Waking up bright and early this morning - perhaps a mistake after such a late night on Bastille Day - should have given us an early start too, but with a leisurely breakfast in the garden happening this morning, it wasn’t until around 0900 that we were saying our goodbyes to Eric and Catherine, our charming hosts for the night. Calling in at Lidl for some bread, and then into Decathlon to ensure that we have enough disc brake pads for the Alps, we finally saw the sign delineating the outskirts of Castres around 1000 - which is pretty good going for me, as Decathlon is a place where time seems to accelerate! Heading south-east on the busy D612, we were in sight of the mountains that divide the Atlantic and Mediterranean watershed - and the wind turbines along the top of them. Famous in years past for the factories that produced textiles, today we could see many abandoned ‘usines’, although there are still some factories that make super expensive fabrics for the haute couture trade in Paris, Tokyo and London. After reaching Mamazet, we transferred to the PassaPais, an 80 km bikeway built on a rail line that ceased operating in 1986 after about 80 years transporting people and wine. The name means ‘crossing country’ in Occitan, and refers to the crossing of the watershed between the two oceans. On the Atlantic side we were in oak forests and sunflowers, and after crossing the high point (which was in a tunnel, so avoiding a steep climb), the forests are dominated by chestnut, garrigue and evergreen oaks, with vineyards being quite prominent. Crossing the watershed also means changing departements, and the Herault Departement doesn’t look after its section of the bikeway as well as the Tarn. After being spoilt with a good unsealed surface, with the occasional sealed bits, the track has some quite rough sections reminiscent of our Pamplona to San Sebastian experience, and also a few bits of soft sand that almost toppled us off the bikes on the first occurence (we slowed right down after that!) It was with some relief that two dusty and hot cyclists were welcomed and checked in early by Gavin, a young man from the north of England who has been operating a B&B in a lovely mansion here at St Pons. The written history of Saint-Pons-de-Thomières begins with the foundation of the Benedictine Abbey by Count Raymond Pons of Toulouse, in 936. The abbey is built on the left bank of the Jaur and is run by the Benedictines. On the right bank of the Jaur is the pre-historic town later known as Thomières - this was built around the source of the Jaur (on our visit, the cave from which the water flows was underwhelming, as there was only a little water coming out, but in winter and spring photos show that it is really impressive), a religious site from before Roman times. The water was beautifully clear, and even from a few feet above we could feel how cold the water was. This town was commercially oriented, with a civil structure that must have competed with the religious St Pons. Many donations enriched the monastery throughout the Middle Ages, and allowed it to radiate spiritually and materially over a vast region. The village of Saint-Pons developed on the right bank and was the smaller town, with its own ramparts. The small town was a place of passage and commercial exchange, on the road between Castres and Béziers, on the border of the territories of the count of Toulouse and the Viscount of Trencavel. In 1170, the monastery, and probably part of the city were looted by Roger de Trencavel, and suffered serious destruction. The church became a Cathedral in 1328, when the city was the site of an archbishopric. The current town still has a lot of traffic passing through it, and also is a site of a quarry for red marble. Closed for some years, it has started up again. The red marble is everywhere here - on the footpaths, in buildings and especially decorating the church.