September 27, 2019
Chasing châteaux
Our penultimate day: Magnac-sur-Touvre to La Chapelle-Montmoreau
It is a late start after our Magnac-sur-Touvre chateau breakfast. We are both a little apprehensive, I think, about setting off today after yesterday's soaking. However, by 10am, we are on our way, leaving our hosts to prepare for a large wedding this weekend. (180 for cocktails outdoors, 130 for a sit-down meal indoors, bonne chance with the weather gods.)
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After a sustained climb from the Touvre river valley, we join a wonderful voie verte - 20 km of tarsealed off-road gentle riding. Once again an old railway line, this trail is cycle touring heaven. Near its end, we take the chance for a late-morning coffee at Feuillade which segues neatly into lunch.
So, how many Frenchmen cut their lunches in the morning? No, this isn't a lightbulb-changing joke. Call it a gross generalisation based on a small sample but the answer has to be zero, surely.
Other than ourselves and two other grey-haired couples, the dining room is populated by blokes, working blokes in their hi-vis gear, blokes who wouldn't be seen dead unwrapping a cheese and vegemite sammie in public. For 12 or 13 Euro, we all enjoy a three-course lunch with a wee carafe of wine. (I particularly enjoy the carafe of . . . yep, rosé.)
In our defence, tonight's accommodation is yet another chateau (now that's a phrase we Kiwis don't get to say too often!), with no restaurants near enough for tired cyclists to enjoy. So this is to be our main meal of the day.
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When the voie verte ends, we decide to ditch the Flow Vélo route, based on a suspicion it would take us on a hillier route than the D road that follows a river. I'm temperamentally unsuited to hills while Tour Leader is having issues with his derailleur which involves much cursing when gear changing. Not to mention the loss of his bottom two gears.
We enjoy our afternoon of riding the byways. Tour Leader, when asked, described the route as 'very agrarian, with lots of bois'. Yes, there are lots of woods and we pass a few small-scale forestry operations. The terrain is undulating but manageable. I'm only defeated once when Ms Google Maps takes us on a grassy, uphill route. But it's a short push.
We roll into the Château de Lannet around 3.30, happy with our day's effort. And the weather has been kind too.
Guilliame meets us and shows us to our suite of rooms. It's not too bad this life on the road. Tomorrow, though, is our final day. It could be a long, 90km grind to reach Perigueux, or we could be tempted to shorten the day by catching a train . . . Which will it be?
Today's ride: 57 km (35 miles)
Total: 1,944 km (1,207 miles)
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