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Pyrenees Crossing Chap.1

The Great Planning

The summer of 2024 was an opportunity for us to embark on a journey of just over 3,500 km through the Pyrenees and Spanish deserts to test the equipment we’ll use for the Americas, as well as to put our off-road skills to the test for the first time—an adventure guaranteed!
 
We will go over the complete list of our equipment in a future article, which has slightly evolved since this Pyrenees trip, along with a change of motorcycle for Thomas following the theft of the Tenere 700, which had proven incredible during this summer journey.

 

Day 1: July 31, 2024
From Nantes to St Palais de Blaye – 320 km

We set off from Nantes under clear skies, not too early in the morning (a recurring theme in our trips!). No issues at the start; we took the national road, which was fairly unremarkable, until we reached Rochefort, where we stopped for a quick sandwich.

After refueling both our stomachs and the bikes, we hopped onto the TET (Trans European Trails), a network of off-road tracks across Europe, heading toward Saint Genis de Saintonge. This section of the TET, with a bit of pavement mixed in, offered a pleasant ride through coastal marshes, woodlands, and picturesque countryside landscapes.

Adeline did manage a small tumble due to a poorly judged stop in a dip. To be fair, Thomas positioned himself a bit awkwardly just after the obstacle… Looks like we’ll need to fine-tune our teamwork!

From St Genis de Saintonge, we left the TET for a leisurely ride through the countryside, which brought us to our day’s destination: “Chez Gendron” campsite in St Palais de Blaye. We set up the tent, took a refreshing dip in the pool, and, of course, enjoyed the traditional end-of-day beer!

Total for the day: 320 km, including about 100 km on the TET.

From St Palais de Blaye to Condom – 230 km

We left “Chez Gendron” campsite heading toward Langon around 9 a.m… well, more like 10… okay, 10:30. Alright, we’re not morning people, and it’s vacation after all!
We took two hours on small country roads, with the Garmin Zumo XT set to maximum “Adventurous Routing,” leading us through the vineyards of St Emilion! Lunch break in Langon at a Super U parking lot—not exactly glamorous, but we were starving and didn’t have time to hunt for a better spot.
 
From Langon, we picked up the TET toward Condom, where our campsite awaited. The trails were fairly manageable for about 100 km, though some deep ruts were hidden under thick grass. The first climbs and descents through woodlands gave us a few sweaty moments. Looking back with more experience now, we realize it wasn’t a big deal, but you’ve got to start somewhere, right?
 
We didn’t do too badly, but then came the snag: a large tree blocking the trail forced us to backtrack to the nearest road. By then, the afternoon was well underway, so we headed straight to Condom. We arrived at 7 p.m. and pitched our tent at the “Ferme de Bourdéneuve” , with a stunning view.
 
First meal cooked on the gas stove—Thomas stayed cool as a cucumber despite the massive flame during preheating, but Adeline’s still getting used to it. It’s a work in progress! 🙂
 
Total for the day: 230 km, including about 100 km on the TET.