September 3, 2024
Day 1 - Poitiers to Les Ormes
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After an amazingly silent night in the world’s quietest hotel, we awoke to the faint sounds of a city in motion through our open window. It had rained overnight and the promised rain for this morning was no longer in the forecast.
We chose to eat breakfast in the hotel, which proved to be a wise move. The breakfast buffet included lots of options beyond coffee and croissants. The Best Western Poitiers Centre Le Grand Hôtel is a great choice if you’re in Poitiers!
We’re always a bit nervous on the first day of a tour, and today was no exception. We fiddled and faddled and eventually traipsed downstairs to check out. We then descended into the garage to get the bike out of the car and put it back together (we disassemble the front section to make it easier to transport).
The bike was kind to us this morning. The S&S couplers grabbed after the first couple of tries, and we had the bike ready to go in about 10 minutes. We attached all of the bags and rolled out to the street, ready to go. It was right about 1030.
Poitiers is a big town, but the traffic was very light this morning in the center. We followed our route away from the hotel, and found ourselves back at the Bapistery that we had tried to visit last night. The door was open, so after about 1km of riding, we were already stopping for an extended visit to this amazing old building.
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1 week ago
I much prefer going together, because Robin is a much better observer than I am. I learn much more when she’s seeing stuff with me!
I have to admit that it was easier to lock and leave our Bike Friday tandem than our shiny new Schnooks! One of the downsides of a new bike…
1 week ago
Getting out of Poitiers involved a bit of up and down. The biggest climb of the day was about 500 meters from the Bapistery. After crossing the river on the Pont Neuf, we climbed up to a viewpoint overlooking the city. Our nerves were still on high alert, which made the climb seem more difficult that it really was. When we reached the top, we were both ready for the trip photographer to spend some time admiring the view an reading the information panels.
More up and down was encountered as we worked our way to the outskirts of town. And then, as is common in French towns, we hit the last house, the first wheat field, and the city limit sign. We were on our way.
We weren’t done with up and down, though. The first 30km of today’s ride were through open countryside and forests. Up one hill and down the next. None of them were very big, but they were big enough that we couldn’t roll over them. Some low gearing was required.
On the good side, we saw (and sampled) some roadside blackberries! Rich had been whining about all the immature blackberries along the path during our recent Cotswold Way walk, so this was a chance to feast on one of nature’s gifts. They were pretty good!
After about 25km, we dropped down into the flood plain of the Vienne river and things got a lot flatter. Robin wants it to be known, however, that there were several climbs exceeding 4% in this “flat” section.
We stopped for lunch at a convenient sandwich shop in Châtellerault, eating at some outside tables and watching school kids and workers returning from their 12-2 lunch break.
A nice riverside path took us out of Châtellerault and dumped us onto some low-traffic departmental roads, which we followed down the left side of the Vienne until it was time to turn right, cross the river, and arrive one hour early to our accommodation “Gîtes La Vigenna” in Les Ormes.
Since the gates were closed, we explored the town a bit. There was a church to look at and a nice old covered market. We then rode down to a park along the river and wasted an hour chatting and munching on almonds.
When we came back at 1600, the gates of the gite (housed in an old gendarmarie) were open. We rolled into the courtyard, and were scooped up by the genial Benoit, who gave us a short tour before leading us to our spacious room.
We cleaned up and rested a bit, enjoying the lovely afternoon.
At 1900 descended into the dining room where Benoit served up a magnificent 3-course dinner. We had booked this in advance because the only other food option in Les Ormes is a food truck that keeps an uncertain schedule. After finishing the fig tart dessert, we stumbled back upstairs to our room and slept like babies.
Today's ride: 59 km (37 miles)
Total: 59 km (37 miles)
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1 week ago
Total agreement on the Best Western hotel in Poitiers. One of the nicest I ever stayed in. We’ve been giving our neighbor our surplus tomatoes over the summer. I am hoping she responds with a pot of her homemade blackberry jam. Les mûres sont parmi mes fruits préférés, mais j’ai du mal à les mettre en conserves au cause du pépins, mais Muriel n’a aucun difficulté de le faire!
À+
Keith
1 week ago