Stage 13 - Rodez to Revel by Dale

At the completion of Stage 13 last evening, we still had about a two hour drive to our hotel in Rodez.  There we were to meet up with Fran, who had flown in a day earlier, and was joining us on the last portion of our trip.  We arrived about 10pm and struggled successfully to find a restaurant open. Lasagne.  Very, very, good. We awoke this morning to clouds and potential rain.  With this being Fran's first day, we decided to forego the ride, which didn't look to have any particular interests, and spend the day in Rodez and Toulouse.  The cathedral in Rodez, directly across the square from our hotel, was absolutely magnificent, and we wanted to visit it while a service was in session.  So...after a breakfast in our room, we explored the cathedral.  Massive.  Amazing. It is just incomprehensible the will it took to build something like this out of stone.  Gwen will provide a picture or two.   While we explored the cathedral a small service of about 100 people was occurring.  The female priest led the parish in song, and her soprano voice was truly spectacular.  The organ pipes stretch up about 3-4 stories and the sound in that all stone edifice was amazing.

After the cathedral experience we visited Toulouse, a large city with another great cathedral.  The city adjoins a river,and is filled with bustling streets and squares.  It seems on Sunday, unlike some of the smaller cities, the younger people come out in droves to enjoy the community.  We walked the town for several hours, and stopped at a bistro for lunch.  We didn't leave until about 5:00 and headed for Revel.  Travel is a little more complex, now, with four of us, and the van only having seating for three.  Gwen graciously volunteered to ride in the rear the 40 miles to Revel. We arrived at our hotel overlooking a lake, a grand old place.  We had a bottle of wine, a little snack, then headed into town for a delicious pasta dinner.  Tomorrow, we ride again.  We will have an opportunity to really challenge ourselves.