Gironde: bike ride on the Lapébie trail, where the old stations are all pleasant stops

In Gironde, the Roger-Lapébie cycle path can be explored with music during the Ouvre la voix festival, on September 6 and 7. The rest of the time, try this great section between Citon-Cénac and Frontenac, where the old train stations have become cafés, gîtes or Maison de la Nature.

From Latresne, in Gironde, the Roger-Lapébie cycle path follows the Pimpine River to Créon, before heading to Sauveterre-de-Guyenne, passing a string of small stations converted into stopover or charming gîtes, restaurants, cycle stations or nature interpretation centres.

Normal: the route follows the old Entre-deux-Mers railway line. This year again, the Rock School Barbey of Bordeaux will make its sporting and festive comeback there on September 6 and 7.

Festival-goers will cycle from Sauveterre to Créon on Saturday, and from Bordeaux, Lormont or Créon to Latresne on Sunday. Two days of fun with meetings with food producers, explosive events like the shouting competition (at the Créon bike station) and, of course, concerts along the route, branded Rock School Barbey .

If you miss the festival train, take it easy by following the Lapébie trail from Citon-Cénac to Frontenac. A two-day round trip with stopovers will allow you to appreciate how much trains, even when they no longer run, inspire dreams. And answer the burning question: who was Roger Lapébie? A cyclist whose great year was 1937, winning Paris-Nice and the Tour de France, the first with a derailleur!

Those not coming from Bordeaux can leave their cars (and sleep) at the old Citon-Cénac train station, now a stopover lodge, where bicycles are stored in the old lamp room. Sophie Bocquillon, the new manager, has taken great care with the railway decor: a train appears in the living room.

"We label accommodation providers like Sophie who offer bike storage, repair kits, luggage transfers, picnic baskets, or sports breakfasts," explains Sabine Valadié of Entre-deux-Mers Tourisme. As a result, the trail, in addition to local residents and Bordeaux residents, attracts Americans and Scandinavians who are keen on long cycle routes like the Canal des Deux-Mers à Vélo, which follows the Lapébie trail.

The next morning, the La Pimpine bistro in Lignan is a mix of foreign cyclists, workers and winegrowers coming for a coffee and croissant, and grandpas reading the newspaper. Damien Mitteau inherited his appreciation for others, his sense of service (he's open seven days a week), and his passion for rail from his parents and grandparents, who were railway workers and crossing guards.

In "his" station, he has installed table football and pinball machines, organizes belote and pétanque tournaments, broadcasts football and rugby matches, accompanies village festivals and even throws disco evenings. But people also come for his grilled sweetbreads, with mashed potatoes and a little homemade meat jus...

In Sadirac, there was no shortage of work in the past, and the train carried wine, but also pottery, roof tiles, and terracotta tiles. The large loading docks remain, where children on school trips would picnic. This is due to the Créonnais Natural Heritage Center, which has been organizing numerous nature outings and workshops since 2006.

Terre & Océan's scientific mediators explain the remarkable trees, the treasure of deep groundwater, the biodiversity of the Pimpine, and its violent floods, such as the one in June 2021. Another world, made of ruined mills, giant roots, and resurgences, begins a few meters from the trail. And it's fascinating...

La Sauve, too, has a scent of adventure. Ever since the mayor, Alain Boizard, set out to restore the station to its former glory of 1873. Before its extension to Eymet, the Entre-deux-Mers line from Bordeaux had its terminus at La Sauve. The station therefore received special amenities. Like this rotating platform allowing the wagons to be rotated to load them with wines and local stones from the rear. Or this hot-water bottle building where an attendant was responsible for emptying them, filling them with hot water, and delivering them to first-class passengers.

Members of the Le Train de La Sauve association have joined forces and skills to reassemble the line and reconstruct the equivalent of two trains, including two classified carriages from 1929.

Since 2017, members of the Le Train de La Sauve association have joined forces and skills to reassemble the line and rebuild the equivalent of two trains, recovering abandoned wagons and carriages from the brambles all over France. These include two listed 1929 cars manufactured in Bacalan [then an industrial district of Bordeaux] and a hilarious "bi-foudre" wagon that could carry 14,000 liters of wine. They can be visited on Saturday mornings from 9 a.m., the day these thirty enthusiasts tinker, paint, weld, install windows, floors, curtains, and repair the railway equipment that continues to arrive.

