This dish has evolved over the course of our trip and ends up being more of a pasta salad since the sauce is intentionally spread thin. That’s ok because the leftovers go in a tupperware container and become our lunch the next day.

250g (half a box) pasta, such as fusili or penne
1 small jar tomato pasta sauce
Any of the following:
garlic
onion
bell peppers
grilled eggplant
artichokes
white beans or chickpeas
green olives
can of sweet corn
mozzarella balls
fresh tomatoes
peas
squid, shrimp, mussels or clams
ants, gnats, and other incidentals

The main thing is getting enough complex carbs for the next day’s ride, with simple carbs (sugar), from juice, granola bars, snacks, before and during the ride.

In France, we’ve moved a little away from pasta and into couscous, potatoes and vegetables with ratatouille sauce, sides of fish with French sauces and of course cheese. We’ve had roquefort for the last seven or eight days straight, in addition to harder cheeses for sandwiches. Sometimes we eat out for lunch but it’s usually a mistake to eat out for dinner because we’ll never get a well balanced meal and the pedals will be heavy the next day.

Nearly all of the campgrounds in France will take a bread order for the next morning. Our standing order consists of two plain crossaints, two chocolate rolls, and a baguette. As good as the bread is in France, which is my favorite of our trip so far, it must be fresh. In addition, we split four yogurts with granola, bananas or other fruit, and we’re ready to conquer the road. We must remember not to eat as much on rest days.

Italy had so much fine sparkling water that we became very fond of. It has the fizz of soda or beer without the empty calories, helps digestion, and is just more interesting to drink with dinner than the plain water we drink all day. There were so many brands that we’d develop a favorite and then never find it again. They listed their mineral content as well as such details as the temperature at the spring and electrical conductivity.

We’re currently in Carcassone, a city with a popular medieval, fortified center. It’s a popular tourist attraction but it looks best from afar — aside from the old walls it’s just full of souvenir shops and tourist traps, and says nothing about the area.

These past few days have taken us through vineyards, arid plains, deserts, river gorges, pine forests, fields of wheat, caves, and plenty of charming villages. One highlight was camping on the rocks above a river when we couldn’t find a campground, near St. Guilhem a le Desert. It’s hot in the lowlands, 40 degrees (104F) or more some days, a little cooler in the hills. It’s still an enormous treat to find a village with a public fountain and cool off with fresh water for a few minutes. Tomorrow we point our bikes towards the Pyrenees and hopefully out of the heat for a few more days.