Having eaten and slept very well in this excellent hotel we felt quite refreshed, despite yesterday’s exertions. Amongst its many top notch attributes it was very cycle friendly – so no one minded us wheeling the bikes across the marble floored lobby as we set off.

Slightly bigger roads today, as we avoided the steep gradients of the back roads. But the open views were superb as we climbed up again.

We called in at a fortified town called Mont-Louis, entirely enclosed within huge walls. This was a much needed supply stop, as we had nothing to eat and a final pass to cross. It was very familiar as Tim Scholes and I had passed through on our trans Pyrenean ride a few years ago. It hadn’t changed. Leaving town we climbed to the Col de Quillans – briefly reversing the route Tim and I had taken – for a picnic lunch.

The next few miles were still in open, high country at the head of the river Aude. But soon we dropped into the spectacular wooded gorge that the Aude has cut deep into the limestone. The descent was over 3000ft in 20 miles, but quite slow on a bad surface. There was a real sense of remoteness about it.

Back to camping tonight on a pitch right beside the bank of the roaring Aude. This is a top rafting section and the peace is broken by rafts of kids hurtling past and enjoying the thrills.