the Office de Tourisme confirmed that the major employer of the town, a paper mill, had closed about 10 years ago, and the current major employer, a hospital, is on shaky financial ground. We had hoped to visit St Lizier, the nearby town. Saint-Lizier has a rich history stretching back to pre Gallo-Roman times. In 72 BC, Pompey, returning from his triumphs in Spain against Sertorius, stopped here. He gathered together the ancient tribes of the area under the name Consorani. The ramparts seen today date from the 3rd century AD and enclose the oppidum. But today the rain defeated us. I’m sure that there will be more monasteries and cathedrals to come in the coming months!