Wednesday: Cathedrals and my Duel with the French lorry driver

I now have a train to catch: the 17:03 from St Jean to Hendaye on Friday so I better put a spurt on. First stop today is Condom. I pass the sign by which thousands of Brits must have had their photo taken in the hope of an appearance on That's Life or some similar TV program, and press on to the town's other notable landmark, its Gothic cathedral.

I'm now in Armagnac country which means passing some pretty swanky estates. Though I am conscious of making good progress, its important, too, that I don't zoom past places without taking a look. So I make a point of stopping at the 13th c fortified village of Lasseringle, the bastide town of Montreal, and the cathedral in Eauze.

From this point JH directs his disciples to the D931: "This excellent quiet road has none of the harsh hills encountered in previous days and the surface is almost perfect for cycling." I thought the last 40km today would be easy. Things have changed. This was not a quiet road. Lorry after lorry thundered past leaving terrifyingly little space at the side of this narrow major road. These were enormous vehicles, many with trailers to match, sometimes passing four or five at a time, and swerving into the side of the road, so that their wheels brushed the grass, after they'd passed me, as if to suggest that they had actually generously afforded me half a yard.

I stopped to search for alternatives, but there was none. There was nothing to be done but to mutter a few prayers, occasionally a few curses, to hold my nerve, and to trust that they wouldn't actually want to hit me. Occasionally one would sound it's horn which I took to mean, "Get off the road!" I did once cut my losses and plough into the thick, long grasses at the side of the road.

I arrived in Aire sur L'Adour, my shoulder blades fused together with tension. I was booked in to a charming Maison des Pelerins, but arriving at 6pm I just had time to ditch my bike and head over to the cathedral for mass. One of the three pilgrims there was also staying in the MdP and as a fellow pilgrim had shared his tin of lentils and sausages with me the previous night (seeing I was about to cook the same thing) I shared my tin with Jean-Luc tonight.