We're departing Carcassonne on a cold, but sunny day. At least the weather is finally co-operating. Today, the plan is to ride through the Regional Park of Haut-Languedoc and play in the mountains in nearby Cévennes National Park.  We ride through many quaint and tiny towns inside the park  Stopped for lunch at Le Caylar and spotted this neat castle (Castel Roc) overlooking the town  The rest of the afternoon was spent criss-crossing the many twisty roads in Cévennes National Park Within the park's boundaries are several mountains and nestled in the valleys between are these amazingly twisty roads. It's the middle of the workweek and we have the roads all to ourselves. Strange that we haven't seen any bikers around though...  As we climb up one of the mountains, we see some white stuff on the ground. Uh oh.  At this point, I had to put the camera away for fear I'd slide off the road! We're getting the idea that our departure from sunny Spain might have been a bit premature. It seems most of the French bikers still have their motos in the garage. We tip-toe up the mountain and breath a sigh of relief as the descent melts the snow around us. Neda radios me and tells me the temperature has dipped to freezing at the peak of our run. *ugh*  Passing through more picturesque towns in Cévennes National Park  Every small French town has a church, which is typically the highest building
 Just outside Treves heading to the Gorges du Tarn  The road winds above the gorge and we duck in and out of holes blasted through the shale and granite of the area  Leaves left over from autumn last year
What a pretty part of France! I'm glad that we got to explore this region, it's actually a lot more scenic than the the Côte d'Azur. It's too bad that we are here early in the season, it must be beautiful in the summertime! Being out in the nature and tackling all the twisty roads here have visibly improved Neda's mood. Despite the freezing temperatures, I think we made the right decision to get off our asses in Spain. We spent the night in the northern edge of the park in a small town called Balsièges and in the morning, we headed straight for Lyon about three hours to the north-east. Going to do some sightseeing tomorrow!  But first, we need some Euros. Drive-thru ATMs are very popular in the US. We're introducing this concept to France...
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