The day started with sparkling blue skies, crispness in the air, and perhaps my favorite breakfast - granola, yogurt, jams, and bread, all homemade. After yesterday’s experience with the ups and downs of the Périgord-Limousin regional park, I made some slight route adjustments and had a splendid day. There was a lot of climbing, but it was largely on gentler grades with downhills that even I could enjoy. I won’t say too much about the day as the internet has been a bit sketchy the last couple of days and I don’t want to get too far behind on the journal.
The first part of the ride was within the regional park, through a mostly wooded landscape on medium-sized roads that wound up and down through the towns and small communes of La Coquille, Saint-Priest-les-Fougères, and Jumilhac-le-Grand. After the climb to Jumilhac-le-Grand, the landscape opened to agricultural field and small livestock farms. Soon, I said good-bye to the Périgord-Limousin park and Dordogne and entered the department of Haute-Vienne.
Heading to La Coquille on a beautiful spring morning
Shortly after leaving the park, I stopped for a coffee and a pastry in the lovely town of Saint-Yrieix-la-Perche. When planning the tour, I’d thought it'd be a great place for an overnight, but couldn’t make it work. After my snack, I continued on through Haute-Vienne, first on one of the larger department roads to Coussac-Bonneval, then back on the smaller D79 to Meuzac. The legs were getting tired as I crossed into the department of Correze and made the final uphill push to Masserat and the Logis Hôtel de la Tour, located at the top of the town by the Tour de Masserat. I was done for the day, a challenging but very rewarding day on the bike.
Your route criss-crosses the routes I took when I was last in the Limousin. It’s both fun and frustrating to see what I missed.
You’ll be coming through Gevrey in a few days, and we’ll have a chance to compare notes.
