The walking tour was a lovely, fairly easy introduction to the Dordogne region of France and was labelled as hilltop walking. We had a chance to speak French and in many rural villages it was the only option.

Things got real with the bike trip. It was rated easy to moderate. I figured I rode 500 miles through Alaska in 5 days, piece of cake. But that was 24 years ago, I trained more and the uphill grades were easier.

When the bikes were dropped off in Souillac, there was a mistake; they thought we had requested e-bikes. Tim was adamant and I was, sort of, that we wanted road bikes. All that changed for me after our first day.

I was hankering for pizza, after all the three course meals we had. I googled pizza and found a place about a mile away. When we got there, this is what we found at a gas station.

I was game but Tim passed. Instead we had duck.

We rode from Souillac to Sarlat-le-Canéda , my favorite city on the tour. We extended our first ride by visiting Chateau Fenelon, and added some elevation gain.

When we arrived at the castle at noon, they were closing for two hours and we weren’t even allowed to walk the grounds. Castles are often situated on hills. We rode up this hill and couldn’t even visit. I was discouraged.

Then when we stopped to enjoy the view over the Dordogne River, an elevated bridge that we nearly missed the approach to, my magnetic helmet light fell off and splashed in the river way below us. This was a feature I loved from my Thousand helmet and it added to the day’s frustration. (Happily I contacted the company and they replaced it but I didn’t know it at the time).

While we continued to pedal to Sarlat, I shed a few tears of exhaustion and hatched a plan. The tour company had thought we wanted e-bikes and now I did. We had a layover in Sarlat and there would be time for a swap. When I looked at the last day’s itinerary, that clinched it: 35 miles and 1800 feet elevation gain. I made the call and they agreed.

Sarlat is a medieval town that developed around an Abbey in 1081! Much of its architecture dates back to the 1400’s. We stayed at the Hotel Couleuvrine, which is an old rampart tower from the 15th century that has been renovated beautifully. We had to walk up 20 stairs, along a hall and then down 17 stairs to get out our room. Very cool.

The town was buzzing with restaurants and markets, cobbled streets, street musicians, and sculptures, some headless.

We used our rest day to swim. We found a beautiful outdoor pool, where we each had a lane to ourselves. Very different from our experience later in the trip, in Bordeaux. That night my e-bike arrived. I gave it a test spin up a hill and shrieked with joy. Now I knew I would finish and enjoy the ride.

I was sad to say goodbye to Sarlat but the next morning we headed out to Les Eyzies, 26 miles and 1200 ft elevation gain. I was barely even looking at the numbers anymore, with my trusty e- bike. To my credit, I only used it up the hills but it made a world of difference.

We stopped at the Chateau Beynac along the way and were glad we did.

First of all, it was open for touring. It is perched high on a cliff overlooking the Dordogne, perfect for defending against intruders. It was built in the 12th century and has been beautifully preserved.

It changed hands several times but was inherited at one point by Richard the Lion Hearted, the Duke of Aquitaine. His mother was Eleanor of Aquitaine, who was married at 14 to Louis VII and became Queen of France, that year. When they did not produce a male heir (we know that was the King’s issue, since they had two daughters) the marriage was annulled and she then married Henry II and became Queen of England! What a life! She was possibly the most powerful woman in 12th century Europe. She was later jailed by King Henry when she and their sons plotted against him. This is depicted in the film, “The Lion in Winter” with Richard Burton and Katherine Hepburn. Several films have been shot here, most notably Ridley Scott’s “The Last Duel” and Joan of Arc, who rallied the hundred years war, which led to a French victory and expulsion of the English from the land.

During our castle visit, I tripped on a medieval stone. I scraped my leg and bled pretty well. Luckily, I had my Orion travel first aid kit with me and it had everything I needed to clean and patch my leg. When I was sure I hadn’t broken anything (credit that to lots of milk as a kid) we carried on. At our next destination, I found honey infused bandages.

Off to Les Eyezies, which is a beautiful town set among rocks and cliffs. It is known for cave paintings and is where Cro-Magnon man was found in the 1800’s, dating its cliff dwelling inhabitants back to 10,000 – 40,000 years ago.

We didn’t get to the Caves but local graffiti gave us an idea of what we missed.

This was in the back of the train station where we also found a pristine Morgan, complete with leather driving cap and straps.

We spent two days here while Tim geared up his courage for our final day’s ride. I just made sure my battery was charged.

From here we went on to Montignac, known especially for Les Caux, caves. Along the way, I had to remove my contacts and was a bit at a loss, I missed town signs and had to concentrate to see the road surface. When we stopped for lunch, I lost Tim in town! I was almost in tears and didn’t think my well known whistle, which my kids still respond to, was appropriate. He showed up eventually.

We stopped along the way at another castle, not as rugged as Chateau Beynac, since it was privately owned for many years. It had beautiful gardens and an impressive dungeon.

We spent a good part of our day in Montignac planning the next day’s ride, the big one. Our host prepared an early breakfast. But first she was very happy to put a pin of our home town on a map on the wall. Voila!

We got an early start and picked up lunch in the market. The first hills were long and steep. And then that was it! At the halfway mark, we completed our big climbs, OK Tim completed them, I pushed a button. The best part was when we passed a field of horses and one actually raced us- and won. It was beautiful to watch it gallop.

And then, just like that, we were back in our starting point in Souillac. A good time was had by all. Total mileage, 110; elevation gain: 5084 ft; number of times brought to tears (Lynne only): 2; injuries: 1.

And a good time was had by all.