I wake up at 4.30 to the sound of rain but as everything’s waterproof I turn around and sleep through until 9. It’s still raining, so I have my breakfast in the slightly cramped conditions of the tent. Just after 10 I go on the road in streaming rain. No less than 20 minutes later the downpour stops. It’s cooler today, though, and I welcome every time the sun peeks out behind a cloud.
Today’s roads are tiny and so are the villages I pass through. The only larger ones are Brassac, where I even find a nice little forest trail to ride, and at the end Villefranche-d’Albigeois. It’s noteworthy that mountainbike trails are mapped on large signs next to hiking trails at almost every infopoint and the trails themselves are well-marked, too.
In between I pass the Château de Grandval, a beautiful small ruin that’s easily accessible.
Château de Grandval
As this region is fairly heavily populated and no great campspot presents itself, I go onto a real campground for the first time on this trip. Situated almost directly in beautiful Ambialet and right on the banks of the Tarn river, 8€ is a fair price.
Ambialet