Joining the hundreds of cycle commuters in the early morning rush hour, we felt somewhat ungainly on our loaded bikes while elegantly dressed people zipped around us on all sorts of things. Apart from the standard bikes, there were lots of bakfiets, electric bikes, electric scooters (quite popular) and even a chappie zooming along on a single wheel segway thing, with his suit and briefcase! Leaving the centre of Bordeaux proved to be quite simple, easy and surprisingly quick this morning, with only 2 pauses for red lights before leaving the city limits! (Much less complicated than getting in) This was just as well, as we had a long day ahead of us, not helped by the heat! Having left the moderating influence of the coast now, we felt the full force of the ‘canicule’ as the day wore on. We had changed our original route (which was a more direct one) to take advantage of the Roger Lapébie bike path, an excellent rail trail that runs from just outside Bordeaux to Sauveterre, a distance of about 50 km. This was great - smooth tarmac all the way, no traffic other than other bikes (lots of!) and walkers! We were often riding in a tunnel of green leaves from the trees lining the route, and the only real tunnel was well lit, dry and had a smooth and clean surface. If only the cycle trail from Pamplona to San Sebastian was like this!! Roger Lapébie (16 January 1911 – 12 October 1996) was a French racing cyclist who won the 1937 Tour de France. The cycle way is a great tribute to him! We had glimpses of the vines and chateaux that give the region its famous wines, before the countryside opened right out and there were vines everywhere! And the sunflowers of course - just starting to flower now, they will be in full flower for the early stages of the Tour de France starting this weekend! We were passing and being passed by the same French couple who would give us a wave and ring their bells. One time they were stopped by one of the little ex-railway stations now serving as a cafe, and he was pumping up a tyre (which burst with an extremely loud bang when the tyre popped off the rim!), so we had a chat in poor French (me) and none-existent english - they were on the first day of a seven day trip between Bordeaux and Toulouse, and it seems they were having some issues getting their gear sorted - but they were really cheery and no doubt looking forward to a break from normal life. We arrived in Marmande after a long and hot afternoon of rolling hills and lovely country after leaving the cycle way. The road to and from Marmande is quite busy (even with a parallel superhighway nearby) as it lies between Bordeaux and Toulouse, but the centre is quite calm. It wasn't always so! Marmande was a bastide founded about 1195 on the site of a more ancient town by King Richard I (Coeur de Lion or Lionheart). It had passed into the hands of the counts of Toulouse, and was besieged three times during the Cathar crusades. Prince Louis (the future King Louis) arrived in 1290 with 20 bishops, 30 counts, 600 knights and 10,000 foot soldiers, having joined the army of the Pope's legate Abbott Arnaud Amaury. The city of some 7000 people fell after the first assault, and was sacked. The victors held a council and decided to follow Old Testament teaching - that men, women, old people and children should be executed. The massacre that followed shocked even the crusaders' own allies. Today nothing remains of the chateau here and very little of the city walls. The church and what remains of the cloister (built in the 1400’s and 1500’s) is lovely though. Marmande is famous now for its tomatoes and soft fruits (strawberries). A quick circuit of the town to see some of the sights, then it was time to eat and escape the heat!