"We're not there yet," the mayor says with a smile. Especially since, in overalls and armed with his soldering iron, he accepts other missions. Like making the articulated metal stems for the hundred or so enameled lava stone daisies created by Alain Chevalier. The craftsman (and heritage officer at the Sauve-Majeure Abbey) installed them among the grasses of the old cloister.

"The abbey showed me how important plants are in Romanesque art. They symbolize good, resurrection, the cycle of life. 'Floraison majeure' is a poetic gesture, a message of life," he says, evoking the abbey's meadows white with daisies in spring, and the human adventure of this creation, the pleasure of having been supported by its administrator and by the Train de La Sauve gang.

Next stop: Frontenac station, where theater director Renaud Cojo has taken on the role of scenographer to recreate, with postcards to support his work, the charm of the old station (now a delightful gîte), the old freight hall (where he lives), and also the stone quays (the quarries were on the other side of the tracks). "Some of these stations were razed. Others became homes, whose owners sometimes erased their original function." He did the exact opposite.

He had a painter redo the lettering of his station. He rediscovered the original colors (based on those of the Mesterrieux station) and hunted down everything you could find in a country station: enamel signs, old posters, magazines, clocks, suitcases, and telephones. "I wanted people who come here to take a little leap back in time," he says. Before leaving us with this quote from Georges Perec: "Perhaps happiness is only in train stations?"

TO SEE, TO DO

Open the Voice Festival. On Saturday morning, September 6, three shuttles will take festival-goers and their bikes from Créon to Sauveterre at 8 a.m., 8:30 a.m., and 9 a.m. Concerts and food truck breaks along the route. 5:30 p.m.: Screaming competition at the Créon bike station. In the evening, return to Créon and Dominique A's concert at Les Arcades at 8 p.m. On Sunday, September 7, three departures from Bordeaux, Lormont, and Créon. Joint finale at 1 p.m., at the Aérocampus in Latresne: food stands and wines from local producers. Details on times and concerts at www.rockschool-barbey.com/60/ouvre-la-voix

Bordeaux-Frontenac route: 47 km one way. Routes at www.gironde-tourisme.com

Créon Bike Station. Ideal for renting bikes, it's next to the tourist information office, whose shop is stocked with drinks and ultra-short circuit products. 62 Boulevard Victor-Hugo, Créon. Tel. 05 57 34 30 95 and 06 28 26 79 32. station-velo-creon.fr

Créonnais Natural Heritage House. Discovery walks or workshops every Sunday from 2:30 p.m. to 6 p.m. 23, route de Créon, in Sadirac. Tel. 05 56 30 64 32. www.terreetocean.fr/maison-du-patrimoine-naturel-creonnais/ and www.entredeuxmers.com

The La Sauve Train. Visit on Saturday mornings at a free price from 9 a.m. 71, rue du Gestas, in La Sauve. Tel. 05 57 97 02 20. garelasauve.jimdofree.com

La Sauve-Majeure Abbey. "Major Flowering" exhibition, until November 2. With admission to the abbey: €7. 14, rue de l'Abbaye, La Sauve. Tel. 05 56 23 01 55. Until the end of September, open daily from 10 a.m. to 1:15 p.m. and from 2 p.m. to 6 p.m. www.abbaye-la-sauve-majeure.fr

WHERE TO EAT

La Pimpine. 7am-8pm Monday to Wednesday, 7am-11pm Thursday-Friday, 8:30am-11pm Saturday and 8:30am-8pm Sunday. 1, chemin du Bon-Coin, Lignan-de-Bordeaux. Tel. 05 56 78 38 81. www.lapimpine.com

L'Aiguillage. The bistro in the old train station. 69, rue du Gestas, in La Sauve. Tel. 05 56 44 36 89.

And also…

Away from the railway theme, you can eat very well at the Restaurant de l'Abbaye, 6, place Saint-Jean, in La Sauve. Tel. 05 56 23 21 58 and on Facebook .

WHERE TO SLEEP

Citon-Cénac stopover lodge. Cycling and hiking welcome. From €100 to €350 (2 to 12 people). Overnight stay: €70/person. Picnic basket: €12. At 22, avenue de Citon, in Cénac. Tel. 06 07 14 95 32. www.gitecitoncenac.com

The Frontenac Country Station. A rare place where you'd expect to run into the stationmaster. 3 cozy bedrooms, a living room, and a vintage railway-style kitchen. From mid-April to mid-October, 2-night minimum (€350 for 6 people). Former train station, in Frontenac. Tel. 06 24 25 77 10. www.lagarechampetre.fr