I woke up a little later than usual, but not much. I got up and started packing up and the campsite owner came over and asked if I wanted a coffee. I obviously replied with a Oui, so once packed up I went over to the farm house. Not only was I given coffee, but also lots of bread and jam! I sat with the guy who spoke a little English and another guy who worked there but spoke no English. With my poor French thrown in we actually managed to talk about quite a lot! We ended up mostly talking about great French cyclists from the 50s and 60s!

I eventually got going some time after 8 and hit a col almost straight away. It was a bit longer and higher than the one yesterday, but I found it fine. I'm finding my climbing legs! Actually, some of the climbs that aren't actually cols (I can't remember the definition) are actually harder!

The descent was awesome! Long with sweeping bends and a lovely road surface. Unfortunately I can't set any speed records as my aerodynamics - what with all the luggage sticking out - are dreadful!

After the col, there was a lot of what felt like flat, but was gradually going upwards. Quite a few ups and downs thrown in too.

I stopped mid morning for some supplies. A baguette and a bag of Babybels this time. I ate half and saved the rest for later.

I had a rough idea of where I wanted to stay tonight - the Ossau valley, so I headed towards it.

I took a really quiet road that hardly anyone seemed to use. Having now ridden it, I can understand why - the surface was dreadful and the road is falling off the edge into the valley below in places! In fact I had to wait 10 minutes whilst some workmen bodged a repair to a section of road that had subsided. Chucking gravel all over the place was their preferred method of repair!

I went passed some remote farms and got chased by dogs twice. Big ones! I've been chased by little yappy things are couple of times, but these were proper big farm dogs. You never know, they may have been friendly, but I wasn't going to stop and find out!

Eventually the road spat me out in a town near where I'd found a few campsites. The first one didn't exist (I suspect the Google maps pin was in the wrong place), the second one looked like a bomb had just hit it (it was right by the river which had recently burst its banks by the looks of it) and the third one is where I am now. It's a lovely site run by a lovely family with a lovely dog!

It's only about a k back down to the town, but I can't be bothered with that as it's down a massively steep hill! So I'm having dinner here. It's a set menu at a good price and looks very nice.

Not totally sure what's coming up tomorrow, I need to study the route. I know there will be hills though!